How to Invest in Minor League Baseball

How many times have you thrown up your hands at the futility of your favorite baseball club and declared, "I could run a team better than these guys"? Investing in minor league baseball could be your chance to put your money where your mouth is. Your degree of involvement, however, will depend on the size of your investment. You can simply buy a share of a team, which will give you a stake in operations but no say. Or, if you've got the money, you can buy the whole club. Ready to step up to the plate?

Things You'll Need

  • Capital
  • Access to credit
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Instructions

    • 1

      Figure out how much money you're willing to spend. More accurately, figure out how much you're willing to lose, if it comes to that. Minor league baseball can be very profitable. It can also be a money pit. If you've got just a little money to spend, you can invest in the stock of companies that operate teams; some shares trade for just pennies. If you've got a fortune to play with, you can buy a whole club. The most valuable minor league team (the Sacramento River Cats, according to Forbes magazine) is worth $30 million.

    • 2

      Buy stock in a holding company that operates minor league baseball teams. This is the easiest way to invest. You won't have any input in running the team, but it will put you in place to benefit from its success. The Indianapolis Indians are publicly traded over the counter (meaning they are not listed on an exchange). As of November 2009, one share cost $25,000. Too rich? Shares in XnE Inc., which operates the St. George, Utah, Roadrunners, were selling for 2 cents on the Nasdaq pink sheets.

    • 3

      Contact individual teams or league offices. Minor league teams are always on the lookout for investors, especially at the lower levels--single-A and rookie league. Whole teams can be had for less than $1 million, or simply for an agreement to assume the club's debts. A quick call to a team's business office will let you know whether the owners would welcome new money. The league office will also have a good idea who among its members is looking for partners. As Mark Ganis of Sports Corp. consultants in Chicago tells Esquire magazine, "It's a rare team that's sold in a vacuum, without anybody not involved in the sale knowing about it."

    • 4

      Contact a broker or consultant who specializes in the sale of sports teams. Game Plan LLC, for example, has helped arrange the sale of several major league and minor league baseball teams. These companies can connect you with team owners looking to sell, as well as buyers putting together an investment group. If you're a take-charge kind of person, they can help you arrange your own ownership group.