The Marlins have an unofficial “handshake agreement” to sell the team for $1.6 billion to an unknown buyer, according to a report from Forbes. The buyer is a New York-area real-estate developer, according to the report.
The report cautions that there are still obstacles before a deal is completed:
The Marlins have publicly refused comment to multiple reporters since the news broke, with no official confirmation coming from the team.
At this point, it’s clear that owner Jeffrey Loria is serious in attempts to sell the club, even if the agreement that is currently in place does not work out. Loria purchased the club for $158 million back in 2002, meaning that the reported $1.6 billion price tag fifteen years later means he would sell the club for ten times what he paid for it.
Forbes notes that this sale is less likely to occur than the Dodgers’ sale back in 2012 because the Marlins’ buyer does not have the benefit of “hundreds of millions of dollars in hedge fund and insurance company money and a $6 billion bounty from a new cable television deal” like Guggenheim Baseball Management had five years ago.