How Texas Rangers owner Ray Davis built a World Series championship and a $2.
8 billion fortune The World Series title was not a given on opening day in March.
According to Sports Betting Dime, the Rangers had odds of 50-1, but they improved to just 16-1 at the end of the regular season, but their stunning nine-inning win in Game 1 of the Fall Classic October was a sweltering month, with many comebacks, but no results were achieved.
Baseball immortality of Davis and the Rangers.
“I don’t know what it means for the city of Arlington, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
We’re thrilled to death,” Davis told MLB commissioner after the game.
told Rob Manfred.
“Thank you for all your support, patience.
” Of course, pursuing a championship doesn’t come cheap, and Davis, who is worth an estimated $2.
8 billion, is hesitant to open and close his checkbook.
There wasn’t.
According to Spotrac, the Rangers have contributed more than $1.
3 billion to free agents since 2013, including $325 million to Corey Seager, $175 million to Marcus Semien, and $185 million to Jacob deGrom.
Approximately $830 million was spent in the past two offseasons alone.
Part of that cost is offset by the fact that the Rangers’ value has risen rapidly since his group paid them $593 million in 2010.
Forbes estimates that the franchise is currently worth $2.
23 billion, and that number could soon rise even higher.
“This has been a productive investment for him,” says Martin Conway, a professor at Georgetown University’s Sport Management Institute who worked in the Rangers organization under a different ownership group.
.
“This franchise has been a hidden gem in the sports world for many reasons.
”
Even though the Rangers have significantly increased Davis’ wealth, the team hasn’t made him rich.
In 1993, after he began investing in natural gas businesses, he partnered with Kelsey Warren and Ben H.
Cook to acquire a 37% controlling stake in the bankrupt oil company Endevco (later renamed Cornerstone Natural Gas).
He purchased it for $3 million.
Three years later, the trio moved to El Paso for $115 million, bringing their respective incomes to $13 million.
Shortly thereafter, Davis and his partners formed a natural gas sales and pipeline company called Energy Transfer.
The company struggled early on, and then Mr.
Cook passed away.
However, in the early 2000s, the company acquired Oasis Pipeline for approximately $350 million in two transactions, a merger with Heritage Propane that included a $300 million cash infusion, and a merger with TXU (North Dallas) and AEP It has had some big successes, including a pipeline from (Houston) totaling $1.
37 billion.
Mr.
Davis served as Mr.
Warren’s co-CEO until 2007, when he stepped back from day-to-day operations.
Energy Transfer currently has a market capitalization of $41.
4 billion and transports about 30% of U.S.
oil through its infrastructure.
Davis still owns just over 2% of the company.
Shortly after leaving Energy Transfer, the Rangers were put up for sale.
The team endured a period of financial turmoil under former owner and private equity investor Tom Hicks, eventually filing for bankruptcy in 2010.
Baseball has long flowed into Davis.
He played at Tourneau University in Longview, Texas, in the mid-1960s, and spent hot days in the 1970s watching the Rangers in the outdoor stands at Arlington Stadium.
Warren, who shared season tickets with Davis in the 1990s, encouraged Davis to consider buying the team.
“Do you manage investments?
That’s pretty boring,” Warren told the Dallas Morning News in 2015 with a laugh, adding that after Davis left Energy Transfer, he ran Avatar, a diversified investment firm.
I mentioned movement.
With oil magnate Bob Simpson as co-lead investor and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and businessman Chuck Greenberg leading the group, Davis bought the Rangers in 2010 for $593 million.
His group was not alone in competing for the franchise, fending off offers from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and future Houston Astros owner Jim Crane.
The Rangers won the American League pennant in each of their first two seasons under the new ownership group, but lost in the World Series both times.
As an owner, Davis has typically worked behind the scenes.
He reportedly continues to keep a close eye on the team’s finances and non-player personnel, leaving baseball decisions to executives like Ryan, Jon Daniels and now Chris Young.
Davis has stepped in from time to time, signing Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, whom the Rangers tried to sign before the 2010 season, and former National League Manager of the Year Bruce Lee, who retired this year to become the team’s captain.
I personally visited Bochy.
And they won their fourth World Series.
He also served on MLB’s Executive Committee, Labor Committee, and Competition Committee, and enjoyed a strong reputation among fellow owners.
“I have a lot of respect for Ray,” said Diamondbacks billionaire owner Ken Kendrick.
Even if Davis didn’t win the World Series, he transformed the team off the field.
In addition to easing the Rangers’ financial woes, in 2020 he moved the team to the $1.
25 billion Globe Life Field, a key part of Arlington’s burgeoning entertainment district.
The complex also includes the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, Six Flags’ two amusement parks, the National Medal of Honor Museum, and the club’s former home His Stadium, which has since been converted into a multipurpose sports and entertainment venue.
Also includes Choctaw Stadium.
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