Brewers have new members of ownership team

[nate82]

I can't believe no one else has posted this. 

The Brewers have new minority owners in Ralph and Shelly Stayer.  They own the Johnsonville LLC.  Yes that Johnsonville that makes sausage. 

https://www.mlb.com/news/johnsonville-llc-joins-brewers-ownership-group

[dlk9s]

They need to suit up for the opening day sausage race.

[Axman59]

I have no substantive comments on the Brewers ownership structure but I am pleased that I can get Johnsonville original bratwurst in the Phoenix area. My favorite bratwurst. Not that Usingers and Klements are bad...

[BrewerFan]

I knew their Son(more through a friend of mine). He went to College with an old coach and friend. 

Only met them briefly, but the Mom seemed....pretty normal given their finances. Not sure it's going to have a significant impact on the Brewers payroll or finances, but one can hope. 

 

Now, my Uncle knew John Menard...as a VERY early customer back in the...60s IIRC up in Eau Claire. Hopefully my 3 degrees of knowing rich people will pay off and the Menard family will get into Baseball! Buy those Brewers! 

[Fear The Chorizo]

Probably just Mark A being cheap and not wanting his family to pay full price for bratwurst

[TURBO]

14 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

Probably just Mark A being cheap and not wanting his family to pay full price for bratwurst

 

[MoreTrife]

Will this inject more capital into the team, ala Jimmy Haslem with the Bucks??

[tmwiese55]

49 minutes ago, MoreTrife said:

Will this inject more capital into the team, ala Jimmy Haslem with the Bucks??

Someone more tuned in could probably clarify more.  But my guess would be No.   Quick google seems the family is worth about 1.5b as estimated a few years ago.   Of course that's rich af but compared to other owners of sports teams its not, plus its phrased as 'family' so who knows how its actually split up.   Probably a fair guess its not a huge huge stake either if Mark is still the primarily owner (and isn't he only in the 40 %s?).

With doing next to no research, I'd guess this doesn't' matter much to operations but the current owners got to cash out some nice profit from the equity/stakes they sold here  

[LouisEly]

11 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

Hopefully my 3 degrees of knowing rich people will pay off and the Menard family will get into Baseball! Buy those Brewers! 

If people think that the current ownership group is or Selig was "cheap", you ain't seen nothing if John Menard buys the Brewers.  He's one of the cheapest SOBs on the planet.

[torts]

The brewers ownership is now 18 groups, that a quick Google search told me includes members of the Lunar, Marcus and Uihlein families, as well as Harris Turer of the Admirals and Giannis.  

[BrewerFan]

2 hours ago, LouisEly said:

If people think that the current ownership group is or Selig was "cheap", you ain't seen nothing if John Menard buys the Brewers.  He's one of the cheapest SOBs on the planet.

Well...they were definitely cheap under the Wendy, but I don't believe they were/are cheap otherwise, why do you think John Menard is cheap?

[jw5511986]

2 hours ago, LouisEly said:

If people think that the current ownership group is or Selig was "cheap", you ain't seen nothing if John Menard buys the Brewers.  He's one of the cheapest SOBs on the planet.

Not to mention from people that worked for Menard's and spent time around him, he's a total piece of work with how he handles employees.

[BrewerFan]

2 hours ago, tmwiese55 said:

Someone more tuned in could probably clarify more.  But my guess would be No.   Quick google seems the family is worth about 1.5b as estimated a few years ago.   Of course that's rich af but compared to other owners of sports teams its not, plus its phrased as 'family' so who knows how its actually split up.   Probably a fair guess its not a huge huge stake either if Mark is still the primarily owner (and isn't he only in the 40 %s?).

With doing next to no research, I'd guess this doesn't' matter much to operations but the current owners got to cash out some nice profit from the equity/stakes they sold here  

As far as I know, Mark A owns ~36% of the team, but I'm not positive on the exact number. 

But I don't think it works like this. One partial owner putting money into the team. I recall Bill Maher when the Mets were cash-poor after the Ponzi scheme and all that, and he commented how he was terrified there'd be another "cash call." I think that means they're in the red and whatever they need, you have to put your fair share in. 

 

[brewcrewdue80]

Wouldn't joining the minority ownership team be a decent investment after securing a lease keeping Milw in Milwaukee through 2050 was it?  There's no way the value doesn't increase over that period of time. Ralph is getting up there in years. I dunno what his heirs would look like if yhats a move towards that. Or business to bring Johnsonville brand in to a long term commitment by his ownership. I dunno if Johnsonville is served already. Usingers is the ad I always hear through Uecker. 

[monty57]

32 minutes ago, BrewerFan said:

As far as I know, Mark A owns ~36% of the team, but I'm not positive on the exact number. 

But I don't think it works like this. One partial owner putting money into the team. I recall Bill Maher when the Mets were cash-poor after the Ponzi scheme and all that, and he commented how he was terrified there'd be another "cash call." I think that means they're in the red and whatever they need, you have to put your fair share in. 

 

Unless the team issued new shares, which would dilute the ownership of all of the owners, any new owner would get ownership by purchasing shares from a current owner(s). The selling owner(s) would get the cash and pay capital gains taxes on the gains. 

I believe there are CPAs on this board, so please correct my simple take here if it's incorrect, but here's how I believe it works:

The owners in an LLC share in the profits/losses of the team... it "passes through" to their personal finances. The Brewers probably have a decent-sized cash account to cover some losses, but the owners would ultimately be responsible to make payments if the team couldn't make them. The team could take a loan or the owners could "write checks" based on their ownership interest. 

The LLC would protect them from some liability, so they could choose to let the Brewers go bankrupt and save their personal fortunes, but then they'd lose the team, so they'd probably just send some cash to cover this year's deficit, and cut payroll for the following season(s) to recoup their money.

So, one or more owners just lowered their ownership stake, so they'd have less profits/losses passed through each year. The new owners now get that share of the profits/losses each year. No one is putting their whole fortune on the line or throwing a bunch or excess capital into the team.

[LouisEly]

3 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

Well...they were definitely cheap under the Wendy, but I don't believe they were/are cheap otherwise, why do you think John Menard is cheap?

Ask anyone who has lived in the Eau Claire area, specifically anyone who has worked for him or tried to get him to donate to any causes.

[BrewerFan]

3 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Ask anyone who has lived in the Eau Claire area, specifically anyone who has worked for him or tried to get him to donate to any causes.

I know they were supposed to install a Horse Fence and Stables at my Uncles. They didn't install them in time(this was early on) and he installed both for free and paid for the Horse. He also spoke to my Uncle personally...and he's spoken with him occasionally since.

I don't know that how a company gives raises or how likely they are to donate to individual causes is a great indicator. Didn't the Haslem's have some scam that would indicate they are cheap at their Flying J's or whatever they have?

You don't make 20B by being a nice guy normally. But when you're that wealthy, it's about ego.

But I get it, he's not well-liked in Eau Claire by some. 

[jerichoholicninja]

Look forward to the name change to the Milwaukee Salumists.

[CheezWizHed]

So much for Bob Uecker pimping Usinger's sausages! 

[NeedMoreFans]

15 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

Well...they were definitely cheap under the Wendy, but I don't believe they were/are cheap otherwise, why do you think John Menard is cheap?

Back during the big oil boom in North Dakota, when wages for retail jobs were skyrocketing, he flew people from the corporate offices in Eau Claire, put them up at a hotel for two weeks at a time, and had the work as cashiers and lumber yard attendants, all so he didn't have to raise wages in North Dakota.