00:00A quick breaking news story, though, in Major League Baseball.
00:04There's a private equity group owned by a husband and wife team.
00:07The husband's name is Jose Feliciano.
00:10Not the blind guy that sang one of the great Christmas songs of all time.
00:13We love that song.
00:14Feliz Navidad.
00:16Los pero año y felicidad.
00:18That's pretty good.
00:19I think he died a while ago.
00:20They should play that after every home run, though.
00:21They should.
00:22So Jose Feliciano, again, not the blind singer,
00:24and his wife, who has one of the great names I've ever heard,
00:29Kwanzaa Jones.
00:30Now, some of you may know Kwanzaa Jones.
00:32She was a recording artist and had three or four top 25 hits.
00:35She's also a brilliant woman.
00:37Went to Princeton, went to Cardozo Law,
00:40went to Pepperdine for like a second type of law school thing,
00:45whatever it was.
00:46In any event, I'm just fascinated by their story
00:49because they're self-made wealthy people,
00:51and I think it's great.
00:53They are buying the San Diego Padres
00:56for an absurd amount of money.
00:58When you consider the fact that five years ago,
01:01hedge fund magnate Steve Cohen,
01:04who's worth about $15 billion now,
01:06bought the New York Mets for $2.4 billion.
01:10That was a record at the time,
01:12most expensive franchise ever sold.
01:14Now, the Yankees are worth more.
01:17The Dodgers are now worth more.
01:19But they haven't been sold.
01:20So from an actual sales standpoint,
01:23the New York Mets had set the record $2.4 billion.
01:27Jose Feliciano and his wife Kwanzaa Jones
01:30are buying the San Diego Padres
01:32for $3.9 billion.
01:37I'm trying to figure out A, why,
01:41and B, why.
01:45Not just that they're buying the Padres.
01:47That's another why.
01:49But I know she's from L.A.,
01:51so they must have a home in San Diego
01:52or near San Diego, right?
01:54But why would you spend $3.9 billion?
01:59That's a billion and a half more
02:01than what the Mets sold for.
02:04Right.
02:04Well, there's been a change real fast
02:07to answer your question.
02:08Private equity plays by different rules.
02:10The Celtics sold at the time
02:12for $6.1 billion.
02:14Right.
02:15Private equity.
02:15Then the Lakers come back
02:17and sell for $10 billion.
02:18I guess.
02:19Everything's inflated right now.
02:20Right.
02:20It just is.
02:21So, are we good to go?
02:22Yeah?
02:23No?
02:24Oh.
02:25All right.
02:25All good.
02:26All good.
02:26Yeah, but the Celtics deal
02:28was a weird deal
02:28because it didn't include the building.
02:30Didn't include the building.
02:30They just bought the Celtics.
02:31Right, but that's the weird part.
02:32And the family that sold it was like,
02:33we just want a national award.
02:35We just want an NBA championship.
02:37Like, we can get out seven bill?
02:39Mm-hmm.
02:39Yeah, done deal.
02:40Done.
02:40Like, the new guys,
02:41I don't know how they make that money back
02:42because they don't own the building.
02:43Meaning, you know,
02:44if new kids on the block
02:46want to come appear
02:47at the Boston Garden.
02:48They don't get a cut.
02:49They ain't getting that money.
02:50Right.
02:50But why would you drop
02:51essentially $4 billion
02:54on the Padres?
02:55My guess is
02:56they looked around
02:59and this is the new part.
03:00Private equity has changed things.
03:02There used to be a time
03:04where...
03:04That can't be a good investment.
03:05Well, I think it is.
03:07You think...
03:07So, that means they'll sell it one day.
03:09Yeah, they'll sell it one day
03:10for twice that.
03:11Ah, man.
03:11If not more.
03:12If not more.
03:12If not more.
03:13See, if you could buy something
03:13for $5 billion,
03:15you know,
03:16you probably got 10
03:17sitting in a bank somewhere.
03:18So, I'm not worried
03:19about them, obviously.
03:20Right.
03:21But I'm just trying to figure out
03:22it's not an L.A. team.
03:24No.
03:24San Diego's a smaller market.
03:26It's a smaller market,
03:27but it's California.
03:28TV revenue coming in.
03:29Not huge amounts, though.
03:31New York, of course,
03:32the biggest market of them all,
03:34sold for $2.4 billion.
03:37So, I'm like,
03:38they're obviously a lot smarter
03:38than you and I are,
03:40especially from a financial standpoint,
03:43but you used the term yesterday,
03:45ROI, return on investment.
03:47That's an investment
03:48you don't get a return on.
03:49So, I'm not sure
03:50if that's a vanity purchase
03:52or if they're just like
03:55ridiculous Padres fans,
03:57which I don't think,
03:58to be fair,
04:00anybody is.
04:01Like, let me ask you a question.
04:02Yeah.
04:03I'll be honest.
04:04Have you ever met somebody
04:06that was a diehard Padre fan?
04:09Okay.
04:10I haven't.
04:11Not outside of San Diego.
04:12I've been to San Diego.
04:14I never met a diehard Padre fan.
04:16I'm good friends
04:17with a guy that played
04:19for the Padres.
04:20You do a podcast
04:21with him once a week.
04:22Yeah.
04:23And he doesn't love
04:24the Padres like that.
04:25He doesn't love it.
04:26Right?
04:26He does not love it.
04:27Like, if you told me
04:28you love the San Diego Chargers,
04:30right, and you want to keep
04:31the Chargers in San Diego
04:32before they move to L.A.?
04:33Uh-huh.
04:34All right, it's football.
04:35Junior Seau, you know.
04:37Dan Fouts, I get all that.
04:39I've never met a Padre fan.
04:41And now they're dropping five bill.
04:43I understand where you're coming from.
04:46Some people have too much money.
04:47It's that and
04:48this is almost a return
04:50to the old school.
04:51It used to be
04:52you bought a team
04:53and it was almost
04:54a status symbol
04:55that you owned that team.
04:57Then for a while,
04:58owners started to treat it
04:59almost like a real business,
05:00even though
05:01it's a made-up landscape.
05:03Like, especially
05:04if they get a cap in baseball,
05:05it's a made-up landscape.
05:06Sure.
05:06Right now,
05:07it's kind of a real free market.
05:08It would be a made-up landscape.
05:10Well, I think it's reverting back to
05:12I have it
05:13and when I go around
05:14with the elite of the elite.
05:15I say I have it.
05:16I own the Padres.
05:17Oh, what do you do?
05:18Oh, I do this, this.
05:20I own the Padres.
05:20I own the Padres.
05:21I own the Padres.
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