Who owns the Kansas City Royals? John Sherman, explained

John Sherman has controlled the Kansas City Royals since November 2019, when his investment group bought the team for $1 billion. He remains the principal owner and control person with MLB today. What sets Sherman apart is his bet on a massive stadium redevelopment at Crown Center in downtown Kansas City—a $3 billion mixed-use project announced in April 2026 that has become the defining business move of his tenure.

🏟️ Ownership at a glance

Principal owner	John Sherman
Controlling group	Investment group led by John Sherman, owner of the Kansas City Royals Baseball Club
Current group since	2019
Purchase price	$1B
Latest valuation	$1.64B
Value multiple	1.6× the purchase price

Who is John Sherman

Sherman’s fortune came from energy, not baseball. He cofounded LPG Services Group in 1991, a propane marketing firm he sold to Dynegy in 1996 for $8.6 million. That same year he founded Inergy L.P., a midstream energy company that went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001. Inergy eventually merged to form Crestwood Equity Partners, which Energy Transfer LP acquired in 2023 for $7.1 billion. Sherman was born April 12, 1955, and grew up in the Kansas City area after a childhood spent moving for his family’s military career—Japan, Colorado Springs, Washington D.C.

Before buying the Royals, Sherman was a minority partner in the Cleveland Indians starting in 2016. He sold that stake when he closed the Kansas City purchase in November 2019, moving from minority shareholder of a Central Division rival to principal owner of another. Beyond baseball, he serves as trustee of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, UMKC, and the National World War I Museum. He created the Sherman Family Foundation in 2006, focused on urban education.

How they bought the team

Sherman’s group purchased the Royals from David Glass in November 2019 for $1 billion. Glass, the former Walmart CEO, had owned the club since 2000. The team’s valuation has grown to $1.64 billion as of March 2026, a jump of 26 percent—one of the largest leaps in baseball that year, driven largely by the Crown Center stadium announcement.

Year	Buyer	Amount
2019	John Sherman (bought from David Glass)	$1B
2000	David Glass, former CEO of Walmart	—

What else they own

Sherman’s primary business outside baseball remains his energy sector investments and partnerships. The Crown Center project is now his largest business bet tied to the club: a $3 billion development in partnership with Hallmark Cards, with the stadium itself budgeted at $1.9 billion and 85 acres of mixed-use development around it. The financing package includes $600 million in municipal TIF funds (approved without public vote and without new taxes) plus Missouri state funds estimated at roughly $1.5 billion over 30 years. The Kauffman Stadium lease expires after the 2030 season, which set the clock on the new ballpark project.

In 2025, the Royals generated $330 million in revenue with $25 million in operating income and spent $172 million on player payroll.

Where the games air

The Royals do not own a regional sports network as of 2026. MLB Local Media produces and distributes local games. Fans can stream within the market on Royals.TV (about $20 per month or $100 per season) and watch 10 games per season on local broadcast station KCTV5. The club exercised an option to continue with FanDuel Sports Network in 2026, but that deal collapsed when Main Street Sports Group stopped paying broadcast rights in January 2026 and nine MLB clubs rescinded their contracts. Before that, games aired on Fox Sports Kansas City, then Bally Sports Kansas City and FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City under the Diamond/Main Street arrangement.

Facts worth knowing

On April 22, 2026, the Royals finally announced the location of their new stadium: Crown Center, in downtown Kansas City, in partnership with Hallmark Cards, ending years of uncertainty.
The project contemplates $3 billion in total development, with the stadium at $1.9 billion and 85 acres of mixed use around it.
The approved financing includes $600 million in municipal TIF without public vote and without new taxes, plus Missouri state funds estimated at around $1.5 billion over 30 years.
The Missouri Workers organization denounced the plan stating that $1 billion in public subsidies to a team owned by a billionaire is not economic development, and announced it would explore legal action to force a referendum.
Sherman was a minority partner of Cleveland before buying Kansas City: he went from shareholder of a Central Division rival to principal owner of another.
The Kauffman Stadium lease expires after the 2030 season, which put a clock on the new park project.
Forbes recorded the Royals with a 26% valuation increase in 2026, one of the largest in MLB, driven precisely by the stadium definition.

Where they stand among the 30 owners

List	Rank
By franchise value	#27 de 30
By purchase price	#7 de 27
By years in charge	#26 de 30

Amounts are nominal and not adjusted for inflation: comparing a decades-old purchase price with today’s valuation overstates the real gain.

Sherman ranks 27th among the 30 MLB owners by team valuation, yet his club has appreciated faster than most in 2026. He is the 7th most recent buyer among active owners by purchase price and the 26th longest-tenured at his club’s helm. His $1 billion investment has grown to $1.64 billion in nominal terms—a 64 percent gain in seven years—but the real story is the Crown Center bet, which has drawn both municipal backing and public criticism over the scale of subsidies to a billionaire-backed project. The Royals operate a Dominican Summer League academy and maintain a steady pipeline of international signings in the Caribbean, continuing the franchise’s long tradition with Latin American players.