HEADLINE

MLB owners approve sale of Royals to Sherman

Field Level Media

November 21, 2019 at 8:13 pm.

Major League Baseball owners on Thursday unanimously approved the sale of the Kansas City Royals to a group led by John Sherman, the former part-owner and chairman of the Cleveland Indians.

Former Royals owner and CEO David Glass reportedly is selling the Royals to Sherman and his group for close to $1 billion.

“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I thank David Glass for his successful stewardship of the Royals’ franchise dating back to 1993, including 20 years as owner,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. ” The Glass family’s passion for the Royals culminated in Kansas City’s 2015 World Championship, demonstrating its strength as a baseball town.”

Glass, 84, bought the team for $96 million in April 2000. He had served the previous 6 1/2 years as CEO and chairman of the team following the death of founding owner Ewing Kauffman, for whom the Royals’ home stadium is still named.

Sherman, 64, had to divest himself of ownership of the Indians to make the transaction happen. He is the CEO of Kansas City-based MLP Holdings and is on the board of trustees for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The vote on final approval to sell the Royals was conducted at the current owners’ meetings at Arlington, Texas.

“I congratulate Mr. Sherman on receiving approval from the Major League clubs as the new control person of the Royals,” Manfred said. “John’s philanthropy has benefited the Kansas City community he has called home for more than 40 years, and he has built strong ties in our game since 2016. We look forward to his leadership of the Royals.”

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