Seattle Pilots
Where Bankruptcy and Baseball Collide
Two things which are important to know about me is that I’m a big baseball fan and I’m an Omaha Bankruptcy Attorney. Not too many opportunities to merge my interests…until recently. With the recent Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers and recent filing by the Chicago Cubs and a myriad of National Hockey League teams, I thought I would introduce my readers to one of the more interesting bankruptcy stories to revolve around sports. The first bankruptcy in Major League Baseball history.
Ever hear of the “Seattle Pilots“? No? You might recognize them today as the Milwaukee Brewers, but the story doesn’t begin with either of these towns or teams. It begins in Kansas City and the Kansas City Athletics (For a complete history of the Athletics franchise from Philadelphia to Oakland, see this wikipedia entry).
The Kansas City Athletics moved from Philadelphia in 1955 and in 1960 was purchased by Charlie O. Finley who stated he would never move the team from Kansas City. Despite his statement, in 1962, he tried to move the team to Dallas which failed to receive enough votes from other team owners in the league. In 1964, Finley tried to move to Louisville, Kentucky, which again failed. Six weeks after the Louisville vote, Finley tried to move the team to Oakland, which again failed. Finley also talked about moving the team to Seattle, New Orleans, Atlanta, Milwaukee and San Diego. Finley finally got his wish in 1967 and the Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland, California.
Missouri’s senior U.S. Senator, Stuart Symington, was enraged that Finley moved the team out of Kansas City and threatened to revoke Major League Baseball’s anti-trust exemption (Another story for another time, just for this story, it is very special federal government protection). In order to make Senator Symington happy and stop his threats, MLB decided to open up new franchises in the league, which included a team in Kansas City, San Diego, Montreal and Seattle.
The owners of the Seattle Pilots, the Soriano brothers, spent all of their money on the franchise rights (most of which was borrowed), and didn’t have any money for the future of the team. Since the team was put together virtually overnight, the team played in a minor league stadium in Seattle called “Sick’s Stadium” (That is blatant foreshadowing if you ask me). The stadium was small so construction was ordered to expand the size and fast. This caused all kinds of problems including obstructed views and low water pressure. It was reported than when attendance reached 10,000 people, the toilets were unable to flush…not very fan friendly. Tie the bad financial and stadium conditions to the flat out poor play of the team and the Pilots were not looking to “fly” long.
Bankruptcy Used as a Positive Tool
The Pilots played one season in Seattle. The owners tried to find a purchaser of the team, and found it in Bud Selig (current MLB Commissioner), a car salesman from Milwaukee. But the State of Washington received an injunction to prevent the move. The owners then filed bankruptcy, which allowed the bankruptcy court to force the sale without regard for the injunction or lawsuits over the move. Just as Spring Training was beginning in 1970, the Bankruptcy Referee Sidney Volinn declared the Pilots insolvent and ordered the sale of the team to Selig and his partners for $10 million.
The event happened less than a week before the 1970 Opening Day (the first day of the season), so the team was unable to order new uniforms in time, requiring the newly named Milwaukee Brewers to recycle old Seattle Pilots uniforms by removing the “Pilots” or “Seattle” name from the uniform and stitching in the new name.
This is the only time where bankruptcy was used to move a Major League Baseball team. So now you know the entire story of the Seattle Pilots. It’s entire existence in 1969.