One of the best aspects of sports in our society is the connection a professional or college team can have with its respective city and fans. In an era fraught with political division, it’s always nice to see people in a particular town or religion come together in unison to support their favorite team as one. A great example of this in recent years is the bond the Padres have formed with the city of San Diego and the “Friar Faithful” as termed by the great play-by-play broadcaster Don Orsillo.

While the Padres have been in San Diego for over 50 years now, the city’s support of the team is clearly at an all-time high. The reasons for this are multifaceted. Yes, the departure of the Chargers for Los Angeles left the Padres as the only major professional franchise in the city. Yes, Petco Park is an amazing setting to watch a baseball game. And yes, the team is in the midst of its most successful five-year run in club history. But the overarching reason for why San Diego has become a baseball town is the late Peter Seidler’s investment into not only the on-field product but the overall fan experience.

Seidler became the chairman and largest stakeholder in the Padres in 2020 after being part of the group that purchased the team in 2012. Tragically, Seidler died in November 2023 at the age of 63 after a months-long illness. Since his passing, control over the San Diego Padres has now come into question.

This week, Sheel Seidler, the widow of Peter Seidler, filed a lawsuit against her husband's brothers for control of the franchise. In the complaint filed in Texas state probate court, Sheel claims that Bob and Matt Seidler committed "breaches of fiduciary duty and fraud" as trustees of the Seidler Trust that controls the franchise. She alleges that the brothers have "irreconcilable conflicts of interest" and sold assets of the trust to themselves at "far below-market prices" in an effort to gain control of the team.

Moreover, the complaint accuses the Seidler brothers of pursuing an initiative to sell the Padres and maybe even relocate the franchise. This inflammatory and potentially hyperbolic language is common in legal complaints and is likely included to invoke support of the Padre fanbase that still reveres the life and legacy of Peter.

Sheel further stated that she was frequently involved in team business while her husband owned the team, including input on daily operations, management hirings and free-agent signings. Given the fans obviously appreciated Peter’s aggressive spending in his final years, they would be more apt to favor Sheel over the brothers clearly portrayed as the “bad guys” looking to line their own pockets and even relocate the team, something that might strike a chord with San Diegans in light of the Chargers and even Clippers departures from the city.

On the other hand, The Peter Seidler Trust headed by the brothers issued a statement asserting the lawsuit is "entirely without merit." "Peter had a clear estate plan," said the statement. "The plan specifically named three of his nine siblings, with whom he had worked closely for many decades, as successor trustees of his trust and Peter himself prohibited Sheel from ever serving as trustee."The statement went on to declare that Sheel Seidler agreed in a sworn document that "she had no right to be or to designate the Control Person" and would not interfere with the process to choose someone for that role.”

It will be interesting to see how this suit develops and whether a solution can be reached between the two sides. Oftentimes however, these inter-family fights for control over sports franchises ultimately lead to a sale of the team. We saw this most recently in Baltimore where the Angelos family feud over the Orioles led to last year’s sale of the club after Peter Angelos passed away.

It's obviously too early to know whether a sale of the Padres is imminent. But earlier this offseason, the Pohlad family announced their intentions to sell the Minnesota Twins following 40 years of ownership. Reports have recently surfaced that a potential sale to a new group could be completed by Opening Day, highlighting the intense demand for MLB franchises despite amid diminishing regional TV revenues for smaller to middle market clubs.

The Padres are currently valued at $2.03 billion, the 15th-most valuable MLB club, according to Sportico. Forbes has the team's value at $1.78 billion. It’s worth noting that MLB took over production and distribution of Padres games in 2023 after Diamond Sports Group, the parent company of Bally Sports, failed to pay the team. Given San Diego is one of the smaller media markets in MLB and pales in comparison to Los Angeles and San Francisco, it's uncertain whether the team can continue to carry the unprecedented payroll levels they have maintained in recent years.

The good news is that the Padres ranked third in overall attendance last season, as over 3.3 million fans flocked to Petco Park to watch the Padres reach 93 wins for only the second time in franchise history. Since Peter Seidler took over control of the club in 2020, attendance is up over 39% from 2019 levels. This likely makes up for some of the TV revenue lost from Diamond. How much is unknown to the general public.

How all of affects this the Padres pursuit of Roki Sasaki or ability to retain impending free agents such as Dylan Cease or Luis Arraez remains to be seen. Hopefully, whoever is in control of the Padres moving forward keeps the team’s great fans at the center of their focus. It would be a shame to see San Diego’s fervor for their Friars be diminished in any way.

Brendan Bell is a 2L at SMU Dedman School of Law. He can be followed on Twitter (X) @_bbell5