{"id":847905,"date":"2026-11-07T14:15:20","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T14:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/847905\/"},"modified":"2026-11-07T14:15:20","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T14:15:20","slug":"joe-lacob-keeps-winning-titles-heres-why-mlb-needs-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/847905\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Lacob keeps winning titles. Here\u2019s why MLB needs him"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Joe Lacob does is win.<\/p>\n

From conceiving the Warriors\u2019 dynasty to igniting the Valkyries\u2019 speedy championship to turning both franchises into the highest-valued in their respective leagues to constructing a basketball mecca along the bay, Lacob keeps hitting the jackpot.<\/p>\n

Ultracompetitive and willing to spend what it takes to win, Lacob is innovative with hiring practices, fan engagement, diversity, inclusion, empowerment, and a success-oriented culture that resonates throughout the Bay Area and beyond.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a pity his sports ownership portfolio is limited to basketball.<\/p>\n

Major League Baseball badly needs this guy.<\/p>\n

Lacob has tried multiple times to buy into baseball teams but continues to get denied. The sooner MLB accepts him into the fraternity, the quicker the game will benefit. His cutting-edge thinking and \u201clight-years\u201d approach to outdoing the competition would work well in a league that too often is slow to adapt to the times.<\/p>\n

Lacob tried to buy (or at least looked into buying) the A\u2019s, Angels, Dodgers, and Padres.<\/p>\n

Oh, one more: the Giants.<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019ve heard Lacob casually inquired with the Giants multiple times over the last several years about buying the team, but ownership made it clear it has no intention of selling.<\/p>\n

The Giants, who reached the playoffs just once in the past decade, are taking on new money with both private equity and independent investors. They are in need of a PR boost in the wake of a dreadful 97-loss season in which they alienated fans with their on-field play and off-field blunders, including their handling of Pride Night.<\/p>\n

But Lacob, who potentially could provide fresh ideas to help guide the team back to prominence, wouldn\u2019t be interested in becoming a limited partner. He has earned the right to serve as a control person, and the position isn\u2019t available in San Francisco. Greg Johnson, who became the Giants\u2019 chairman in 2019, is five years younger than the 70-year-old Lacob.<\/p>\n

In a September story in The Standard<\/a>, Giants owners insisted they\u2019re in it for the long haul.<\/p>\n

One said, \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody\u2019s looking to sell.\u201d Another said, \u201cWe\u2019re not going anywhere.\u201d The Giants\u2019 value tops $4 billion, the fifth-most in the majors. Their Mission Rock development is a massive money maker, and their lease with the Port of San Francisco runs through 2062.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Lacob will continue to run his two basketball squads, and presumably run them well. He bought the Warriors in 2010 for $450 million, a record at the time, and Steph Curry and Co. won the championship in 2015, the first of three titles in four years and four in eight years. The Warriors are worth $14.5 billion, according to Sportico, or $13.5 billion, according to Forbes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Valkyries are considered the WNBA\u2019s first $1 billion franchise, quite an accomplishment for Lacob, who was awarded the team in 2023 for a $50 million expansion fee. The Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream in seven games to win the championship and celebrated Wednesday with a parade down the Embarcadero<\/a>, ending at Oracle Park, the Giants\u2019 home.<\/p>\n

1 day ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

4 days ago<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday, Oct. 28<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

That was relevant if only because the Giants and Valkyries are on such different wavelengths. The Giants haven\u2019t done much right lately. The Valkyries seem to do everything right. Just one example: their Pride events. The Giants colossally mishandled theirs, alienating many faithful fans<\/a>. Two weeks later, the Valkyries hosted a joyous celebration that fans and players fully embraced. After leading the Valkyries to victory, Gabby Williams said, \u201cI couldn\u2019t lose on Pride Night.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, the MLB door isn\u2019t open to Lacob, which is a shame. He thought he had an excellent chance to buy the A\u2019s in 2005, when Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann were selling. Lacob agreed to the $180 million asking price, and qualifying wasn\u2019t a problem. But he was rejected by Commissioner Bud Selig and the league. The A\u2019s went to John Fisher, a rotten blow for fans who saw him gut the team and yank it out of Oakland.<\/p>\n

Lacob, who wasn\u2019t then known in baseball circles, learned from the experience. He became a minority partner with the Boston Celtics in 2006 and networked through the NBA, and when the Warriors became available, the league was comfortable signing off on his purchase, five years after MLB denied him.<\/p>\n

\"ALacob bought the Warriors a year after the franchise selected Steph Curry with the No. 7 pick in the 2009 NBA draft. | Source: Jed Jacobsohn\/Associated Press<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely, considering his ensuing success with pro franchises, that Lacob would have built a privately funded ballpark for the A\u2019s and made it possible for two thriving baseball teams to exist in the Bay Area. Baseball\u2019s loss is basketball\u2019s gain.<\/p>\n

Lacob also pursued all three of MLB\u2019s Southern California teams, starting with the Angels, but the Walt Disney Company sold to Arte Moreno. With the Dodgers, he was to team with Peter Guber, his eventual Warriors partner, and Frank McCourt, but both got out because they didn\u2019t fully trust McCourt, for good reason. Guber later joined the group that bought out McCourt, who had fallen into bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

Lacob took another crack at the Angels when Moreno seemed to be selling in 2023, but Moreno pulled back \u2014 at least until September, when he cut a $4 billion deal with Stan Kroenke that\u2019s expected to close soon. In the spring, Lacob was runner-up in his bid to buy the Padres, who went for $3.9 billion to Jos\u00e9 E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t interviewed Lacob in a while, but I\u2019m sure he\u2019d be interested in other baseball pursuits. Majority owner Mark Walter said the Dodgers aren\u2019t for sale, but that could change. He\u2019s the subject of a federal investigation over possible mishandling of his insurance companies and has agreed to sell the Lakers (after owning the franchise for only a year) to a group including former Disney CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner (brother of President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared), whose Thrive Eternal equity group bought into the Giants in April.<\/p>\n

Even if the Dodgers go up for sale, Lacob might not be interested this time. His reason is honorable, especially for folks in the Bay Area. When he first pursued the Dodgers in the early 2000s, he hadn\u2019t yet bought the Warriors, and in 2012, when he had another chance at the Dodgers with the Walter-led group involving Guber, he took a pass.<\/p>\n

Lacob gave his reason a year ago in an interview with The Standard\u2019s Danny Emerman<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI was asked to be in the deal, and I probably should\u2019ve said yes, but I said no,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause I just felt now, having owned the Warriors, I didn\u2019t think it\u2019d be a good look to own the Dodgers because the Giants are here. I just didn\u2019t think the Warrior owner owning the Dodgers would be a good thing. [Guber] could get away with it, but I didn\u2019t think I could, because I\u2019m the lead guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AJohn Fisher has owned the A\u2019s since 2005. | Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

That Giant-Dodger rivalry was a big enough drag to keep Lacob away from Chavez Ravine?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI just felt for our fans, it would not go well. Peter wasn\u2019t the main guy. He didn\u2019t live in the market. I live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Lacob could have mightily cashed in with a Dodger partnership, he doesn\u2019t regret avoiding the deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. It was the right decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

MLB is bracing for a potentially ugly labor strife with the collective bargaining agreement expiring Dec. 1, but the league would do itself a favor to eventually make it work for Lacob. On that note, expansion is on the horizon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All Joe Lacob does is win. From conceiving the Warriors\u2019 dynasty to igniting the Valkyries\u2019 speedy championship to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,162,29856,1918,73050,4,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342,185],"class_list":["post-847905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco-giants","tag-baseball","tag-giants","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-joe-lacob","tag-mlb","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-sanfrancisco","tag-sanfranciscogiants","tag-sf","tag-sf-giants","tag-sfgiants","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117575583391441846","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}