Mariners owner John Stanton should do the math after $7.9B Angels, Padres sales

There's a perception among many Mariners fans that John Stanton and the rest of the ownership group are not willing to spend whatever it takes, to help bring a first World Series championship to Seattle. That they are too focused on making money over investing more on making the team great. Whether this is fair or not, you wonder how the recent sales of the Padres and Angels have influenced the thinking of Stanton and company.

The sale of the Padres for $3.9 billion was big news in its own right, but this was secondary to the Angels being bought by Stan Kroenke for $4 million. Kroenke automatically became the richest owner in the majors, which on its own might make Stanton and the rest of Mariners ownership want to move on, knowing they can't compete with him. However, there's also just the pure numbers involved, which are staggering:

• Padres: Valued at $3.1 billion, sold for $3.9 billion for a +25.8% premium
• Angels: Valued at $2.7 billion, sold for $4 billion for a +48.1% premium

This is not just an MLB thing, with sales of sports franchises in general going through the roof. The biggest recent example of this is the Lakers, who last month were sold for an eye-bulging $12.5 billion just over a year after a previous sale worth $10 billion. Closer to home, the Seahawks were bought by the Khosla family in July for $9.6 billion, after being valued by Forbes last November at $6.7 billion.

Sports franchise sales have rocketed north, but it's all about perspective for Mariners ownership

The whole thing has just become insane, with signs seemingly pointing towards this being a bubble. At the same time, last month The Athletic's Tania Ganguli wrote: "Sports is one of the last big draws to live television, and as a result leagues — and therefore the teams — are being paid far more for the rights to air their games."

Ganguli's article about why sports teams are selling for such huge prices makes for a compelling read. And there's people who don't believe it's going to slow down anytime soon, including Irwin Kishner, who is a partner at the law firm Herrick and co-chair of its sports law division. Kishner is "absolutely convinced we have not reached anything close to a ceiling."

Which brings us back to the Mariners, who were valued at $2.35 billion by CNBC back in March, right in the middle of the pack at 16th among all 30 Major League franchises. Based on the sale of the Padres and Angels, a good asking price for the M's might be more than $3 billion. And for some context, Stanton and company paid $1.26 billion for a 90 percent stake in 2016.

With all this in mind, a $3+ billion sale would be double the investment for Stanton and the rest of the ownership group, although it does come down to perspective. Consider that selling for around $3 billion would not actually be that great of a Return On Investment (ROI) relative to the stock market, which has grown at roughly 15 percent annualized over the last 10 years.

What do John Stanton and the ownership group ultimately want out of all of this?

Of course owning a sports teams is like any major business investment, in respect of knowing when to gamble or play it safe. When to sell and when to hold onto an asset. It really does come to what the strategy and -- more importantly -- end game is for Stanton, Chris Larson and company?

It's no secret the Mariners ownership group isn't exactly popular with the fanbase. No matter what they do or don't do, Stanton and company just can't seem to win the fans over. There was a sense the tide might be turning after the team went all-in at last year's trade deadline, but that goodwill has now all but evaporated with everything that's happened in 2026.

In one respect, you assume as a Seattle native that Stanton in particular really wants to see the Mariners win a World Series on his watch. However, this doesn't change the perception -- real or otherwise -- that something is lacking in committing to pursuing this goal. They are the type of ownership group you imagine will be happy if the pending lockout does result in some form of salary cap, so they can be competitive but also not have as much external pressure to spend.

Ultimately, even if $3+ billion doesn't represent a great ROI as such, it's still a very good price. Further, even if these eye-popping sales prices do just represent a bubble, you don't want to wait until it bursts. There may never be a better time for Stanton, Larson and company to sell and it's something they should seriously consider, given the public perception of them in Seattle.

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