The group led by former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and former Florida governor and presidential hopeful Jeb Bush have won the bidding for the Miami Marlins, according to Bloomberg’s Scott Soshnick.
Marlins fans right now finding out Derek Jeter is buying the team from Jeffrey Loria. pic.twitter.com/7P3ydPgWlB
The Shadow League (@ShadowLeagueTSL) April 25, 2017
The sale contract has yet to be signed and it is unknown at this time how much the group paid for the team, which is currently owned by New York art dealer Jeff Loria. At this time, the groups other investors remain unknown. A recent Tweet by the Miami Herald estimates the sale price to be in the neighborhood of $1.3 Billion.
Marlins expecting to finalize $1.3B deal to sell team to Jeb Bush, Derek Jeter group https://t.co/gulHNCuJ88pic.twitter.com/4WKJqpyFYL
Miami Herald Sports (@HeraldSports) April 25, 2017
It was rumored that Loria had been close to a deal with the Kushner family, relatives by marriage to President Donald Trump, but no agreement was reached.
Loria bought the team in 2002 for $158 million. The franchise is now valued at $940 million.
Jeb’s brother, former President George W. Bush, once owned the Texas Rangers. Jeter, a future Hall-of-Famer and Florida resident has been outspoken for years about his desire to own a MLB club.
The Marlins have a relatively new ballpark, Marlins Park, which opened in 2012, but the team has been having problems with filling the seats there. Miami will host the All-Star game in July. Despite the financial woes of the franchise, which supposedly bleeds money, Bush and Jeter look poised to bring a different chapter to baseball in South Florida.
Stay tuned.
