Jeffrey Loria

The following is the saga of Jeffery Loria's sports team ownerships. How a savy art dealer turned $30 million into an estimated $257 million plus and counting.

Profile

Jeffrey H. Loria is a New York City art dealer and collector who currently owns the Florida Marlins.

A graduate of New York City's Stuyvesant High School in 1957 Loria went on to graduate from Yale University in 1962 and than Columbia Business School in 1968.[1]

In 1962 after graduated Yale he began his career as a trainee after being hired by Sears Roebuck and, shortly thereafter, made head of the store's new "Vincent Price Collection" of artwork, a collection endorsed by the actor.[1]

After leaving Sears in 1965 and established his own gallery, Jeffrey H. Loria & Company, on 19 East 72nd street.[1] He had a nack for negotiating and became quite successful as an art dealer. Loria decided to invest some his fortune in pro sports.

MyMarlins.com was unable to find any sources to verify how much money Jeff Loria is worth. One thing for certain the value of the Marlins if granted a new stadium by taxpayers will be the vast majority of his wealth. Not one list of billionaires by Forbes or Fortune 500 mentioned Jeffrey Loria as being a billionaire so we know for a fact he is worth less than a billion dollars.

The Oklahoma '89er's

After several attempts to become a partner in a Major League team Loria was able to purchase the Oklahoma '89er's of the AAA International League in 1989 for $3.9 million.[2]

After 5 seasons Loria's '89er's won the International League Championship in 1993. Loria than sold the team for $8 million. Thus making a $4.1 million dollar profit.[2]

The Montreal Expos

In 1999 ownership of the Montreal Expos found themselves without a Managing Partner. Due to financial losses the partnership decided to bring in outside investors. Enter one Mr. Jeffrey H. Loria and a mere $12 million. Next thing you know our man Jeffrey is the Managing Partner with a 24% share of the lowly Expos.[2]

Under Loria's management the Expos grew deeper in debt. Loria even rejected radio and television deals that caused the need for the partnership to come up with cash. Loria put up $18 million of his own cash. Loria than took advantage of a clause in the partnership that enabled Loria to gain a 94% share in the Expos.[2]

The other partners later filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against Jeffrey Loria that was later settled out of court. The suit also alleges that in addition to purposely diminishing revenues to cause the partners to be unwilling to cover losses the lawsuit also claims that Loria:[2]

• Conspired with Baseball Commissioner Allan (Bud) Selig, who is also a defendant, to take control of the team and move it to another city.
• After Selig decided to eliminate the Expos and the Minnesota Twins in 2001 in order to apply pressure on players in labor negotiations, the commissioner agreed to provide another team to Loria, who had threatened to sue Major League Baseball if he lost his team.

The controversial Sale of the Marlins, Red Sox, and Expos[2] ,[3]

As this circus in Montreal was going down John Henry had decided to buy stock in the Boston Red Sox. Major League Baseball prohibits a Managing Partner from owning another team so Bud Seilig worked a deal. Major league Baseball would pay Loria $120 million for the Expos, and give him an interest free $38 million loan. Under the agreement Loria was to buy the Marlins from John Henry for $158 million. John Henry was than free to invest his money in the Red Sox.[2] ,[3]

The Controversial Ownership of the Montreal Expos by MLB [2] ,[3]

The league than shopped the team to several cities. Portland, Oregon, Northern Virginia, New Jersey, San Juan PR, Monterrey Mexico, Las Vegas, and Washington DC. All locals were told that they had to have a new stadium. Washington DC agreed and the Expos became the Washington Nationals for the 2005 season.[2] ,[3]

In 2006 the Nationals opened an new stadium and the team was sold by Major League Baseball for $450 million to a group owned by Lerner Enterprises. The League profited $290 million in the deal. Loria's cut would be $10 million.[4]

The Florida Marlins[5]

As the 2002 season began Jeffrey Loria has become the new Marlin's owner. Along with him he brought in his office staff from the Expos organization. The Marlins and Expos also traded spring training facilities. This was the Marlin's first spring in Jupiter. Unfortunately attendance fell for the first time below 1 million to 813,118.[5]

Things turned around in 2003 with Loria firing Jeff Torborg and replacing him with 73 year old Jack McKeon. The Marlins ended up with a wild card and went on to beat the New York Yankees in 6 games in the 2003 World Series.[5]

Opposition to New Public Financed Marlin's Stadium [6]

Billionaire car dealer Norman Braman the former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles has filed a lawsuit challenging the new Marlin's stadium at the former Orange Bowl site. The suit alleges that the funding violates the State of Florida constitution on grounds that the public never voted on the issue.

Many in Miami-Dade are against the use of public dollars for a private business. The county is under budget deficits and is refusing to give raises to teachers that have been previously negotiated.

Bibliography

[1]East Side Art Maven Jeffrey Loria Joins Major Leagues … in Montreal

The New York Observer by William Berlind December 26, 1999

http://www.observer.com/node/42383

[2] Hardball

Forbes Magazine by Nathan Vardi, April 26, 2004

http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2004/0426/066.html

[3] Still 30 teams: Contraction timeline

ESPN By David Schoenfield February 5, 2002

http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/2002/0205/1323230.html

[4] Lerners Make Team Ownership Official

Washington Post by David Nakamura and Thomas Heath July 25, 2006

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/24/AR2006072400694.html

[5] Florida Marlins Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Marlins

[6] Megaplan trial likely with talks going nowhere

Miami Herald BY EVAN S. BENN, CHARLES RABIN AND MICHAEL VASQUEZ  Posted on Sun, Jul. 13, 2008

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/603063.html

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