yahoo
At Sportico's Invest New York event, private equity billionaire Jos E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, detailed their acquisition of the San Diego Padres for an MLB-record $3.9 billion. The couple took the stage to discuss the deal and the vision for the franchise.
Jones articulated the team's brand philosophy: 'It's about inclusion, not in an old woke sort of way, but in a we-are-here way,' she said. 'I like to say it's San Diego and the Padres for San Diego, the Baja community, and beyond.'
The Padres were described as a robust business, stronger than any recent MLB teams on the market, which led to a competitive bidding process. The three other finalists were Dan Friedkin (owner of Everton and AS Roma), Joe Lacob (co-owner of the Golden State Warriors), and Tom Gores (owner of the Detroit Pistons). The team received three bids of at least $3.5 billion, including the winning offer.
In 2025, the Padres posted gross revenues of $530 million and EBITDA of $20 million, according to multiple sources who reviewed the pitch deck. Petco Park is one of the best-drawing venues in MLB, with the team ranking second in attendance last year at 3.4 million fans and consistently in the top five since 2021.
Feliciano, who co-founded Clearlake Capital with Behdad Eghbali in 2006, has become a prominent sports investor. Clearlake provided a significant portion of the funding for the $3.16 billion purchase of Chelsea. Feliciano and Jones are also minority investors in the Minnesota Timberwolves and have investments across sports through Dyal HomeCourt Partners, Arctos Sports Partners, Monarch Collective, and Project Level. Feliciano is the second Latino owner in baseball, joining Arte Moreno of the Los Angeles Angels.
Key Analysis
Feliciano highlighted his unique perspective: 'We have a new set of experiences. I'm obviously fluent in Spanish; 30% of the players in the league speak Spanish. That affords me a different perspective than other folks around the league – we can bring that unique perspective to try to make the team a little bit better.'
The couple declined to comment on major MLB and Premier League issues, with Feliciano stating that questions about MLB's pending labor issues were 'outside the strike zone' and he didn't want to opine on issues facing Dodgers owner Mark Walter and Manchester City. He did confirm that the Padres' multiyear deal with prediction market Kalshi, announced in August, was made by the previous ownership group. 'There are a lot of things we inherited,' Feliciano said. 'Many things can be used for good. It can be used for things that are less positive. I think we want to keep it positive in San Diego, so I think that that's one of the many things that we'll look at over the next several years.' He reiterated that Kalshi is a good partner now but that the industry is under scrutiny and should be examined.
Originally reported by yahoo.