Jose E. Feliciano, co-founder of investment fund Clearlake, which owns English soccer side Chelsea, has reportedly won the race to acquire the San Diego Padres Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise for a record fee.
Feliciano has reportedly beaten three other prominent US businessmen to acquire the long-running franchise for a record $3.9 billion.
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To be ratified, the deal must be voted through by 75% of MLB franchise owners at an owners meeting, although that is not likely to pose an issue.
That fee stands far in excess of the current record, the $2.42 billion that Steve Cohen paid for the New York Mets in 2020, setting a new benchmark for MLB franchises.
Although the Padres have never won a World Series and last reached the championship in 1998, the team remains a popular fixture.
In the 2025 campaign, the team generated the second-highest attendance in MLB, behind only the champion LA Dodgers, and the club’s 39,860-capacity Petco Park home is consistently rated as one of, if not the best, stadiums in the competition.
The venue benefits from good weather year-round and, as such, is also a consistently booked concert destination for major acts, which naturally aids revenue figures.
Furthermore, while San Diego itself is a small market, California at large is a desirable destination for a sports franchise, and should the league succeed in nationalizing local media rights agreements, the size of the San Diego market will be less of a limiting factor in revenue generation going forward.
On the revenue front, the franchise reportedly generated over $500 million in revenue across the 2025 campaign, where it also attained its second Wild Card playoff berth in as many years.
Part of that is owed to the strong spending habits of the franchise, which ranks in the top 10 in MLB payroll, and has numerous stars such as Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and Xander Bogaerts on lucrative nine-figure contracts.
With the departure of the San Diego Chargers NFL franchise in 2017, the Padres are now the only major league sports franchise in San Diego, besides the San Diego FC (MLS) and San Diego Wave (NWSL) soccer teams.
Feliciano’s acquisition of the Padres now further consolidates elite professional sports in North America and globally among a small cadre of prominent investors.
Feliciano is joined in his investment in Chelsea FC, via the BlueCo holding company, by Guggenheim Partners chief Mark Walter, who owns the LA Dodgers, the LA Lakers of the NBA, and a range of other prominent properties.
Indeed, the other three parties that bid to acquire the Padres all already own at least one major US basketball franchise or a prominent European soccer club, with the move into baseball illustrating the sport’s growing commercial appeal on the back of several strong years.
Those prospective bidders were Dan Friedkin (who owns English soccer side Everton and Italian team Roma), Joe Lacob (owner of basketball’s Golden State Warriors and Golden State Valkyries), and Tom Gores (owner of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons).
Those three will still likely be interested in MLB franchise acquisition in anticipation of a new collective bargaining agreement required at the end of 2026, and the league’s 2028 media rights negotiations, which could influence future revenue numbers and franchise values.
This means that many other franchise owners who have explored sales in recent years, including the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Angels, could now find interest where previous attempts fell short.
The future of the Padres has been in question for several years since the passing of owner Peter Seidler in 2023.
A group including Peter Seidler, his uncle Peter O’Malley, and businessman Ron Fowler first purchased the Padres in 2012, and Seidler himself became majority owner and chair in 2020 when he bought out part of Fowler’s stake.
Since his passing in 2023, Peter Seidler’s trust and estate have been managed by his brothers Robert (November 2023-May 2024) and then Matthew (May 2024 onwards).
Across 2025, Matthew and Robert have been locked in a legal battle for control of the franchise with Peter’s wife, Sheel Seidler.
In January 2025, Sheel Seidler sued Robert and Matthew Seidler for control of the team, alleging that the brothers had sidelined her and her and Peter’s three children from the franchise.
Furthermore, the suit, lodged in the probate court of Travis County, Texas, accuses the brothers of “fiduciary breaches of trust, fraud, conversion, and egregious acts of self-dealing,” suggesting that they had sold assets from the trust to themselves and had utilized trust funds for personal payments.
Sheel and her three children are still the largest single shareholders in the team, holding around 25% of it.
In February 2026, Sheel dropped the majority of her claims against Matthew and Robert, settling with the pair privately, a move that likely opened the door for the fast-moving sales process.
The Padres currently sit second in the National League West, boasting a 15-win record after 22 games.
