San Diego Padres could be up for sale as Seidler family considers options

The family of the late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler is exploring the possibility of selling the franchise.

The Padres announced the Seidler family’s decision to examine a sale Thursday. The club has hired BDT & MSD Partners, which served as an adviser on similar discussions in recent years to the NBA’s Boston Celtics and MLB’s Chicago White Sox.

John Seidler, who became the Padres chairman after his brother’s death in November 2023, said his family is “evaluating our future with the Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise.”

“We will undertake this process with integrity and professionalism in a way that honors Peter’s legacy and love for the Padres and lays the foundation for the franchise’s long-term success,” John Seidler added in a statement. “During the process and as we prepare for the 2026 season, the Padres will continue to focus on their players, employees, fans and community while putting every resource into winning a World Series championship. We remain fully committed to this team, its fans, and the San Diego community.”

Peter Seidler was part of a group that purchased the Padres for $800 million in 2012, and he became the team’s primary owner in November 2020 after buying out Ron Fowler’s majority stake. He quickly endeared himself to Padres fans with his aggressive spending in an attempt to win San Diego’s first major professional sports championship.

After the two-time cancer survivor died two years ago, his wife, Sheel, sued her brothers-in-law Matthew and Robert in an attempt to prevent John Seidler from becoming the team’s control person. Sheel Seidler alleged Peter Seidler wanted her to succeed him, but Matthew Seidler said Sheel Seidler’s claims were “entirely untrue, and we will vigorously defend ourselves against them.”

Peter Seidler, a grandson of former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, built the foundation for the longest sustained stretch of winning in Padres history.

San Diego has made the postseason four times in the past six years, winning at least 90 games in each of the last two seasons with an exciting roster built around stars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. The Padres continued to win despite reducing their payroll in 2024 following Peter Seidler’s death, with general manager A.J. Preller maintaining the aggressive mindset encouraged by Peter Seidler with a series of ambitious moves.

The Padres won 90 games this year before losing a tense three-game Wild Card Series to the Chicago Cubs. Earlier this week, Preller introduced former Padres reliever Craig Stammen as the club’s new manager.

The Padres’ large, loyal fan base and their home the well-regarded Petco Park would be significant assets for a potential new owner. The club has set a franchise record for home attendance in each of the past three seasons while drawing more than 3 million fans for the first three times in team history, capped by 3,437,201 in 2025 – a record average of 42,435 per game.

The San Diego metropolitan area is among the top 20 largest markets in the U.S., yet the Padres were the only major professional sports team in town between the departure of the NFL’s Chargers in 2017 and the arrival of Major League Soccer’s expansion San Diego FC this season.

Not every consideration of a potential sale leads to an actual sale in MLB.

Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno explored a sale of his franchise for several months in late 2022 before deciding to keep the team. Last August, the Pohlad family took the Minnesota Twins off the market and instead took on two limited partnership groups.