{"id":337398,"date":"2026-05-29T11:52:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T11:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/337398\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T11:52:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T11:52:30","slug":"possible-investors-emerging-for-sacramento-mlb-expansion-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/337398\/","title":{"rendered":"Possible investors emerging for Sacramento MLB expansion bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin McClatchy quickly shot down a question about whether he was interested in an ownership stake in a potential Sacramento-area Major League Baseball expansion franchise.<\/p>\n

McClatchy, 63, is a Sacramento native whose family owned The Sacramento Bee for generations. He served as chairman of The Bee\u2019s parent, The McClatchy Company from 2012 to 2020, when it filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

But his business has also been baseball. McClatchy was lead owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1996 to 2007 and kept a stake in the team until 2009.<\/p>\n

He was on-hand Thursday for a press conference at Drake\u2019s The Barn in West Sacramento where regional leaders unveiled a pitch to bring an expansion team to West Sacramento. McClatchy wants to help in this effort, but there are limits to how far he\u2019ll go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not looking for an ownership stake,\u201d McClatchy told The Bee. \u201cI\u2019m merely looking to help as an advisor \u2026 But I will help them get the ownership folks they\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Successfully landing an MLB franchise would be a monumental undertaking, not the least of which would be finding an ownership group that could build a ballpark and pay an MLB expansion fee that local leaders expect to top $2 billion. McClatchy showed that it might be a tough sell even for those with experience, though some in attendance were interested.<\/p>\n

Which possible investors were in attendance Thursday<\/p>\n

There were at least two people on stage during Thursday\u2019s event who are interested in investing in an MLB expansion franchise locally: developer and former Sacramento Kings minority owner Mark Friedman; and two-time MLB All-Star Derrek Lee, who grew up in Sacramento and went to high school with current Mayor Kevin McCarty.<\/p>\n

Lee, who finished third in National League MVP voting in 2005 and earned $91.4 million during his 15-year MLB career according to Baseball-Reference.com<\/a>, had been a potential investor when Sacramento was in the running for a Major League Soccer franchise.<\/p>\n

Asked if he was interested in investing in a possible Sacramento MLB expansion team as well, Lee replied, \u201cI am. It\u2019d be on a smaller level, but I have interest. I want to be a part of this any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former Former Major League Baseball players Dusty Baker, left, and Derrek Lee show their support as Sacramento regional leaders announce the region\u2019s bid for a Major League Baseball expansion team during a news conference at The Barn in West Sacramento on Thursday. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Friedman is the founder of Fulcrum Property. His company began purchasing West Sacramento land in 2004<\/a>. Friedman announced Thursday that he had control of a 50-acre parcel, which is where an MLB-caliber ballpark could be built.<\/p>\n

Nearby Sutter Health Park currently hosts both the Athletics, ahead of the team\u2019s planned move to Las Vegas for the 2028 season and the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, though the park has capacity for about 14,000 fans, far below a standard MLB stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re committing land and capital, $150 million in the effort,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cSo we\u2019ll be an investor in the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friedman, who is chairing the expansion effort, dubbed The Sacramento Pitch, didn\u2019t say what his percentage of ownership would be, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re not at that stage yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group announced $1.8 billion in possible commitments toward the franchise, with a press release from Brianna Buda of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council noting that this includes \u201c$800 million in land and private investment and $1 billion in expected investment from the City of West Sacramento.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Developer Developer Mark Friedman, left, and Barry Broome, of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, listen as Sacramento regional leaders announce the region\u2019s bid to secure a Major League Baseball expansion team during a news conference at The Barn in West Sacramento on Thursday. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Other big-name owners might soon emerge, with GSEC President and CEO Barry Broome saying that \u201cwe already have two global ownership groups\u201d and that one of them would be in the area on June 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, baseball makes money,\u201d Broome said. \u201cThe teams generally produce about a 10% return, which is phenomenal and that doesn\u2019t count real estate, so the investment will be easy to get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broome said that Sacramento Kings general partner Vivek Ranadive had already provided a minority ownership commitment. Ranadive, who lives in the Bay Area, wasn\u2019t present Thursday. The team\u2019s chief operating officer, Matina Kolokotronis, was on stage but declined to be interviewed afterward.<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s father Leon Lee, one of the first Americans to star in Japanese baseball, was also on-hand Thursday. Leon Lee also grew up in Sacramento and is of several professional baseball players who attended Grant High School in the 1960s or \u201970s. This includes his brother Leron Lee, who played eight years in the majors before going onto Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know people,\u201d Leon Lee said. \u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be talking to people in the future about who wants to get involved and be part of that investment group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Kevin McClatchy (and others) are out<\/p>\n

McClatchy said he had a great experience in his time owning the Pirates, but that he wasn\u2019t planning to do it again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a 9-year-old son, so I got to spend a little time with him,\u201d McClatchy said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the only person who is unlikely to invest in the team.<\/p>\n

Sources told The Bee\u2019s Chris Biderman that Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who had interest in buying the A\u2019s before the team left Oakland, will not invest in Sacramento\u2019s MLB bid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Longtime MLB manager and former All-Star player Dusty Baker spoke at Thursday\u2019s event, talking about how he moved to Sacramento from Southern California as a teenager. He lives in Granite Bay. But Baker, who turns 77 on June 15, said he would \u201cprobably not\u201d want to invest in a Sacramento MLB expansion team and that at his age, he\u2019d prefer to be an adviser.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d be difficult to be that old and have things invested at that time,\u201d Baker said. \u201cSo I\u2019m trying to bring things closer to the house. But I\u2019m here to lend my support and lend my knowledge in what I\u2019ve seen in baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former Former major leaguer and Sacramento Baseball Hall of Fame member Dusty Baker greets former Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg before Sacramento regional leaders announced the region\u2019s bid for a Major League Baseball expansion team during a news conference at The Barn in West Sacramento on Thursday. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Still, Baker added that he thought Sacramento had a real chance of landing a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a big-league city for a long time,\u201d Baker said. \u201cIt\u2019s just that sometimes we didn\u2019t believe it and some of the rest of the world didn\u2019t believe it, but now we believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n

McClatchy said that Sacramento was \u201cin a great spot\u201d and that he\u2019d been impressed sitting down with Friedman and others to discuss the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am out here because I believe it,\u201d McClatchy said. \u201cI think people in Sacramento, when they realize that this can be a possibility, it\u2019s going to be pretty exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that this was the first day of the campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take time and it\u2019s going to take a lot of energy,\u201d McClatchy said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to explain to the rest of America why Sacramento is a viable Major League Baseball town.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 3:33 PM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Graham Womack<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Graham Womack is a general assignment reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Prior to joining The Bee full-time in September 2025, he freelanced for the publication for several years. His work has won several California Journalism Awards and spurred state legislation.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin McClatchy quickly shot down a question about whether he was interested in an ownership stake in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-337398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}