Aniket PujariA general view of he empty stadium during the Oakland Athletics game against the Los Angeles Angels during opening day at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on July 24, 2020 in Oakland, California.
Ezra Shaw | Getty Images
John Fisher, managing partner of the Oakland A’s, is offering new shares in his Major League Baseball team at a $2 billion valuation, according to two sources with knowledge of the offering.
The Fisher family, which owns more than 95% of the Athletics, also known as the A’s, is looking to raise $550 million to finance a $1.75 billion, 30,000-seat domed ballpark in Las Vegas, according to the sources. In recent weeks, the A’s have had several investors that have been vetted by MLB who are willing to put in more than $200 million combined at an enterprise value of $2 billion, according to these sources.
That is an impressive valuation, given that the last MLB team sold was the Baltimore Orioles, which was bought by Dave Rubenstein for $1.72 billion a year ago.
To fund the new ballpark, Clark County is chipping in $350 million, $550 million is coming from outside investors through the issuance of the new shares in the A’s, $300 million is being sourced from bank borrowings from U.S. Bank and Goldman Sachs, and the Fisher family is putting in the remainder.
The Fisher family will still own more than 80% of the team after the new shares are sold. According to a source, Fisher was the biggest investor in a group that purchased the A’s for an estimated $180 million from Steve Schott and Ken Hoffman in 2005, and has been the managing partner of the team since 2016.
The A’s have played in the antiquated Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum since 1968, where the team’s lease agreement required it to share some of the stadium’s revenue with the Stadium Authority and the Raiders, until the National Football League team moved to Las Vegas for the 2020 season. The A’s have been in the bottom five in MLB attendance every season since 2015, except for 2019. In contrast, the A’s lease in the Las Vegas ballpark gives the team operating control of the ballpark and all revenue streams, including non-MLB events.
The A’s moved from Oakland to Sacramento this season and will be playing their home games at the 14,000-seat Sutter Health Park until the team moves into a new Sacramento ballpark, which is scheduled to be ready for the 2028 season.
