Pohlad family changes course, will not sell Minnesota Twins after all
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The longtime owners of the Minnesota Twins say they will not sell the team after all.
In a statement issued Wednesday morning, the Pohlad family said that after a monthslong process of searching for a potential new owner, they’ve instead decided to maintain principal ownership of the team.
But the Pohlads said they “are in the process of adding two significant limited partnership groups, each of whom will bring a wealth of experience and share our family values.” That would require league approval — and the family said it won’t share more details on those groups until approval is complete.
“We see and hear the passion from our partners, the community, and Twins fans. That passion inspires us. This ownership group is committed to building a winning team and culture for this region, one that Twins fans are proud to cheer for,” the Pohlad family said in their statement Wednesday.
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The Pohlads had announced in October that they planned to sell the team, a decision reached “after months of thoughtful consideration.” There were rumors of a potential new owner last winter, but any possible deals to sell the team never materialized.
On Wednesday, the family said that “over the past several months, we explored a wide range of potential investment and ownership opportunities. Our focus throughout has been on what’s best for the long-term future of the Twins. We have been fully open to all possibilities.”
The news that the Pohlads won’t sell the team comes just a couple weeks after the Twins traded away a large part of their roster ahead of the league’s trade deadline.
Heading into Wednesday’s road game against the New York Yankees, the Twins’ record is 56-63 this season, in fourth place in the American League Central Division. The Associated Press reported that the team is on pace for its lowest attendance total since Target Field opened in 2010.
La Velle E. Neal III, long-time Minnesota Star Tribune sports columnist, said that many fans were already upset that the Pohlads couldn’t cement the team as a top contender. Even with signing Carlos Correa, fans were skeptical.
“But from the business side, what people don't understand — how much does it cost to maintain organization and run a team and put a good team on the field?” Neal said. “And the Twins are a mid-market team, and they just don't have the revenue streams that other teams have.”
The Pohlad family has owned the Twins since Carl Pohlad bought the team from Calvin Griffith for nearly $44 million in 1984.
During the 1990s, Pohlad unsuccessfully lobbied the Legislature for stadium financing for a replacement to the Metrodome. In 1997, he threatened to sell the team to a North Carolina investor who would move the Twins to that state, but the deal fell through. Nearly a decade later, funding was approved for what would become Target Field.
