The Death of Mom & Pop Ownership (in Sports)

Why private equity is buying America's hometown teams and what it says about the future of sports.

Andrew Petcash

Jun 18, 2026

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Now to today’s market briefing ⤵

The Death of Mom & Pop Ownership (in Sports)

Something unusual is happening in sports.

For over 100 years, minor league baseball teams were primarily owned by local families, entrepreneurs, or community operators.

Today, institutional capital is quietly rolling them up into multi-club ownership platforms.

It may seem like a niche trend.

I think it’s a preview of where the entire sports industry is heading.

Let’s Dive In 👇

The Quiet Roll-Up

Minor League Baseball, with 120 affiliated clubs across the United States, has quietly become one of the most active consolidation stories in sports.

Multi-club ownership groups have begun consolidating teams under a single platform, bringing private equity playbooks and operational scale to one of America’s oldest sports ecosystems.

The biggest player is Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH).

Backed by Endeavor and Silver Lake Capital, DBH has quietly acquired 48 affiliated clubs, making it by far the largest owner in Minor League Baseball.

Major League Baseball currently caps ownership at 50 affiliated teams, meaning the platform is already approaching the league’s ownership limit.

The thesis is straightforward: create scale through shared technology, sponsorship sales, ticketing systems, procurement, analytics, and operational best practices that can be deployed across dozens of organizations.

But DBH isn't the only group entering the space.

OnDeck Partners, launched by Marc Lasry & Avenue Sports, is taking a more measured, community-first approach.

Rather than assembling the largest possible portfolio, the company is focused on building a smaller collection of clubs while preserving local identity and investing in the ballpark as the center of community entertainment.

There’s also…

Prospector Baseball Group, backed by Arctos Partners, is building a modern baseball platform grounded in technology, operational expertise, and long-term ownership, while emphasizing local traditions and the fan experience.

Rather than pursuing sheer scale alone, the group has positioned itself around strengthening community-rooted franchises through smarter operations and strategic investment.

DBH, OnDeck Partners, and Prospector Baseball Group all represent the rise of multi-club ownership.

They simply have different visions for what the future of hometown sports should look like (one philosophy is primarily about operational scale, the others are about amplifying local connection, community gathering, and year-round venue activation).