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Real estate developer Ted Segal reportedly close to buying Dynamo, Dash for $400M
Ted Segal, founder and president of a New York City-based real estate development and finance company, is close to an agreement to buy the Houston Dynamo and Dash for $400 million, per reports by Sportico, Fox26 in Houston and ESPN.
Segal, who head EJS group, will buy a controlling stake from Gabriel Brener, who first invested in the Dynamo in 2008 and will keep a minority stake. He bought out AEG in 2015 to become majority owner. Brooklyn Nets star (and former Houston Rocket) James Harden and former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya will remain minority owners, per the reports. Minority partner Jake Silverstein will no longer be involved, per Fox26.
The ownership stake covers the Dynamo in MLS and Dash in NWSL, but it does not include BBVA Stadium and the Dynamo's training facility. They are owned, respectively, by the Harris County Houston Sports Authority and city of Houston.
Dynamo and Dash officials released a statement to ESPN and Fox 26:
"Our ownership group receives inquiries about the Club from interested parties on a frequent basis and has for quite some time. These inquiries are private in nature, and we respect the privacy of those individuals. Our club will have no comment on any reports."
Dash, Dynamo on opposite paths
Both teams underwent a rebrand in late 2020, but are trending in different directions.
The Dash won the inaugural 2020 Challenge Cup last summer and are one of the best teams in the NWSL currently. Houston opened its 2021 regular season with a loss to surprise title contenders Gotham FC.
The Dash will join Barcelona, Lyon and the NWSL's Portland Thorns in the 2021 Women's International Champions Cup (WICC) in Portland from Aug. 18-21. They'll play the Thorns in one semifinal, and face either the winner or loser of the Barcelona-Lyon match depending on the results.
The Dynamo have reached the MLS playoffs in one of the past seven seasons and were dropping in attendance numbers before the pandemic. They are now the second MLS team to be sold this month, joining Orlando City SC, while Real Salt Lake remains for sale. The league took over the sale of that club after finding team owner Dell Loy Hansen guilty of inappropriate conduct in the workplace.
Hansen also owned the Utah Royals club in the NWSL. The new ownership group of Chris and Angie Long and Brittany Matthews, the fiancée of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, moved the club to Kansas City this past offseason.
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