Pohlad family looks to sell Minnesota Twins after 40 years
The Pohlad family have publicly announced they are trying to sell the Minnesota Twins after 40 years of owning the franchise.
According to an announcement on Thursday, the family decided this past summer it would begin exploring a sale and chose now to make their decision public as “the next phase of this process.”
“We truly respect and cherish what the Twins mean to Minneapolis, St. Paul, the great state of Minnesota, and this entire region,” Twins Executive Chair Joe Pohlad said in a statement. “Our goal is to be as informative as possible with the team, staff, and you, the fans. You deserve that, because in so many ways, this team doesn’t belong to any one family – it belongs to all of you. It’s our objective to find an ownership group who all of us can be proud of and who will take care of the Minnesota Twins.”
The announcement comes after a disappointing 2024 season for the Twins, fueled in part by the front office’s decision not to add to payroll following the team’s deepest postseason run in over 20 years. No significant moves were made at the trade deadline, either, and a collapse down the homestretch knocked Minnesota out of playoff contention.
A brief history of the Pohlad era
Carl Pohlad, who made his fortune in the banking industry, purchased the Minnesota Twins from Calvin Griffith for $43.5 million in 1984 — $81.3 million in today’s dollars — and quickly saw the team win two championships in 1987 and 1991. Despite nine division titles and another wild card appearance since then, the team has yet to return to the World Series.
In 2001, Carl Pohlad attempted to sell the Twins to MLB owners for $150 million as part of a plan to contract the league by two teams — the Montreal Expos were the other franchise on the chopping block. However, a judge kept the team in town by ordering them to uphold their lease and play the 2002 season at the Metrodome.
After Carl Pohlad’s death in 2009, the team was passed down to his three sons, Jim, Bill and Bob. While the Pohlad family as a whole retained ownership, Jim Pohlad took up running the franchise, later passing the reins to his nephew, Joe Pohlad, in 2022.
In 2010, the Twins moved out of the Metrodome and into Target Field, the team’s open-air, baseball-only palace in Minneapolis’ North Loop. The organization is now valued at nearly $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.
The Pohlads were also no strangers to criticism — frustrated fans mainly upset with the Twins’ payroll, or lack of in their opinion.
St. Paul Concordia University associate professor Ryan Hubbard — who oversees the university’s Sports Management masters program — says at the end of the day, despite the team playing a game, the Minnesota Twins is a business.
“An ideal world, you just have unlimited resources, right?,” Hubbard said, adding: “People have varying opinions on whether they should spend more money at various times during [their] ownership, but they’ve run a successful franchise. They kept them afloat. They kept them alive.”
Hubbard says securing Target Field — which at nearly 15 years old is still considered a top stadium in the MLB — will always be part of the Pohlad’s legacy.
Throughout their 40 years as owners, the Pohlad family has been very philanthropic as well.
Dr. Lisa Kihl — who oversees the University of Minnesota’s Global Institute for Responsible Sport Organizations in the School of Kinesiology — calls their generosity “immeasurable.”
“If the Twins weren’t in this community, I think we would notice that there’s a hole,” Dr. Kihl said about the Pohlad’s impact.
She points to the Pohlad Family Foundation and Twins Community Fund with helping the family create an inclusive and diverse community connected to the organization.
“[They’ve] done a great job of reaching out to the various communities in the Twin Cities from diverse backgrounds, to make sure that they have a place and a presence and feel like they’re a part of ‘Twins Territory,'” Kihl added.
“I would assume that the Pohlads are recruiting or looking for like-minded owners,” she said.