Opening day is synonymous with fresh beginnings. This year, it could mark a new era for the Orioles.
A group led by Baltimore native and billionaire David Rubenstein has an agreement to buy the Orioles, but it is still awaiting approval from Major League Baseball’s owners, the final hurdle in the sale being finalized. The owners are scheduled to vote on the transaction Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the vote.
The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the vote has not been officially announced. The Athletic first reported the scheduled vote.
The transaction is expected to receive the requisite approval — 23 of MLB’s 30 owners must vote in favor of the sale.
Approval just ahead of opening day — Thursday at home against the Los Angeles Angels — would conclude a busy offseason for the Orioles.
In December, the team agreed to a lease with the state of Maryland to continue playing at state-owned Oriole Park at Camden Yards for at least 15 years, unlocking $400 million in publicly funded ballpark improvements. Then a month later, news broke of a sale between a Rubenstein-led group and the Angelos family, the longtime owners of the Baltimore ballclub. In February, MLB owners began discussing the change in ownership and in early March, a committee of owners OK’d the deal.
The Maryland Stadium Authority board last week approved the sale, as required by their lease with the Orioles, in a specially scheduled meeting. That permitted the transfer to Inner Harbor Sports LLC, an entity formed Jan. 11 in Delaware. Rubenstein and Ares Management co-founder Michael Arougheti, who is part of the new ownership group, are listed as co-presidents of the LLC.
The ownership group is also expected to include Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, Basketball Hall of Famer Grant Hill and Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang.
Rubenstein’s group agreed to take over about a 40% stake in the team’s ownership but also has the option to purchase more of the team over time. The deal values the club and its assets, which includes the bulk of the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, at $1.725 billion.
Class-action attorney Peter Angelos, who grew up in Highlandtown, and his family have owned the Orioles since 1993, when he bought it for a then-record $173 million. Angelos had been in declining health for about six years and died at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Towson on Saturday morning. He was 94.
“The city of Baltimore owes him a debt of gratitude for his stewardship of the Orioles across three decades and for positioning the team for great success,” Rubenstein said in a statement.
In recent years, Angelos’ son John acted as the team’s control person, meaning he was accountable to MLB for the club. The team struggled on the field, winning just 33% of its games from 2018 to 2021, but a rebuilt squad showed promise in 2022 and then broke through by winning 101 games and the American League East in 2023.
This season, the Orioles are expected to again compete for a playoff spot, bolstered by trade acquisition Corbin Burnes, the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner, plus former top prospects Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson. The current top prospect in baseball, infielder Jackson Holliday, will start the year in the minor leagues but figures to make his big league debut early in the season.