With Red Sox principal owner John Henry recently branching out to so many different business ventures, while not executing his annual spring training meeting with the media this year, speculation had started to bubble up.
Was Henry planning on moving on from the Red Sox?
Appearing on the Greg Hill Show Wednesday morning, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy attempted to clarify Henry's plans regarding continuing an ownership stake he bought into 20 years ago.
"As it relates to selling the team, I can say with absolute certainty John Henry is not selling the Boston Red Sox," Kennedy said. "He has no plans to sell the Boston Red Sox. He is as committed to this organization, to this city, to this ballpark as ever. He's excited to continue to grow Fenway Sports Group, which is the parent company of the Red Sox that owns NESN and Liverpool Football Club, a NASCAR team, a real estate company. If anything, I think you'll see John Henry and Tom Werner doing more in sports and entertainment and media and real estate as we continue to build this company out as we go forward. And the Red Sox are always at the center of everything we do and that's not going to change. John will absolutely not be selling the team."
As for Henry's absence from the public eye thus far in 2021, Kennedy added, "As I've said on the show before, John and Tom are very active owners. They leave handling the day to day with the media for people like me and Chaim Bloom and Alex Cora. So I don't know when he plans to meet with the media. He would determine that schedule and leave the rest to us."
While it doesn't appear as though Henry's position as owner of the Red Sox will change any time soon, there may be an addition to the group sooner than later.
As was first reported in the Boston Globe, LeBron James and Maverick Carter are in the final stages of buying into an ownership position with Fenway Sports Group, automatically linking the pair to the Red Sox.
While Kennedy wouldn't confirm that deal was done, he strongly insinuated the partnership was a very real possibility.
"First of all, we're not in a position yet ... You noticed we haven't commented officially on the report that came out about that," Kennedy said. "I can just tell you that we hope to be in a position to comment on that publicly very soon. As you can imagine with deals of this magnitude, if and when they come together they can take a while. But as it relates to LeBron and Mav, if they do become owners of the Red Sox and investors as part of this deal we're contemplating it would be an outstanding thing for Fenway Sports Group. For the Red Sox to have two African-American men at the ownership table is fantastic. Someone of the star power and reach of LeBron, what he means in the sporting world, what Maverick means in the business world ... As I think you guys know we've worked with LeBron and Maverick all the way back to 2011 when Fenway Sports Management made an agreement with their marketing company to handle LeBron's endorsement work. Our teams have partnered with LeBron and Maverick for about a decade. If this comes together it would be the next stage of the relationship with those guys. To have African-American ownership of the Boston Red Sox is a pretty powerful thing, especially two guys like LeBron and Maverick. So we'll keep our fingers crossed as we try to get to the finish line there."
