🔊 San Diego Padres Near Deal To Sell At An MLB Record $3.9B

The San Diego Padres are nearing a deal to be sold to private-equity billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The deal values the Padres at around $3.9 billion, which is the highest valuation ever for a Major League Baseball team. The previous record was Steve Cohen’s $2.4 billion purchase of the New York Mets in 2020.

Others in the final round of bidding to purchase the team included groups led by Dan Friedkin, owner of the English Premier League club Everton, Tom Gores, owner of the NBA's Detroit Pistons, and Joe Lacob, owner of the NBA's Golden State Warriors.

Why This Matters

When Steve Cohen purchased the Mets, many people felt he overpaid.

But once again, the baseline has been reset.

And the people who thought Cohen was crazy are probably thinking the same about Feliciano.

The average MLB team is worth around $2.95 billion, according to CNBC.

The Padres' $3.9 billion deal blows past that average at almost 8x revenue multiple and the team’s last valuation of $3.1 billion.

For context, the last MLB team to sell before this was the Baltimore Orioles in 2024, $1.73 billion, at just 5.3 times revenue.

Baseball has historically been the most undervalued of the top US major leagues.

The average MLB team trades at a 6.4x revenue multiple, compared to 10.1x for the NFL and 11.9x for the NBA.

Either way, this is a positive signal about pricing around the league and how investors are viewing opportunities around it.

It’s also worth looking at Feliciano, who has a track record of ownership rather than someone just getting into the game for the first time.

He is a co-founder of Clearlake Capital, which holds a majority stake in Chelsea FC.

But the Chelsea situation has been far from perfect.

Since the Clearlake-led consortium took over in 2022, Chelsea has spent over £1.5 billion on players and cycled through several managers, but they haven’t had much success.

And many Chelsea fans have been vocal about Clearlake's approach.

Most of the criticism is that Clearlake has been “business at any cost,” firing managers at pivotal moments while optimizing for just asset value and an eventual exit.

Fan unrest has even escalated to organized protests, with them regularly chanting Behdad Eghbali’s (Clearlake co-founder and Feliciano’s partner) name in expletive-filled songs at matches.

The question Padres fans will inevitably ask, and most will wonder: Is San Diego a legacy play, or is it just another portfolio company?

To be fair, baseball and European football are completely different worlds and structures.

MLB has strict governance, revenue sharing, and ownership rules that limit some of the moves that have frustrated Chelsea fans.

Plus, Feliciano lives in Southern California, has personal ties to the community, and he and his wife plan to move many of their philanthropic efforts to San Diego.

In other words, it’s not London, so this may be an entirely different playbook and focus that he’s operating with.

Nonetheless, this deal is a strong indication of the future of MLB and will be interesting to watch unfold.

• TPG Acquires Learfield For $2B. TPG, a leading global alternative asset management firm, announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Learfield, the nation’s leading media and technology company powering college athletics for approximately $1.8-$2 billion. Current co-owner Charlesbank will remain on in a minority position, while Fortress Investment Group will exit as part of the sale. Learfield is a dominant player in college athletics, managing multimedia rights for nearly 100 Division I institutions (more here).

• Sideline Group Raises $155M. Sideline Group, a New York-based investment firm, has raised $155 million for its first fund, launching a new investment vehicle focused on businesses tied to what the firm calls the “offline economy,” in-person experiences, active lifestyles, and consumer brands outside the digital economy. Backers include institutional investors, family offices, sports team owners, investment firm founders, and operating executives (more here).

• PongBot Raises $28M. Pongbot, a Shanghai-based sports robotics firm, announced a $28 million Series A round. Investors in the round included BlueRun Ventures, Shenqi Capital, MingShi Venture Capital, Jinqiu Fund, and Huachuang Capital. The funding will help expand R&D and global sales of its AI-powered tennis and table tennis training robots (more here).

• GameRun Raises $4M. GameRun, a sports tech company using AI to analyze athlete movement and performance, announced a $4 million funding round. The round included several former professional athletes, team owners, college coaches, ADs, and family offices. The funding will support expansion across baseball, hockey, soccer, and basketball, and will include investments in hiring and product development (more here).

• USTA Ventures Invests In Fastbreak.AI. USTA Ventures, the venture arm of the USTA, announced an investment in Fastbreak.AI, the leading AI-driven sports operations software company. The USTA will leverage Fastbreak’s software to optimize scheduling for millions of adult USTA League matches per year. The USTA will pilot Fastbreak.AI in a number of USTA League areas by the end of 2026, with the goal of wider-spread rollout in 2027. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• Shure Invests In Edge Sound Research. Shure, an audio technology manufacturer, announced it has become a minority investor in EDGE Sound Research, a sports tech startup developing experiential audio technologies. In addition to Shure, Edge’s cap table now includes the USTA and the NBA, as well as venture capital firms Cartan Capital, Elevate Ventures, LEAD, and Potential Capital. As of 2025, the company had raised $5.5 million since 2020, according to SBJ. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• Balius Partners Invests In BASE Sports Group. Base Sports Group, a sponsorship sales agency focused on youth and amateur sports events and facilities, has completed a $1.5 million strategic funding round led by Balius Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm. Existing investors in BASE include former Learfield CEO Greg Brown, former Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse CEO Len Komoroski, and former Learfield COO/CFO Temple Weiss (more here).

• Kingdom Holding Company Acquires Al Hilal. Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), a holding company owned by billionaire businessman Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, has acquired a majority stake in the top Saudi Arabian football club Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Under the agreement, KHC has acquired a 70% stake in the Saudi Pro League club for SAR1.4 billion ($373.3 million). PIF has been the majority shareholder of Al-Hilal since July 2023. At the time, the organization also took a majority stake in the country’s three other leading clubs, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, and Al-Nassr (more here).

• BingX & Chelsea FC Extend Partnership. English Premier League soccer club Chelsea FC has extended its partnership with BingX, a notable cryptocurrency company, which will remain as an official principal partner of the club for the 2026-27 season. Under the new agreement, BingX remains the club’s men’s training kit sponsor and will continue its strategy of prioritizing digital campaigns and fan activations to boost engagement with its brand (more here).

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• The Good Game & ProCamps Announce Partnership. The Good Game, a mobile-first sports technology platform that connects the youth sports ecosystem, announced an exclusive partnership with ProCamps, the nation's leading organizer of youth sports camps led by professional athletes. The multi-year collaboration will provide families with on-demand access to athlete-led experiences while helping organizers run safer, smarter camps and clinics at scale (more here).

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• Lionel Messi Buys UE Cornellà. Inter Miami star Lionel Messi has acquired Spanish fifth-division club UE Cornellà. UE Cornellà is based in Catalonia, where Messi spent 17 years of his football career playing for Barcelona. Cornellà is also one of the most respected clubs in Spanish football’s lower divisions and is renowned for developing talent. Several notable players have played for the club, including Spain international goalkeeper David Raya and Messi’s former teammate Jordi Alba. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• Kyle Kuzma Joins Sierra Racing Club Ownership Group. NBA champion and Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma has joined Sierra Racing Club as co-owner and global brand ambassador in the UIM E1 World Championship. The ownership group currently includes Kerem Ozmen, Dominik Madani, and football player Thibaut Courtois, who joined the team last week. Financial details around his stake and investment were not disclosed (more here).

• Tyrese Haliburton Launches Production Company. Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton announced the launch of his production company, Zero Doubt Creative, according to The Hollywood Reporter. His production company also signed a multiyear production and development partnership with Brent Montgomery's Wheelhouse Sports, where they will collaborate on original entertainment and branded content (more here).

• Sports Betting Industry Spends Millions To Influence Elections. DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics have put $41 million into a new group called Win for America, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. The striking total suggests the group is likely to be among the biggest spenders in the 2026 election cycle. Win for America operates two other outside groups: American Future, which will engage in Democratic primary races, and American Conservative Fund, which will focus on Republican primary races (more here).

• Toronto Tempo Unveils Plans For $100M Practice Facility. The WNBA’s newest franchise, the Toronto Tempo, is beginning construction on its own practice facility, scheduled for completion by 2028. The $100 million state-of-the-art facility will be available for public use and will include dedicated sports medicine, performance, and recovery areas, a strength and conditioning space, hydrotherapy pools, a sauna, player lounges and dining areas, conference rooms, and a fully-equipped theatre for film study (more here).

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Terrance Murphy.

Terrence Murphy is a former D1 and NFL athlete who transitioned to CEO and Founder of Terrence Murphy Companies and Founder and Managing Partner of Synergy Sports Capital.

Synergy Sports Capital is a sports fund focused on emerging leagues and teams, as well as real estate development and sports-related business opportunities.

After an extremely successful football career at Texas A&M, as a 2X-Time Team Captain, 2X-Time 1st Team All-Conference, 3X-Academic All-Conference, 2X All-American, and many all-time records on the field.

Terrence graduated from A&M Class of 2005 and was drafted in the 2nd round (58th overall pick) by the Green Bay Packers that same year in the NFL Draft.

He is on the board of Alumni Ventures, Texas A&M’s VC fund Ring Ventures, and is a founder or investor in over 110+ companies under the Terrence Murphy Companies brand.

In this episode, we discuss:
‣ How Terrence transitioned from NFL player to entrepreneur
‣ Why he started investing in sports
‣ Starting Synergy Sports Capital and the long-term vision of the fund

Check out the full episode here: Apple | Spotify | YouTube