As far as ownership groups go, you’d be hard pressed to find a more noteworthy combination than the Yankees and the Steinbrenners.
But the Daily News reports there are rumors the Yankees could be on the market soon. They report that “multiple baseball and finance sources” say that there has been “chatter” about the Steinbrenner family, led by Hal Steinbrenner, selling the franchise.
The Yankees have unequivocally denied the report.
“I just read the Daily News story. It is complete fiction,” Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement released Thursday morning. “Me and my family have no intention to sell the Yankees and expect it to be in the family for years to come.”
The News cites the recent sale of the Dodgers for $2.15 billion to a group led by Mark Walter of Guggenheim Partners and including NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson as providing impetus for a sale of the Yankees.
“I can say to you there is absolutely, positively nothing to this,”
Yankees president Randy Levine told the Daily News. “The Steinbrenners
are not selling the team.”
The franchise would likely fetch well above the $2.15 billion commanded by the Dodgers, possibly as much as $3 billion, according to the Daily News. Forbes estimated the Yankees were worth approximately $1.85 billion, but their stake in the YES Network could be worth $1.1 billion as well.
George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees from CBS — as part of a group — for just $8.8 million in 1973. His son Hal Steinbrenner now runs the team on behalf of the family.
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.
