CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Knights announced Monday that the team's owner has begun vetting candidates for a potential sale of the team.
Don Beaver purchased the Knights from former Hornets owner George Shinn in 1997. Beaver helped negotiate the deal that made the Knights the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox in 1999, ending a four-year partnership with the Marlins. The Knights lost the Triple-A World Series to Vancouver that season.
Dan Rajkowski, the Chief Operating Officer of the Knights, confirms the team has started the process of selling the team. Rojkowski said it was a decision that owner Don Beaver has been considering for months now. Fans now question what’s next for the Triple-A squad.
“That’s kind of shocking, I’m not sure who they’re going to be selling it to. Are they going to be selling it to move out of Charlotte or selling for new ownership?” Kane Smith tells WCNC Charlotte after hearing the news on the team.
Rajkowski didn’t specify an asking price and shared just how much the team means to the Charlotte area.
“It’s important that we’re tied closely to this community and obviously Charlotte’s is one of the greatest markets for professional baseball in the country and I see no reason why that won’t continue,” Rajkowski said.
News that Beaver was considering selling the team was first reported by the Charlotte Business Journal.
“The Charlotte Knights have notified Major League Baseball that they will begin the process of exploring the potential sale of the team," the Knights said in a statement. "A few prospective interested parties have inquired about the team and the ballpark. We want to vet the interested groups to see if a sale makes sense for Don Beaver and his family. The Knights have been a tremendous asset to the Greater Charlotte Region and we are committed to continuing that legacy for years to come.”
Smith hopes to see continued success with the team and ticket sales. He said, “I would hope they would get more ticket sales, draw more of a crowd and hopefully the team can continue to win.”
The team has gathered interest from several potential buyers. Some have local ties as well. "It's very attractive, we've had a very positive response from the number of people that are out there. And if you look at the history of the Knights, since we've moved Uptown Charlotte," Rojkowski added.
The Knights moved into Uptown in 2014 as Truist Field, formerly known as BB&T Ballpark, opened just a block away from Bank of America Stadium. The team has posted just two winning seasons since moving to Uptown, with their most recent winning campaign in 2019.
It's unclear what the future looks like, but the hope from the organization is that the team will remain in the Charlotte area. Rajkowski added,
"You've seen us lead the country in attendance for years. We traditionally finish in the top, we finished in the top as far as generating revenue," Rajowski said. Certainly, the outside events that we've done, if you can see, we're just more than baseball, ACC baseball championships, college baseball, put a hockey rink out there, Light the Knights. So we're a year-round operation. And it's it's very healthy. And I think very attractive to someone that would be wanting to purchase it."
Editor's note: The original article spelled Don Beaver's first name as Dan. That has been corrected.
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