Billy Beane is at it again. After bringing statistical analysis to baseball with sabermetrics (e.g., WHIP and OBP), the “Moneyball” king is all in on the acronym of the moment: SPAC.
Beane’s company, RedBall ($RBAC) is close to a merger with Fenway Sports Group.
Owned by billionaire John Henry, Fenway Sports Group assets include the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, and Liverpool F.C.
The merger would value Fenway Sports Group at $8B
RedBall would have less than a 25% stake. Beane and Co. are looking to raise $1B to close the deal by the end of the month.
Here’s where it gets complicated — Beane already owns equity in the Oakland A’s, meaning he would own a piece of 2 baseball teams…
…which is why he’ll likely leave baseball altogether if the deal goes down (MLB has to approve it).
These parties have circled each other before
In 2002, Beane was in consideration for the Red Sox’s general manager job. Theo Epstein ended up taking the role and became a Massachusetts god by winning 2 World Series titles in 5 years, ending an 86-year curse.
If Beane and the Red Sox finally get hitched, it could open the floodgates to more teams going public with similar deals, giving fans another forum to pull for their favorite squad.
This also sets the stage for an incredible sequel to the 2011 film aptly named Moneyball. We’ll get some awesome Jonah Hill-related SPAC jokes — and the Oscars can right past wrongs by giving Brad Pitt the Best Actor trophy he deserves.
