Bruce Sherman, owner of the Miami Marlins Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, has reportedly sold a 15% stake in the team in a move aimed at ameliorating the organization’s debt situation.
Reports suggest Sherman sold the 15% stake to two as-yet unnamed family investors in the Florida area, for a fee that has valued the franchise between $1.4 billion and $1.55 billion.
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Sherman, who acquired the franchise for $1.2 billion in 2017, will remain controlling owner of the Marlins, with the cash injection mostly being used to pay down a portion of debt connected to the franchise.
Other cash from the sale will also likely be used to insulate the Marlins from the potential imposition of a salary floor from the 2027 campaign onwards.
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations for 2027 and beyond are already underway, with MLB pursuing a first-ever salary cap while the MLBPA labor union is ardently against that, a prospect that will cause a significant standoff and may even lead to a lockout in 2027.
Crucially for the Marlins, both sides have shown willingness to institute a first-ever salary floor to the league also, with MLB’s proposal setting a hard floor at $171.2 million, while the MLBPA proposed a soft floor of $150 million.
Either proposal would hit the Marlins hard, with the team currently spending only around $79 million, one of the lowest payrolls in the league.
Should the Marlins have to double their payroll spending in a single offseason, further investment will no doubt be required.
In the near decade since acquiring the team, Sherman’s investment has increased in value by only around 20-25% which, when compared to the three-figure percentage value increases seen at NFL and NBA franchises over the same period, illustrates why MLB owners are pushing heavily for a salary cap that could help to provide on-field parity and off-field value growth.
Despite the strong Miami broadcast market and the city’s significant Latin American community (a diaspora from nations where baseball is typically popular), the Marlins have struggled to maintain a strong fanbase throughout their entire history (the franchise was established in 1993).
Indeed, the Marlins are the least valuable franchise per Forbes’s annual valuation estimates in 2026, which placed the team at $1.5 billion, a valuation that includes the 37,446-capacity LoanDepot Park stadium.
The Marlins have occupied the bottom of Forbes annual valuations rankings for MLB teams since 2019, an eight-year streak that also somewhat reflects the team’s on-field travails.
Despite boasting two World Series wins, most recently in 2003, the Marlins have been back to the playoffs only twice in the 23 years since then (last in 2023), and have been bottom of the National League East division seven times in that span.
At the time of writing, the team sits bottom of the National League East once again, boasting a record of 26 wins and 34 losses midway through the 2026 campaign.
