The New York Yankees are somewhat known for being willing to let fans buy just about anything. When the old Yankee Stadium closed, the team offered for sale seats, bricks, pieces of scoreboard, even the letters that spelled YANKEE STADIUM on the exterior facade.
Well now the Yankees are taking that industriousness to the next level and allowing fans to actually buy a stake in the team. The New York Post reports the team is offering 1% of the team for a nice, affordable $24 million.
A 1% stake in the New York Yankees is reportedly for sale and for a mere $24 million you can own a piece of one the most storied franchises in sports.
The proposed deal values the team at around $3 billion but factors in a 20% discount since minority owners – especially Yankee minority owners – have limited influence in team affairs.
Obviously a 1% stake is not going to buy you any say in baseball decision-making (or much of any decision-making for that matter), so basically the only reason to sink $24 million is to tell your friends you’re a part owner of an MLB team. As the Post says, “it might be the world’s most expensive sports collectible.”
Then again, from a pure investment standpoint $24 million for 1% is an incredibly reasonable price. That figure offers a discount on a $3 billion valuation, but that’s probably a conservative figure. Last year, Forbes valued the team at $3.2 billion and given the recent history of sports teams for sale, it would probably fetch much more than that if it were actually up for sale (though if you believe Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees won’t be for sale anytime soon).
As for why the Steinbrenners feel the need to sell a measly 1% of their team, who knows. Maybe they’re trying to get their finances in order in time for the 2018 offseason. Somebody’s got to pay Bryce Harper, after all.
