After 21 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken Jr. was nominated to the hall of fame in 2007.
The Baltimore Orioles are being sold by John Angelos, a member of the family that has owned the team for decades, to a group led by private equity billionaire David Rubenstein. That new ownership group also includes one of the greatest players in the team’s history.
“David Rubenstein is set to become the control (person) of the Orioles after he agreed to a deal to buy a stake of the Orioles,” Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner reported on X. “Cal Ripken Jr. is part of the ownership group, sources say.”
Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, has been working to purchase the team for months and has agreed to the purchase alongside fellow private equity magnate Mike Arougheti. The sale will be for $1.725 billion according to Puck News, which first reported the transaction.
“As part of the deal, the group will start off owning about 40 percent of the club,” according to Puck News. “The group will buy Angelos’ remaining stake following the death of Peter Angelos, the family patriarch, who has been incapacitated for years by an illness.”
More details will be shared with other MLB team owners during an annual meeting to be held in Orlando next week, Puck News added.
More Financial, Sports Network Details Around Sale of Baltimore Orioles
Peter Angelos originally bought the Orioles from financier Eli Jacobs for $173 million in 1993. Front Office Sports reported that he had planned to pass it on to his wife, but numerous lawsuits between family members emerged as a result. Following those suits, which were eventually dropped, Rubenstein had been linked to the team.
One significant unanswered question is how this deal might impact the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), which is primarily owned by the Orioles along with the Washington Nationals.
“MASN controls the local broadcasting rights for both the Orioles and the Nationals, but its complex structure has stalled attempts by both the Orioles and Nationals owners to sell their respective teams,” per Puck News. “But it shouldn’t be a surprise that these new owners, masters in the high art of financial structuring, overcame the blocker.”
Cal Ripken Jr., One of the Greatest Baltimore Orioles Players in History, Now Set to Co-own the Team
Ripken, known as “the iron man” after he played in a record 2,131 consecutive games, spent all of his 21 career seasons in Baltimore. He won the rookie of the year award in 1982, holds two MVP awards, went to 19 All-Star games and was nominated to the hall of fame in 2007.
“(Ripken) still lives in the area and is highly involved in the local baseball scene, regularly attending Orioles games and operating the Ripken Experience, a youth sports complex in Aberdeen,” according to The Baltimore Banner. “He is also the founding owner of the Aberdeen Ironbirds, the Orioles’ High-A affiliate.”
Things seem to be looking up for the Orioles. 25-year-old Adley Rutschman, 22-year-old Gunnar Henderson and 20-year-old Jackson Holliday, set to make his MLB debut in the 2024 season, are arguably the best young core of players in all of baseball. The team won the AL East division last year, ending a seven-year postseason drought.
And now the team has strengthened its ties with one of the most prolific players in its own, as well as all of MLB’s, history.