The sale of the San Diego Padres to a new ownership group has been approved, Major League Baseball announced today.
The club, valued at $800 million, will be transferred to a new owners group that includes local businessman Ron Fowler, former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley, his sons Brian O'Malley and Kevin O'Malley, his nephews Peter Seidler and Tom Seidler, and San Diegan and pro golfer Phil Mickelson.
Barry Bloom posted this update via Twitter after 8 a.m. Thursday: "Owners approve @Padres sale. New group ushered into meeting to rousing ovation."
"This group understands the Padres’ binding role in the community, and I believe that its collective long-term vision and passion will serve the fans of San Diego well in the years ahead," said Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig in a statement.
Fowler, Kevin O’Malley and Seidler made a presentation to the owners group Wednesday according to MLB.com.
Longtime Padres owner John Moores was quoted by Bloom as saying "It was an out of body experience. It was more emotional than I thought. It's been 18 years."
The sale of the team was on the agenda for Thursday's quarterly ownership meeting in Denver, Colorado according to the team. In order to be approved, 75 percent of the owners needed to vote in favor of the deal.
The O'Malleys were chosen in June from a group of three different bidders hoping to purchase the team.
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Peter O'Malley ran the Dodgers from 1979 to 1998, and his father Walter owned the club when it was still in Brooklyn in 1950.
Day-to-day baseball operations would be covered by Kevin O'Malley and Tom Seidler.
Mickelson's involvement appears to be quite substantial with the four-time major championship winner ready to invest in excess of $50 million in his home town team according to one source.
The bid pulled together by Jeff Moorad fell apart in January when the owners delayed their approval.
Moorad was a prominent sports agent before becoming a minority owner first with the Arizona Diamondbacks, then with the Padres.
John Moores purchased his majority stake in the Padres in December of 1994 for $94 million according to NBCSports.com.
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