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LAS VEGAS — A month ago, David Rubenstein made a quip during an event in Washington. When it hit social media in quote-graphic glory, it seemed to be a stunning admission of the reality behind sports ownership.
Rubenstein, speaking on an Economic Club of Washington, D.C., panel with other local owners to promote his book “Inside the Owner’s Box,” noted that he had turned down other opportunities prior to leading the group that purchased the Orioles. Dry humor, which is practically his only form of linguistic oration, came out in full force.
“I had passed on many teams a long time ago, and Josh [Harris] bought the Philadelphia 76ers for $250 million or something like that [$280 million]. I was like, ‘What is he doing? How can he be …?’”
But, looking at the team valuation now, Rubenstein sees how much it has multiplied. For instance, his group purchased the Orioles for around $1.7 billion.
“So I made a mistake,” Rubenstein said. “A lot of my friends were buying teams, and I realized they’re making money on this, and they’re making more money than I’m making in private equity. I thought maybe I should look at it as a financial thing, but ultimately I bought the Orioles for a philanthropic purpose.”
Pulled this way, Rubenstein’s joke appears to be a dagger in MLB owners’ sides, particularly as the league and owners argue for a salary cap that would, in their view, help balance the league: “They’re [other owners are] making more money than I’m making in private equity.”
It has turned into a talking point. At Scott Boras’ yearly news conference during the GM meetings in Las Vegas on Wednesday, the superagent argued on the side of the players union that a salary cap would do more harm than good to the sport. He noted that the health of Major League Baseball is at an all-time high, with viewership numbers, TV deals and team valuations on the rise.
And he referenced Rubenstein’s quote as an example of why ownership’s arguments should fall flat.
“Even an owner, a private equity genius, has said, ‘I can’t do that well in public markets. I want the asset class of Major League Baseball because all of my friends are doing much better in that market,’” Boras said. “That is about what currently is going on, and their purchasing is based on that and not any assumptions going forward.”
Of course, Rubenstein was talking about franchise valuations, not annual revenue figures. But there’s no denying that strong revenue is one factor driving up franchise values (although, according to CNBC, only the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees generated more than $600 million in revenue during the 2024 season).
Still, as a lockout looms in December once the collective bargaining agreement ends, Rubenstein’s quote feels vital. At its heart was a witty observation about rising franchise valuations. The underlying message is one Boras and others can reference in the players’ favor.
“Players are emboldened by the success of this game,” Boras said. “They are standing on truth, absolute truth, of the fact that we have record franchise revenues in every quadrant of the market. We have record viewership. We have record sponsorship. We have record attendance.”
Boras said the union doesn’t have to guess, as it did in December 2021, on those metrics. That was the beginning of a lockout that ran into March 2022. The coronavirus pandemic altered some of the figures and made arguments less complete.
“We have the truths for players to stand on,” Boras said. “They’re emboldened with truth and the fact that our game has reached an Everest of success that has never been reached before under this system.”
Banner reporter Andrew Golden contributed to this article.
