KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Royals owner David Glass is in discussions about selling the club to a group led by Kansas Citian and Cleveland Indians vice chairman John Sherman, according to a report from The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark.
Glass, the former president and CEO of Wal-Mart, is currently in his 20th season as owner and CEO of the Royals. He was appointed interim chairman and CEO after the death of Royals owner Ewing Kauffman in 1993. In April 2000, the Glass family acquired the Royals for $96 million.
In April, Forbes estimated the Royals were worth as much as $1 billion.
The Royals issued a statement on the reported sale negotiations: "The Kansas City Royals are not in a position to make any comments on the published speculation regarding any potential sale of the ball club. The Royals will make no further statements at this time."
The Royals' current deal with Fox Sports Kansas City expires after this season, and they have not finalized what should be a lucrative new television rights contract. MLB.com reported a new deal could net the Royals between $48 million and $52 million annually.
The Indians named Sherman vice chairman and minority owner in August 2016. Prior to joining the Indians ownership, Sherman started and built Kansas City-based companies LPG Services Group and Inergy LP.
LPG merged with Dynegy in 1996, while Inergy went public in 2001 before it eventually sold for more than $35 million.
The Royals, who entered Tuesday with a 46-86 record, are in the middle of their third consecutive losing season and on pace to lose 100 games. They finished .500 in 2016 after back-to-back World Series appearances, including the 2015 World Series championship season. In the last 19 seasons under Glass, the Royals have finished .500 or better five times. They lost 100 games in five of the 14 losing seasons.
This season, the Royals have averaged 18,955 fans per game, ahead of just Baltimore and Tampa Bay in attendance among American League teams.
