A's Owner John Fisher Hires Group to Help Attract an Investor in Team
John Fisher keeps proving that he did not in fact "do everything he could" to stay in Oakland. On Monday night, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times reported that Galatioto Sports Partners have been hired by the club to "attract an investor — or several — to put in that $500 million, in exchange for a share of ownership."
For months, there have been rumors that John Fisher doesn't have the funding lined up to get a ballpark build in Las Vegas, and this report, at least for the time being, confirms those rumors.
Back at the "are we alive back there?" fireside chat in January, Fisher told reporters that he was looking to sell a stake in the team in order to help pay for the proposed Las Vegas ballpark. We are now a day away from May and seemingly starting a new path to finding a sucker, i mean, investor, after Goldman Sachs couldn't line someone up.
As always, the question for this process has been what kind of valuation Fisher is looking for. The team is valued at $1.2 billion according to Forbes, which would leave an investor with 41.6% of the franchise. In other words, not a controlling stake in the team. One reason for a lack of a deal so far is that anyone that would be willing to put up $500 million would want control.
There is also the other option, which is that Fisher is looking for a valuation closer to what the franchise will be worth once the ballpark is built. That could be around double the current value, or about $2.5 billion. That would also leave an investor with a much smaller stake in ownership, at around 20%.
Those are the real issues at play here, and unless something changes from the way that they've been going, there isn't going to be much that Galatioto Sports Partners or anyone else will be able to do to help Fisher here.
It should also be noted that despite Fisher saying numerous times that he and his family have the funds lined up, that the hiring of an outside firm to help facilitate the sale of part of the franchise is either an admission of not actually having the funds available, or an unwillingness to actually spend that money that is available. Neither of which is a great look.
Added to the equation are the two lawsuits that the public financing in Nevada is facing, one challenging the legality of SB1, and the other to get a referendum vote in November. With those looming, would it be a wise investment to hand over $500 million for a team that is not absolutely guaranteed to land in Las Vegas?
These are all pertinent questions that have no answers at the moment, and lead some to believe that the A's could end up staying in Sacramento long-term.
JASON BURKE
Jason is the host of the Locked on A's podcast, and the managing editor of Inside the A's. He's a new father and can't wait to take his son to his first baseball game at the Coliseum.