77 Hitmen

With the #1 pick, the Sox also get the largest amount of bonus pool money. They are NOT going to skip over the person they like best because of signing bonus money.

Bring back those cardboard cutouts of fans from the Covid season!

That must be the reason. I wonder how often they have their roof open in Arizona (comparable climate to Vegas) and in Miami (comparable to TB) or Houston for that matter during their 81 home dates. I thought one reason for a retractable roof was to allow for natural grass and avoid that awful Metrodome-type astroturf. But synthetic turf has improved enough that Miami and Arizona has switched to it even with their retractable roofs and Globe Life Field has artificial turf, too. Domes like Tropicana Field look dreary with no natural light but having ETFE as a roofing material changes that.

I agree with everything said here, but man, that's a lot of money! I guess it's just hard for a regular schmo like me to conceptualize someone dropping $2B for a sports franchise and then coming up with another $1B or so for a stadium like that. But I looked it up and the Ishbias (his brother Mat being primary owner) bought the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) for $4B and the brothers still have a net worth of $5B and $10B. I wonder how the Sox franchise sale price gets intertwined with the need for the incoming owners to privately finance a new stadium (if they don't want to stay at Rate Field). If JR had somehow gotten the state to pay $1B toward a new stadium, surely the asking price for the team would have been higher.

If they're working on a new stadium, he's absolutely deeply involved in that since he'll be funding much of it and he'll be the owner going forward. Jerry already screwed up one ballpark design big time and there's no way Ishbia is just going to sit back and see what JR comes up with this time around. But yeah, he's not going to be involved in day to day operations of the team until at least 2029. Maybe he'll infuse some cash to shore up their scouting/player development, etc. now. But he's not making roster or staffing decisions for the next few years.

....also, previous renderings for a Rays stadium show a fixed roof. The new A's stadium in Vegas will also have a fixed roof. Is the era of retractable roof stadiums over? I thought the whole point of having at least a retractable roof is that people didn't like going to baseball games indoors in the spring and summer. Several of the new NFL stadiums have fixed roofs (Minnesota, LA, Vegas) and it looks like the Bears, Commanders, and Browns proposals have a fixed roof. So, they're trending away from retractable roofs in football thanks to ETFE ceilings.

This could be a huge boost to that franchise. I hope moving to a better ballpark at a better location resolves their attendance issues. With a more accessible location and 100 acres to develop a stadium district, it could be very successful. Once a new Rays stadium and the new A's stadium open, there won't be many ballparks left that are arguably worse than Rate Field. Maybe Angel Stadium or Chase Field? I fully expect the Royals to get a deal done to leave Kauffman Stadium soon since they will have 2 states bidding against each other.

And if, after those 7 years, he's good enough for a huge payday, it'll likely be Ishbia signing the checks at that point.

Yep, that would be typical White Sox luck and with the Twins and even the Royals getting the picks ahead of them.

I've said a few times that JR runs the Sox like they're the Pittsburgh Pirates instead of a team in the 3rd largest market. I guess I was wrong, we're not even up to the Pirates level.

The only thing I can think of that makes 2029 a "magical year" is that it's the year the Sox lease at Rate Field expires. Otherwise, I agree that it is a weird arrangement. Sell the team....but Jerry's option to sell doesn't even kick in until 2029 and Ishbia's option to buy doesn't kick in until freaking 2034 - nine years from now and when Jerry will be 98. What happens if Jerry passes before 2029? I have no idea. @southsider2k5 is totally right that JR saw that Ishbia was about to buy the Twins and had to do something now. JR also realized that his plan to get public funding for a new stadium was DOA in Springfield, so he didn't want to lose Ishbia as not only purchaser of the team, but also perhaps financer of the new stadium. I found it interesting that they officially announced the team sale/infusion of cash agreement only a few days after the Fire announced their stadium plans at the 78. It's possible that was just a coincidence, but it does make me think that JR saw his window for a Sox stadium at the 78 closing and wanted to get financing for the ballpark going while the property was still available.

Yep, they would have gotten the 2nd WC spot that season. They had a 19-inning victory just before the All Star break that gave them a 57-31 record - on pace to win over 100 games. Then they went 2-10 right after the break.

I totally agree. This change may be the reason why MLB has seen an increase in viewership over the last few years. The 7:00 games dragging on until 10:30 or close to 11:00 night after night was getting ridiculous. On the other hand, I think potentially the worst thing that may come out of his tenure is the complete destruction of the American League and National League. He sure seems to be setting MLB up to make this a reality. IMO, it just won't be the same when the Sox and Cubs are both in the "Great Lakes Division" of the "Eastern Conference" or whatever the hell they end up with.

The A's say their new Vegas stadium is on track to open in 2028. They have also unveiled a "virtual preview" of their new stadium. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/47205920/athletics-2b-las-vegas-stadium-track-2028-opening-officials-say https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/curious-how-new-athletics-ballpark-will-look-now-fans-can-get-sneak-peek

Also, let's not forget that the Ishbias bought the Suns in 2023 - less than 3 years ago. It's not like they've had years and years of spending with poor results.

The price tag for the Fire's soccer stadium is up by $100M and now is listed as $750M. But there's no mention of Mansueto backing away from his stadium plan. Levy was announced today as having all the concessions at the new Fire stadium. “They’re going to work to engage local culinary talent, local restaurateurs, to bring some of the flavors from around the different 77 neighborhoods into the stadium,” https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/03/levy-food-service-new-chicago-fire-stadium/

The Ishbia brothers presumably are not idiots. In spending somewhere close to $2B for the White Sox, they surely know that this franchise has serious troubles and a change in modus operandi is a MUST for them. They also know that the Cubs have become even more dominant in Chicago, that Wrigley Field is more popular than ever after the Ricketts renovations, and that Rate Field is one of the more obsolete stadiums in the league at this point. He also knows that, while the Sox have a hard-core group of die hard fans that are as passionate as any fan base, the fanbase is not growing and, if anything, market share is probably shrinking. It's no accident that he told the Pope his intentions to put the Sox in a new stadium. He wouldn't have said this with the press listening if the dream of a new stadium was unlikely. He also knows very well that the state isn't handing them $1B for the stadium, either, so that leads me to believe he's looking to privately finance the stadium. Turning this team into a winner on the field is paramount, but at this point it has to be more than that unless the Sox can somehow win several pennants in quick succession. They've made mistakes with the Suns, but that doesn't mean they can't learn from their mistakes. At any rate, having them take over the White Sox seems like the best option possible that I can think of - certainly better than keeping the team in the Reinsdorf family after Jerry passes.

That was basically his point - this franchise could be a powerhouse if run the right way. But that's certainly not the case right now.

Ah yes, I forgot the Giants as one of the major market teams. They have the Bay Area all to themselves now. High-price area with a huge corporate presence and they play at one of the most popular ballparks in the league. I agree that SD is an interesting situation. Sort of a unique market - very popular ballpark, only city with a MLB but no NFL/NBA/NHL team, but also a metro area that's somewhat boxed in. Yeah, I'd consider SD, AZ, and SEA as mid-market. WAS should be too and perhaps DET. Colorado should be mid market, but they're obviously a total mess. Of course, we all know about the Sox. Should be major market team, but under JR's stewardship, he's managed to make them small market nested within the 3rd largest metro area.

1) As @caulfield12 said, the value gets reset for heirs. If I'm not mistaken, let's say your parents bought a vacation home decades ago for $200,000 and it's worth $700k now. If they pass, you inherit the property, and decide to sell it, your capital gains would be based on the value it had at the time you inherited it. You would not be subject to tax on the $500k increase in value of the property from the time your parents purchased it. 2) There's a lot more to generating revenue for a franchise than number of tickets sold. Local TV revenue, corporate sponsorship, luxury suites, and even price of the tickets are much higher in they are in the major markets than in Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin. The Dodgers, for example, get over $300M per year in local TV revenue. The Brewers get about 1/10th of that. Plus, some teams generate revenue from the developments around their team's stadium (e.g.; Braves, Cubs, Cardinals) whereas Am Fam Field is surrounded by parking lots. Would the Brewers be losing money if they jacked up their payroll to major market level? None of us would know for sure unless MLB teams agreed to open their books (which they won't). But there was a report earlier explaining how the Pirates and Twins are losing money. At least the Twins ($400M) and White Sox (~$150M?) have a sizable debt. When the Brewers say this, it sounds plausible. When the Yankees say they're not making money, that's what I find hard to believe. Do I feel sorry for ANY of the rich MLB owners? NO. But I also find it an incredible coincidence that all the small market teams can't keep up with big market payroll while almost all the major market teams are able to spend big bucks on high-prices free agents. NYY, NYM, BOS, PHI, TOR, LAD, LAA, CHC, HOU, TEX, ATL - probably a couple of others I'm missing - these are the HAVES. Teams like MIL, TB, and CLE that actually try to win are the Have Nots. They're NOT going to spend $200M on players like Dylan Cease.

That's a bit of a defeatist attitude and, I know, I know, why wouldn't a Sox fan have a defeatist attitude. Sounds like something JR would say - he's not tone-deaf and out of touch, Sox fans are and they'll turn on the next owner no matter who it is. I know most sports team owners are unpopular to some degree, but I find it hard to believe that it's the Sox fans who are at fault and were being unfair for turning on Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn and that they're sure to apply the same level of vilification to the next owner.

It remains to be seen if this is a bad contract. If Toronto wins the WS next year with the help of Cease and then he's washed up during the last half of the contract, will it still be a bad contract?

Who is that in the middle of table 3? In fact, I could use help with a lot of these faces. Some are obvious.

Yep. As Sox fans, we've spent the last 20-30 years remarking at how certain free agent contracts have been terrible for that other team and that they're going to regret it. Meanwhile, the Sox have held the line at the $75M contract mark and have been one of the worst teams over the last 20 years in terms of making the playoffs and actually winning playoff games. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going to pity these other franchises for their supposed stupidity, I'm going to ENVY them because we're stuck with the Sox organization's stupidity at how they do things.

Yes, but the Royals intend to leave Kauffman Stadium for a new ballpark at one of 3 possible sites. No matter where they land, it'll be a ballpark that's either downtown or built along with an entertainment district. https://www.kmbc.com/article/royals-fan-feedback-survey-future-stadium-kansas-city-2025/69240460 https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46030983/mlb-ballparks-future-stadiums-kansas-city-royals-downtown-suburbs-village-model With two states (and 2 different counties on the Missouri side) pitted against each other, I think the chances of them getting something done are pretty good. The A's and Rays will end up with a new stadium/entertainment district development, too.