Owning a Slice of America's National Pass Time

Today the majority of professional sports teams are owned by wealthy individuals and small groups of investors, leaving the majority of fans unable to have the truest sense of ownership in their favorite teams (myself included). This unfortunate situation is exasperated by the MLB's rules on club ownership, but fret not. I'm here to tell you about the handful of opportunities to add the coveted title of "Shareholder" to your LinkedIn profile. Some of these organizations have managed to stay publicly owned while others are preparing to make their first public offering.         

Major League

1. Atlanta Braves

In 2005, Time Warner put the Atlanta Braves up for sale and a deal was reached for the team to be sold to a magazine publishing company called Liberty Media. The team was eventually listed on the stock exchange as a segment stock of Liberty Media proper. A new holdings company was created to operate the team and its mixed use development under the name, Braves Holdings, LLC. Today you can buy ownership in the team through their three classes of stock issued directly in the teams name on the stock exchange. You can find the company listed under the trading symbols BATRA, BATRB (Traded OTC), and BATRK.

Braves Holdings, LLC's IPO at the NASDEQ

2. Seattle Mariners

To say that this opportunity is unique would be an understatement. This team was sold by owner,  Jeff Smulyan to Nintendo of America, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese company Nintendo Co. Ltd. The club was operated under Nintendo leadership for several years until 2016 when they announced a sale of the majority of their ownership to investment group, First Avenue Entertainment, LP. Nintendo of America did retain a 10% minority stake in the club. With Nintendo proper being a publicly traded company, anyone can purchase a share and be an owner in the company that owns the company, that owns 10% of the Seattle Mariners. It may seem a little complicated but its good enough in my book. Nintendo is listed on the stock exchange with the trading symbol NTDOY.  

3. Toronto Blue Jays

On September 1, 2000, Rogers Communications Inc. purchased 80% of the baseball club for 160 million dollars. The company was eventually able to acquire the remaining 20% to become the sole owner of the team. The Blue Jays parent company has been publicly traded since 1967 when it was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. While this is another team that can only be owned indirectly, it's still a rare gem to claim ownership in, as Candida's only MLB team. Rogers Communications Inc. is traded under the symbol RCI. 

Minor League

4. Rochester Red Wings

This minor league team has been proudly owned by fans since 1957 when the St. Louis Cardinals announced their plans to dispose of their minor league affiliate. Not willing to lose their home team, the Rochester community led by Morrie Silver was able to tender an offer to the Cardinals which was funded by a community stock drive. The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle wrote an in depth article on the stock drive and the legacy of community ownership. You can find the article here, I highly recommend reading it. While the team isn't listed on any stock exchange the team has issued shares for its parent organization Rochester Community Baseball Club, Inc. which are traded privately among individuals.      

A specimen certificate for RCCB

5. Malmö Oat Milkers

Yes you read that correctly, the "Malmö Oat Milkers". Billed as minor league baseball's 121st team, the Oat Milkers are the brain child of the people at Oatly Group. Always working to out due themselves, Oatly created this team as a unique marketing campaign to promote their alternative dairy products. Every team in minor league baseball will play a game as the Oat Milkers in the 2024 season. While not necessarily a traditional team, you can own a piece regardless as Oatly Group is publicly traded. The company is traded under the symbol OTLY.      

The Oat Milkers uniform

Independent Leagues

6. Oakland Ballers

With the announcement of the Oakland Athletics' leaving for Las Lavages, the community wasted no time to form a new team. The Oakland Ballers or simply the Oakland B's werr admitted to play in 2024 season in the Pioneer League, an MLB partner league. To help further the promise of never leaving Oakland, the team organizers made a pledge for a public crowdfunding campaign to make fans owners. When the crowdfunding campaign goes live it might be worth investing to claim that ownership in one of the newest teams in the sport.

     

The team's launch video

Conclusion

If you've ever wanted your little slice of America's game, now you know how to make it happen. The only thing sweeter than a sip of lemonade at the ballpark is those bragging rights that only come with ownership. If you're new to investing, I'd suggest Robinhood to make your investment moves since that's where I have all my shares to these great teams. If you use my referral to Robinhood, they will give you a free share worth around $5 to start your portfolio, once you make a deposit for as little as $1. The best part about you free share is you can sell it and use that to buy into baseball. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please come back for my future work.

P.S. If you're looking for something to watch, every minor league baseball game can be streamed for free in the Bally Live app.