Great article. I don't think there is any doubt he was trying to create the virtuous circle and fans responded in-kind. It takes a strong leader to get other partners to get behind that vision and somehow, he did it. Remains to be seen if the subsequent controlling owner(s) will stay true to the vision.
Ultimately, continuing down this path will be determined by the next local TV / streaming contract, the Padres' ability to monetize Petco outside of baseball, real estate development in / around Petco, and the next MLB TV / streaming contract. Attendance at the Park and associated revenue is a limited by capacity at the Park and the elasticity of demand for tickets. Even a winning team can only charge so much. Have the Padres hit that point yet? I don't know. But it's hard to believe they can get too much more out of the fans, especially if the team is mediocre.
All that aside, Peter Seidler is a model owner. He loved the game. He loved the fans. He invested his heart, mind, soul and money into the franchise. It wasn't a bauble around his neck that he showed off to his friends at his villa in Hawaii or Laguna, etc. He gave the Friar Faithful something real to have faith in after years of abuse and neglect. More personally, he gave my family, particularly my son and me, many moments of joy and connection that we otherwise would not have had. And for that, I will always be grateful for Peter Seidler.
Of course Mr. Seidler's true motivations are impossible to know, but the possibility does exist that he wasn't placing faith in San Diegans to keep paying through the nose for tickets as much as he was making reckless bets to win a World Series before he died. Mr. Seidler never got his World Series ring, but the albatross contracts he tied around the neck of the Padres will keep tightening, in two instances for more than a decade. I wonder how Mr. Seidler's ownership will be viewed a few years from now?
Great article. I don't think there is any doubt he was trying to create the virtuous circle and fans responded in-kind. It takes a strong leader to get other partners to get behind that vision and somehow, he did it. Remains to be seen if the subsequent controlling owner(s) will stay true to the vision.
Ultimately, continuing down this path will be determined by the next local TV / streaming contract, the Padres' ability to monetize Petco outside of baseball, real estate development in / around Petco, and the next MLB TV / streaming contract. Attendance at the Park and associated revenue is a limited by capacity at the Park and the elasticity of demand for tickets. Even a winning team can only charge so much. Have the Padres hit that point yet? I don't know. But it's hard to believe they can get too much more out of the fans, especially if the team is mediocre.
All that aside, Peter Seidler is a model owner. He loved the game. He loved the fans. He invested his heart, mind, soul and money into the franchise. It wasn't a bauble around his neck that he showed off to his friends at his villa in Hawaii or Laguna, etc. He gave the Friar Faithful something real to have faith in after years of abuse and neglect. More personally, he gave my family, particularly my son and me, many moments of joy and connection that we otherwise would not have had. And for that, I will always be grateful for Peter Seidler.
Of course Mr. Seidler's true motivations are impossible to know, but the possibility does exist that he wasn't placing faith in San Diegans to keep paying through the nose for tickets as much as he was making reckless bets to win a World Series before he died. Mr. Seidler never got his World Series ring, but the albatross contracts he tied around the neck of the Padres will keep tightening, in two instances for more than a decade. I wonder how Mr. Seidler's ownership will be viewed a few years from now?