Padres ownership in flux, Seidler family seeking sale
After an exciting season that ended with a kerplop in the Wild Card Series, the Padres now deal with turmoil at the very top.
To say things have not been clear and smooth in the ownership of the San Diego Padres since beloved owner Peter Seilder passed away in November 2023 would be like saying the ocean is wet. Now, nearly two years exactly to the day since his passing, the team announced that the Seidler family is exploring “strategic options for the San Diego Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise.” This comes just a month after the Padres concluded another 90-win season.
Current team chairman John Seidler added his statement. He said that the “Padres will continue to focus on its players, employees, fans, and community, while putting every resource into winning a World Series championship. We remain fully committed to this team, its fans, and the San Diego community.”
Padres ownership is considering a sale of the franchise. From the team … pic.twitter.com/64U79dqRpQ
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) November 13, 2025
Major League Baseball approved John Seidler as the Padres’ control person in February. He oversaw the team for the 2025 season. Even with a more limited budget, the Padres still won.
Many options remain on the table. A total sale of all the shares of the team may not be the result.
Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune stated in the report, “members of the Seidler family were part of a group headed by Peter Seidler and Ron Fowler that bought the Padres from John Moores in 2012 for what has been reported as an $800 million purchase price. That included more than $400 million in cash, the assumption of nearly $200 million in debt, and the $200 million Moores realized from what was then a recently signed $1.2 billion local television deal.”
He continued saying a source said the team intends on it being “business as usual … without disruption to the team in 2026.”
The Padres are in a unique spot for a team up for sale. They just set a franchise record for attendance for a third consecutive year. They finished second in attendance in the league after the Dodgers (who have a stadium with roughly 13,000 more seats than Petco Park). The team has never been more popular locally or nationally.
The Friars are fresh off back-to-back postseason berths for the first time in 20 years. They have several star players under contract for multiple seasons.
It should be a very desirable purchase if the decision ends up being to sell.
Unfortunately, this further cements Peter Seidler’s death as a decisive chapter in the history and trajectory of the Padres franchise. Under Peter, San Diego felt they had an owner who was truly a fan and put his money where his mouth was. Now they wonder.
The team hasn’t exactly been on a spending spree since the ownership fell to the brothers. A.J. Preller made a host of moves at the trade deadline without adding much payroll. He had to get creative.
It’s natural to wonder if this team will revert to its old, cheap ways. Every fan has the right to feel that way, given there are decades of that in this team’s history. Only in the late 2010s and 2020s has the team spent to win. Plenty of history is on the other side.
The future is uncertain. All fans can do is hope that someone eager to spend and win buys the team. One that sees the passionate investment the community, city, and fans around the country have in the brown and gold. They have done their part.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.