KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Royals owner David Glass has agreed to sell the team to a group led by John Sherman, the team announced Friday afternoon.
No purchase price was announced but the team is valued at $1 billion, according to Forbes. To become official, the sale requires approval of Major League Baseball owners. Their annual meetings are Nov. 20 and 21 in Dallas.
League rules would also require Sherman, 64, to relinquish his minority ownership stake in the Cleveland Indians.
"I am enormously grateful to David and the Glass Family for this extraordinary opportunity, and am humbled by the chance to team up with a distinguished group of local investors to carry forward and build on this rich Kansas City Royals legacy," Sherman said in a release.
"Our goal will be threefold: to compete for a championship on behalf of our fans; to honor their passion, their experience and their unwavering commitment; and to carry their hopes and dreams forward in this great Kansas City region we all love _ for decades to come."
Glass, who turns 84 next week, is in his 20th season as owner and CEO of the Royals. He was appointed interim chairman and CEO after the death of Ewing Kauffman, the Royals' founding owner, in 1993. In April 2000, the Glass family acquired the Royals from Kauffman's estate for $96 million.
"The decision to sell the Royals was difficult for our family. Our goal, which I firmly believe we've achieved, was to have someone local, who truly loved the game of baseball and who would be a great steward for this franchise going forward. In John Sherman we have found everything we were looking for in taking ownership of this franchise," Glass said in a release. "John Sherman and his group far exceeded our hope for the next caretaker of Royals baseball. His love for Kansas City and the game of baseball is well documented as are his philanthropic endeavors in the surrounding communities. A native of this area, John has made a huge impact in our business community and is so passionate about baseball that he purchased an ownership stake in the Cleveland Indians three years ago to begin his relationship with this great game. We are truly blessed to have someone of John's stature and business acumen available to us from the metropolitan area to take the reins of this organization going forward.
"As for my family, it has been an amazing run since we gained control of the franchise in 2000. I will miss this more than anyone realizes because I grew up loving this great game and was awarded a fantastic opportunity to own one of the 30 Major League clubs. We watched this club painfully come up 90-feet short in 2014 and then ultimately win that coveted World Series trophy in 2015. I will never forget the thrill of seeing over 800,000 people of this community come together on one sunny November day to salute the newly-crowned World Champions. It's been a fantastic ride and I want to thank our great fans for supporting us through the years but now it's time for someone else to oversee this franchise into its next championship and in John Sherman, we've found the perfect individual."
