Endeavor, an entertainment company that owns such brands as UFC, WME and IMG, is creating a new baseball subsidiary with the intention of buying and operating multiple minor league baseball teams, the company announced Wednesday.
The new subsidiary, Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH), has already signed purchase agreements with nine MLB Professional Development League (PDL) clubs, including Triple-A affiliates of the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants.
In addition, Endeavor announced pending sale of all four affiliates of the World Series champion Atlanta Braves (Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers, Double-A Mississippi Braves, High-A Rome Braves and Single-A Augusta GreenJackets).
Two longtime sports executives, Pat Battle and Peter B. Freund, will lead the new entity.
“We are excited to lead Diamond Baseball Holdings and create new opportunities for clubs and communities that play an essential role in cultivating America’s favorite pastime,” Battle and Freund said in a statement. “We will be global in our ambitions and hyper-local in our approach, and creating incredible fan experiences will remain our number one priority.
“Additionally, we look forward to providing opportunities for growth to the employees of PDL Clubs whose passion and ingenuity have built the sport through the decades.”
The full list of soon-to-be acquired clubs beyond the Braves affiliates includes the Triple-A Iowa Cubs (Cubs affiliate), Triple-A Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals), Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders (Yankees), High-A Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees) and Single-A San Jose Giants (Giants).
All purchases are still subject to customary closing conditions.
–Field Level Media