Royals Chair David Glass said that he "will pursue
ownership of the team and at least meet the minimum bid of
$75 million," according to Flanagan & Rock of the K.C. STAR.
Glass, who has served as the team's Board Chair since '93,
previously "decided not to pursue ownership" in '97 when he
"suspected that public sentiment had swayed against him."
But recent developments, such as MLB's rejection of the
Miles Prentice bid, have "persuaded Glass to re-enter the
ownership picture." Glass: "I can't tell you how many phone
calls and letters I've gotten from people in Kansas City
encouraging me. And the encouragement, particularly from
the business community, has been unanimous. It was the
overwhelming response I got that caused me to reconsider."
However, Prentice's spokesperson David Westbrook said that
Prentice's bid was still on the table and he "wasn't backing
down." Westbrook: "This is going to be a good contest. ...
The Prentice group is prepared to compete vigorously."
Despite his bid, Glass "will not have to step down" as
Royals Chair and has "recused himself from the sales
process" as mandated by former team Owner Ewing Kauffman's
succession plan. Glass said that he "doesn't yet know" if
his offer will be higher than Prentice's $75M bid, the
minimum price the Royals are asking for, and has "indicated
that he was not seeking any additional investors." Glass'
bid will be considered "local money" since his home in AR is
in the team's radio market (K.C. STAR, 11/24).
PROFIT MAKES TEAM MORE APPEALING: In K.C., Steve Rock
reports that the Royals "made money" last season for the
first time this decade. Although the profit wasn't "huge,"
less than $5M, it is "perhaps enough to catch the attention
of prospective buyers." Royals President Mike Herman:
"We've shown now that we can have our payroll down, have a
good team and make money" (K.C. STAR, 11/24).
