Commissioner Rob Manfred today announced that the owners of the Major League Clubs have unanimously approved the ownership group of the Kansas City Royals, led by John Sherman, a Kansas City, Missouri-based entrepreneur. The vote was conducted at the Owners Meetings being held in Arlington, TX. The final approval is contingent upon the closing of the sale transaction with the David Glass family, which is expected by Monday.
Sherman and the co-investors will mark the third owner of the Royals since their inception in 1969 when Ewing Kauffman brought Major League Baseball back to Kansas City after a one-year absence. Closing of the transaction is subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including MLB approval.
“First, I’d like to express my gratitude to David Glass and his family for all that he has done for Kansas City, for Major League Baseball – and for giving us an opportunity to do this in our hometown,” Sherman said. “Second, my thanks to Paul Dolan for being a great partner in Cleveland; I look forward to continuing to be his partner in Major League Baseball. Finally, I want to thank the Commissioner’s Office and my fellow MLB owners for their confidence and trust.”
Mr. Sherman is an entrepreneur who has started and developed two successful businesses based in Kansas City, Missouri. His first startup, LPG Services Group, grew rapidly and merged with Dynegy in 1996. Mr. Sherman later founded Inergy L.P., which became a public company in 2001. He led Inergy through a period of tremendous growth, merging it with Crestwood Holdings in 2013. Mr. Sherman continues to serve on the board of the merged company – Crestwood Equity Partners (NYSE:CEQP).
Mr. Sherman has served and supported the Kansas City community extensively in both a civic capacity and through his philanthropic efforts. He has been recognized with numerous honors for his entrepreneurial successes including as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. In addition, in 2014, he was inducted into the inaugural class of The Entrepreneur Hall of Fame at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Henry Bloch School of Management with a group that included Ewing Kauffman, the original owner of the Kansas City Royals and Lamar Hunt, a founder of the American Football League (AFL) and late owner of the Kansas City Chiefs.
