Over the past few years, as rumors swirled about whether John Angelos would sell the Orioles or move the team out of Baltimore, as lawsuits against his own brother, Lou, aired the Angelos’ dirty laundry and the family’s patriarch, Peter, remained steadfast in his desire for the franchise to be sold upon his death, fans were left in a state of limbo.
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Baltimore had seen its NFL team, the Colts, leave town when owner Robert Irsay moved it to Indianapolis in 1984. Angelos’ words, “as long as Fort McHenry is standing watch over the Inner Harbor, the Orioles will remain in Baltimore,” were nice, but hardly reassuring. This was an owner who interrupted the team’s playoff clinching-game in September by being shown on the JumboTron with the preemptive news that the Orioles and Maryland Stadium Authority had reached a new lease agreement. (This wasn’t technically true: it would happen, but not for months.)
Actions are always what matter most. And on Tuesday night, Angelos’ actions finally crystallized as the family plans to sell the Orioles to a pair of private equity billionaires — David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group and Mike Arougheti of Ares Management Corporation — for $1.725 billion, a source briefed on the negotiations told The Athletic. The news was first reported by Puck News.
Rubenstein has local ties. He’s a Baltimore native and well-known D.C. philanthropist worth an estimated $3.8 billion, according to Forbes. Arougheti is worth an estimated $1.8 billion.
Should MLB and the other 29 owners approve the deal, Rubenstein would reportedly assume the job as the team’s control person, i.e. the club’s top decision maker from John Angelos, ending the family’s three-decade run. There is no timetable for when the deal would be made official, though it stands to reason it will be on the agenda for discussion at next week’s owners meetings in Orlando.
Rubenstein and Arougheti initially will buy 40 percent of the club and the rest following Peter Angelos’ death, according to Puck News. That move allows the Angelos family to save millions in capital gains taxes that would be significantly higher if the 94-year-old Peter was alive.
It was Peter who bought the team and became majority owner in 1993, purchasing the MLB franchise from New York venture capitalist Eli Jacobs, along with a group of investors, for $173 million. The move was lauded at the time because of Angelos’ Baltimore roots. Born in Baltimore to immigrant parents, Angelos started his own law firm where he made his fortune.
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His tenure was controversial as the elder Angelos was known early on in his ownership tenure as being incredibly hands-on, often accused of being meddlesome as Baltimore churned through managers and front offices. He won public points for his refusal to use replacement players if needed during baseball’s strike and was well-known for massive philanthropic endeavors in Baltimore. Later, he became more of a recluse. After the Orioles lost to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series in 2012, a season that snapped 14 consecutive losing seasons, Angelos stood in the visiting clubhouse and declared both manager Buck Showalter and executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette weren’t going anywhere. It was a rare sight and one of his last public comments.
As Peter’s health faded, his sons, John and Louis, introduced the team’s current executive vice president of baseball operations Mike Elias at a press conference in November 2018. The following year, John officially assumed the role of the team’s control person. While John has largely been hands-off in baseball operations, allowing Elias and his group to take the Orioles into a rebuild and turn them back into winners, his time in charge has included its fair share of controversy.
In addition to the preemptive news regarding the lease negotiations, John and his mother, Georgia, were sued by Louis over control of the team in 2022. According to the suit, Georgia determined that it was in the trust’s best interest to sell the team, and John “misled her into believing that he is working to accomplish this goal” but actually has “done everything in his power to stall and, ultimately, thwart plans to sell the club.” That allegedly included torpedoing “interest expressed by one highly credible group of buyers.”
The case was settled last year, but Louis also alleged that John had plans to relocate the Orioles to Nashville, where he owns a home.
Peter and Georgia’s wish for the family to sell the team and reach a resolution quickly became more apparent as rumors of Rubenstein’s interest circulated in December. As that became public, the stadium lease agreement stalled as at least one member of the Maryland Senate publicly voiced concern over John’s intentions.
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While John promised more accountability from ownership during Elias’ introduction, his media presence has been sparse but memorable.
On three separate occasions, he promised beat reporters to open the team’s books and did not follow through. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, he sparred with Dan Connolly, a former reporter at The Athletic, over his line of questioning. Angelos also suspended popular broadcaster Kevin Brown for pointing out on air that previous Orioles had struggled in Tampa Bay. John then told The New York Times that the team was reviewing their internal processes that led to the discipline.
In that same interview, he said that in order for the Orioles to retain one of the most promising young core of players in baseball, “We’re going to have to raise the prices here — dramatically.”
John Angelos also said: “I don’t think you should run losses. I think you should live within your means and within your market.”
The Orioles had a $70 million payroll in 2023 that was among the lowest in the majors. They haven’t ranked higher than 27th in Opening Day payroll since 2018. Prior to that, they spent the previous decade in the middle of the pack in payroll. They were valued by Forbes at $1.7 billion at its last valuation and it’s unclear how much the new owners will seek to change the O’s financial position, if at all. Baltimore is coming off one of its best seasons in history in 2023, finishing 101-61 before losing in the ALDS to the Texas Rangers. The win total was the team’s highest since 1979.
The sale reportedly includes the Orioles’ regional sports network, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is majority-owned by the Orioles and also broadcasts Washington Nationals games. The two teams have been embroiled in a decade-long feud over rights fees. News of MASN’s inclusion in the sale was first reported by the Baltimore Sun.
The Orioles ownership changing hands is the latest in a time of drastic change for sports in the DMV area. Rubenstein explored a deal for the Washington Commanders, which were sold to a group led by Josh Harris, and had rumored interest in the Washington Nationals, who remain for sale if ownership gets an offer it likes. The O’s deal could help set that in motion, particularly if it helps bring an end to the MASN drama.
For now, one thing is clear: The days of the Angelos family owning the Orioles appear to be numbered.
Required reading
- What is next for Orioles and Baltimore after Angelos family settles lawsuits?
- Rosenthal: Orioles’ John Angelos hits the wrong note singing small-market blues
- Rosenthal: Why the Orioles haven’t signed a new lease to stay at Camden Yards
(Photo: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
Brittany Ghiroli is a senior writer for The Athletic covering MLB. She spent two years on the Washington Nationals beat for The Athletic and, before that, a decade with MLB.com, including nine years on the Orioles beat and brief stints in Tampa Bay (’08) and New York (’09). She was Baltimore Magazine’s “Best Reporter” in 2014 and D.C. Sportswriter of the Year in 2019. She’s a proud Michigan State graduate. Follow Brittany on Twitter @Britt_Ghiroli
