> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# San Jose Earthquakes Sold to Heath Freeman in $625m Deal
- URL: https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/san-jose-earthquakes-sold-to-heath-freeman-625m/
- Published: 2026-11-14T08:21:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-14T08:21:37.000Z
- Description: John Fisher is selling the San Jose Earthquakes and PayPal Park to Alden Global Capital's Heath Freeman in a deal reported at $625m, after MLS owners approved it.
- Author: Football Business News
- Tags: Ownership, North America, Stadiums

John Fisher has agreed to sell the San Jose Earthquakes and their home stadium, PayPal Park, to Alden Global Capital co-founder Heath Freeman, the club announced on 13 November 2026\. MLS owners approved the deal unanimously. The club did not disclose terms, but Sportico, ESPN and Sports Business Journal reported a $625 million valuation.

**Key facts**

- The Earthquakes said on 13 November 2026 that Heath Freeman will acquire the club and PayPal Park from John Fisher and Partners, and that the transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks.
- The MLS Board of Governors unanimously approved the transfer of ownership. Freeman will become principal owner and the club's governor.
- Financial terms were not disclosed by the club. Sports Business Journal, citing sources, and the San Francisco Chronicle reported a $625 million figure, which Sportico described as an enterprise value.
- Fisher and partner Lew Wolff bought the franchise as an expansion club in 2007 for $20 million, according to Sports Business Journal and the Chronicle.
- Investment bank Moelis & Co. was hired to run the sale process in June 2025, Sports Business Journal reported.

## What was agreed

The [club's announcement](https://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/san-jose-earthquakes-announce-new-ownership?ref=footballbusinessnews.com) confirms a sale of both the team and its 18,000-seat, soccer-specific stadium, which opened in 2015 and was privately financed by Fisher. Bundling the venue with the franchise matters for the price: a buyer acquiring the stadium controls matchday, hospitality and non-football event income rather than paying rent to a third party.

Freeman is a co-founder and the president of Alden Global Capital, a New York investment firm best known for its newspaper holdings. The club said he chairs Tribune Enterprises and is vice chairman of MNG Enterprises, whose titles include the Chicago Tribune, the Denver Post and the San Jose Mercury News. In the club statement Freeman said his vision was "winning on and off the field" and that he was committed to investing in the team. His law firm, [Sidley Austin](https://www.sidley.com/en/newslanding/newsannouncements/2026/11/sidley-represents-heath-freeman-in-the-acquisition-of-the-san-jose-earthquakes?ref=footballbusinessnews.com), confirmed it advised him on the acquisition.

## Why the $625m figure matters

The reported number is not an official price, and the club has not confirmed it. If it holds, it implies a large paper gain on the $20 million expansion entry fee that Fisher and Wolff paid in 2007, even before accounting for the cost of building PayPal Park and the recent training ground upgrades the club highlighted. [Sports Business Journal](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/11/13/john-fisher-sells-earthquakes-to-heath-freeman-for-625m/?ref=footballbusinessnews.com) described the figure as the value placed on the club by the deal, while the [RG summary](https://rg.org/news/soccer/san-jose-earthquakes-sold-heath-freeman-625-million-john-fisher?ref=footballbusinessnews.com) of Sportico and ESPN reporting called it an enterprise value, which would normally include debt as well as equity.

For MLS, a completed sale near that level gives the league a fresh reference point for club values at a time when other teams are being shopped. The sale took about 17 months from the appointment of Moelis to board approval, a reminder that even league-approved deals can take well over a year to assemble. Our tracker of the [most expensive football club takeovers](https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/the-most-expensive-football-club-takeovers-2026-update/) sets out where large club transactions have landed this year.

## Context: a busy MLS sale market

San Jose is not the only club for sale. The Saputo family opened a formal sale process for CF Montréal earlier this week with BMO Capital Markets as lead adviser, as covered in our report on the [CF Montréal sale](https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/saputo-family-opens-formal-sale-of-cf-montreal/). ESPN reported that the Vancouver Whitecaps are also on the market, with Goldman Sachs running that process.

Fisher's exit also separates him from soccer as he focuses on baseball. He is moving MLB's Athletics to a new $2.1 billion ballpark in Las Vegas for the 2028 season, according to Sports Business Journal. ESPN noted, as summarised by RG, that Alden has made deep cost cuts across its newspapers, a point Earthquakes supporters are likely to watch as the new owner sets budgets. Freeman's buyer profile, an individual investor backed by finance industry wealth, fits a wider trend of American capital moving into the game, tracked in our list of [American owners of European football clubs](https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/american-owners-of-european-football-clubs-2026-list/).

## What happens next

With league approval already granted, the remaining step is closing, which the club expects in the coming weeks. On the pitch, the Earthquakes face Houston Dynamo FC in a best-of-three first-round MLS Cup playoff series and host Game 1 at PayPal Park on 24 November 2026\. The commercial questions for the new owner are how much he will put into the squad and the stadium, and whether any change to the PayPal Park naming rights or the club's sponsorship mix follows the change of control. No such plans have been announced.

**Sources**

- [San Jose Earthquakes, club statement, 13 November 2026](https://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/san-jose-earthquakes-announce-new-ownership?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)
- [MLSsoccer.com, 13 November 2026](https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/san-jose-earthquakes-announce-heath-freeman-as-new-owner?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)
- [Sports Business Journal, 13 November 2026](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/11/13/john-fisher-sells-earthquakes-to-heath-freeman-for-625m/?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)
- [San Francisco Chronicle, 13 November 2026](https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/john-fisher-agrees-sell-san-jose-earthquakes-22529737.php?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)
- [Sidley Austin, 13 November 2026](https://www.sidley.com/en/newslanding/newsannouncements/2026/11/sidley-represents-heath-freeman-in-the-acquisition-of-the-san-jose-earthquakes?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)
- [RG, summarising Sportico and ESPN, 14 November 2026](https://rg.org/news/soccer/san-jose-earthquakes-sold-heath-freeman-625-million-john-fisher?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)