So ESPN is reportingthat Bud Selig and his family are now planning to sell the Milwaukee Brewers.
This raises some questions…
Will he remain commissioner?
CAN the team be sold? With 28 years left on a ‘iron clad’ lease and revenues such that the teams payroll apparently needs to be in the 30-50 million dollar range is the asset, in Milwaukee, really worth ANYTHING?
How will this effect revenue sharing, interleague play, and the all star game deciding the series home field advantage? Those are some of the big initiatives that Selig pushed through as commissioner.
No reason he can’t, since none of the previous commissioners have been team owners as far as I know. It’s an enormous conflict of interest anyway, especially since the MLB also owns the Expos. This doesn’t really do away with it, but it makes it better.
Lots of people want to own sports teams, even bad ones. I’m not sure why. It’s probably an ego thing. And the payroll might be higher if someone more willing to spend came along.
Probably not at all, since he’ll still be Commish.
The Brewers soared to 94 losses last year (after losing 106 the previous year). This (plus the sale of the team’s best player) must just break the hearts of the Brew Crew faithful.
It’s hard to see who would want this team. They suck and they’re locked into a small market. Pohlad gas been trying to sell the Twins for for years and has found no buyers. True the dome sucks, but the Twins are good and the team could be moved.
Maybe some of those folks who proudly own “stock” in the Packers will want to buy the Brewers as well. The only problem is who will pick up the tab for the big losses the team will incur every season?
If someone very wealthy buys the team, a buyout could be in order.
Admittedly I don’t know much about this situation except what I’ve read at espn.com (Do the BP folks have anything to say?). But until there’s something put forth in official legalese about the deal with the stadium…