The Kwanza Jones era has officially begun in San Diego, as the first Black woman to purchase an MLB team was a huge hit at the introductory press conference at Petco Park on Monday. Jones and her billionaire investor husband, José E. Feliciano led an investor group that purchased the San Diego Padres for an MLB-record valuation of $3.9 billion.
Kwanza Jones & Husband Jose E. Felciano Bought Padres For $3.9B
After months of “numbers crunching” as Jones puts it, the Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the transfer of control from the family of the late Peter Seidler, and the transaction officially closed on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.
Voices from all over baseball chimed in with many fans, media and baseball-affiliated people congratulating Jones and loving the energy she brought to her presser.
MLB Voices Comment On Kwanza Jones Intr0ductory Presser
Baseball analyst Gary Sheffield Jr., believes Jones is great for the city of San Diego, its fans and the franchise.
“This woman LOVES BASEball. Love this For The Padres,” the son of MLB legend Gary Sheffield tweeted.
Jones took over the presser for her soft-spoken husband and delivered an introduction for the ages, culminating in a guarantee that the Padres will break the World Series curse under Jones and her team’s leadership.
“So you all might be wondering, how does this work,” as she pointed to her husband. “I can not even express it. It’s very difficult for me to sit in my seat … but I simply wanted to say thank you. What happens, no one succeeds alone. We are not where we are without each other.’
“Without the leadership, baseball operations, the players, the coaches, the community, without the fans, the front office and back office, the reporters, the press and the media,” she continued. “We need each other and that’s what Joe and I have built together … have built a life on understanding that it is together. We are all in.”
“We take it as a baseline, that in everything everyone does you’re all in. And for the Padres we are…absolutely committed to this organization. And we’re gonna win. We’re gonna win it all. We hope sooner than later,” Jones added.
Then Jones went on to thank the Padres, their family and friends and their town financial team who have been part of the journey to get to the point of baseball ownership.
Fans React To First Black Majority Owner In MLB History
Some fans didn’t know how to react to Jones’ enthusiasm. There were some skeptical fans and if anything, baseball fans are very interested in what kind of impact Jones actually has on the franchise. And what part her husband plays in all of this.
“For those that aren’t familiar with them, she’s the personality but that dude Jose is absolutely no joke at all. He’s going to be a great owner and she’ll be wacky and entertaining,” one fan commented.
“A Puerto Rican man and African American woman owning a major sports franchise is the real story here. It’s beautiful,” a netizen mentioned
“Damn. This makes me excited for Padres baseball. I love the passion. It’s genuine. I can feel it,” said one fan, feeding off of Jones’ enthusiasm.
San Diego Padres Fans Concerned With Feliciano and Jones’ Willingness To Spend To Win
Some netizens brought up the fact that Feliciano, is the multi-billionaire co-founder and managing partner of Clearlake Capital, and fear that he won’t do any huge spending for players.
“My understanding was he made his money through private equity? If that’s true fans better hope he doesn’t ruin the team being cheap,” another Padres fan tweeted.
“I can’t be the only one that thought Nicki Minaj was at a Padres presser,” one fan jokingly said.
Jones Will Bring Visibility & Excitement, Interest By Women To San Diego Padres Franchise
To say the Padres have lacked visibility, spunk and swag, despite fielding some teams with some of baseball’s elite players would be an understatement.
Of all the California teams, the Padres are the only one who has never ascended to World Series status. They have been there a couple of times, but were knocked off by juggernaut teams in the process. In 1984, the 104-win Detroit Tigers. Then in 1998 they were swept 4-0 by a dynasty New York Yankees squad.
Since then, they have continuously fielded strong teams and showed the heart to award huge deals like the $300M bag they gave to Manny Machado and the reported $400M they offered Aaron Judge before he returned to the Yankees a few years back. Desperately trying to keep up with the Dodgers and their never-ending pit of money, the Padres have even given up future All-star prospects like CJ Abrams and James Wood, to rent current New York Met Juan Soto for a half season run.
The energy surrounding the franchise doesn’t match that of the Dodgers or New York Yankees. The history of the franchise doesn’t speak of much success. With the Dodgers dominating the National League for almost a decade, San Diego hasn’t been able to get the lead story on MLB Network for some time now.
They are stepchildren in their own state and Kwanza Jones doesn’t seem like the type of woman to take a back seat to anyone. Her husband is clearly the laid-back quiet assassin. Her energy compliments him perfectly and she is going to do wonders for public relations and also introducing the fun of the game to an entirely new fan base of women.