Why did the Marlins sell 15% of the team? Debt payments or something more!?

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]I have been very very honest with all of you about the Miami Marlins.

[00:00:06]I've told you that the transaction we did was above market price back in 2017.

[00:00:12]I told you that the Marlins lose money every year and were a real issue for Major League Baseball with the amount of debt they had.

[00:00:19]I told you that the crushing blow of losing the TV deal is something that will impact the Marlins heavily as they try to replace their local broadcast media revenue.

[00:00:33]I told you that if someone would offer Bruce Sherman the equivalent of his 1.2 plus all of his losses and his partner's losses, he would be hardpressed not to take that offer.

[00:00:47]I also told you Bruce Sherman loves owning the team and wants to win as an owner of the Marlins, wants to get the third World Series, thinks he's the right owner to do it, and doesn't want to leave.

[00:00:58]So, what do you do when you want to keep running your team, but your team has too much debt and suffers too many year-over-year losses?

[00:01:10]You know the answer. You've been reading about it, haven't you? You've been reading about the number of teams that are selling to limited partners.

[00:01:18]Well, that's what the Marlins did.

[00:01:20]Reportedly, according to Sportico, the Marlins sold 15% of the team, wait for it, at a $1.55 billion valuation.

[00:01:32]This is what we need to focus on.

[00:01:35]1.55.

[00:01:37]That's up from the one two valuation that they bought the team at in 2017.

[00:01:43]It's the valuation they required given the losses they've had over the years since 2017.

[00:01:50]The Marlins get to go public through anonymous sources and say, "Of course we didn't get what the Padres's got. We're not selling control."

[00:02:00]When you are just selling limited partnership pieces, there is a lack of control piece premium.

[00:02:10]Let me explain what that is, please.

[00:02:15]If you think something's worth $100 and you want to own 10% of it, you'd think you'd pay $10, right?

[00:02:26]What if something's worth $100, but you get to control that $100 asset and you get to decide what to do with that $100 and see if you can make that asset worth $110 or $200?

[00:02:45]Wouldn't you pay more than $10 for the right to control all $100 versus paying the $10 and then sitting there with your thumbs on a spoon wondering what's coming next?

[00:03:02]That is true in baseball. There is a control premium in each transaction.

[00:03:10]What the Marlins are telling you is that the Marlins are worth more than 1.55 because only a limited partnership stake was exchanged.

[00:03:22]Generally, I would tell you that is a true statement.

[00:03:26]In the Marlin's case, MLB would much prefer those anonymous sources to have stayed quiet. MLB is just fine with a $1.55 billion valuation for the Marlins because that allows MLB to say to the players and to the fans, look, the Padres's at 39 were an outlier.

[00:03:55]Teams like the Marlins, like the Rays are going for way less than that.

[00:04:01]We need to do something in this collective bargain agreement to make it more fair. We need to do something to help increase franchise valuations. We need to work because the Marlins have now shown what a team is worth that is in a market that barely has hope that always operates at a loss.

[00:04:24]It really is an important thing to think about.

[00:04:29]Bruce Sherman was not going to give up running that team. The limited partners were coming in and are coming in as very, very limited, like an occasional board meeting and good luck. We're going to let you buy season tickets. Here's a free signed Alcantra ball.

[00:04:47]What the focus of baseball is, as they approved this deal, was as a way to further the argument and the plight for markets just like Miami. And to have another data point on the board is a positive for the owners, not a negative the way you would think. Remember, Rob Manford is paid to increase the value of the asset. That's his main job. make the teams worth more money, maintain labor peace, communicate with the public, take bullets for owners, and increase the value of the franchise. Those are like page one through three of commissioner's job description.

[00:05:31]When you can get a transaction on the board right during collective bargaining negotiations that proves a point you're trying to prove, you're feeling damn good about yourself.