By Jose E. Navarro | The Navarro Report | September 25, 2026
LOS ANGELES. On Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, the San Diego Padres beat the Dodgers 4-2 and clinched a third straight postseason berth, a first in franchise history. The Padres have now reached the playoffs five times in the last seven years, after making it only five times in their first fifty. The celebration happened in enemy territory, and it landed in the middle of an ownership debate that fans of both teams are already having. Some of that debate rests on facts. Some of it does not.
Two sets of owners
The Padres changed hands this year. The Seidler family agreed in May to sell to Kwanza Jones and José E. Feliciano, and MLB owners approved the deal in August. The $3.9 billion price is a record, well above the $2.4 billion the Mets fetched in 2020. According to Sports Illustrated, the new owners acquired about 40 percent of the club, and the Seidler family kept the rest. Feliciano co-founded the private equity firm Clearlake Capital and sits on the LA28 Olympics board. Jones runs the couple’s family office and serves on the boards of UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center and the Apollo Theater. They have pledged to earn San Diego’s trust. That is a promise, not yet a record.
The Dodgers are run by Guggenheim Baseball Management, led by Mark Walter, with Todd Boehly as a co-owner. According to Federal Election Commission records cited by LA Public Press, Boehly gave $2 million to MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC, between December 2024 and 2025, and the outlet reports he is now backing Republican midterm campaigns. The Dodgers also visited the White House after both of their recent championships, and some fans criticized the team for its silence during immigration raids in Los Angeles. Political donations are legal and disclosed. They tell fans what an owner supports. They do not, by themselves, show how a franchise is run.
The comparison that holds up
Fans in San Diego, still savoring a win in Chavez Ravine, may want a clean contrast between a fresh, community-minded ownership group and an established, politically active one. The record does not support a clean contrast. Feliciano is a billionaire financier, and both franchises are large private businesses. Skepticism is healthy, but it should be applied evenly, to every owner and every ledger. The more useful comparison is what each ownership group has disclosed, and what it has not.
What neither group has told fans
When the Padres sale was announced, the buyers did not disclose the financing structure, payroll plans, ticket prices or plans for Petco Park, according to Sports Illustrated. That matters because a record purchase price raises an ordinary financial question: how much debt sits behind it, and who services that debt? Revenue can come from higher ticket prices, higher concession prices, or a leaner payroll. Fans deserve to know which of those levers the owners intend to pull. The same standard applies to both teams: disclose first, then let the results speak.
The Dodgers face a different question. Guggenheim has spent heavily on talent and won titles, and that success is real. But like the Padres, the Dodgers are a private company that is not required to publish its finances or its arrangements with public agencies. In both cities, the teams depend on public infrastructure, from roads to transit, and the public has a stake in how those arrangements are structured.
Four questions for both franchises
First, will the Padres’ new owners disclose the debt behind the $3.9 billion price and say how it affects payroll and ticket prices? Second, will either franchise publish an annual community report listing its commitments and results? Third, will owners of both teams be transparent about their political giving, which is already public in Federal Election Commission filings, and let fans judge for themselves? Fourth, will city and county governments publish and review every agreement with either franchise, from stadium leases to game-day services?
Pennants are won by players. Trust is earned by owners, and it is earned in documents, not slogans. Southern California fans deserve a good team and a clear view of who stands behind it, whichever dugout they cheer for.
Sources: MLB.com (Sept. 24, 2026); Sports Illustrated; MLB Trade Rumors (Aug. 2026); MLB press release on Padres ownership (May 2026); LA Public Press (Sept. 2026, citing FEC filings).
Human-Directed AI Journalism: Jose E. Navarro selected the topic, directed the research and framing, edited, and approved this article. AI assisted with research and drafting.