Jim Crane was supposed to be approved as the new owner of the Astros at this week’s owners meetings. Now Eric Fisher of SportsBusiness Journal is reporting that the vote has been put on hold. It’s possible that the delay is based on concerns over Crane’s business background.
These concerns are not new -- Maury Brown cataloged them pretty comprehensively a couple of months ago -- but they were not thought to be enough to derail Crane’s ownership bid.
Is that bid derailed, or is this just a matter of extra due diligence? I suspect we’ll find out soon.
UPDATE: Literally one minute after I posted this, the following statement from Major League Baseball was released:
“The standard due diligence that must be completed before any transaction of this magnitude can close remains ongoing. Because that procedure is continuing, it is not expected that the proposed sale of the Astros will go to the approval process at this week’s owners meetings. Major League Baseball will continue to work as expeditiously as possible to complete the process.”
