Alden Global Capital co-founder Heath Freeman is buying the San Jose Earthquakes from John Fisher at an enterprise value of $625 million. MLS owners approved Freeman’s bid on Thursday, according to two people familiar with the agreement. The deal has not closed yet.
The Earthquakes and Alden Capital did not respond to immediate requests for comment.
Fisher paid a $20 million expansion fee for the team in 2007. In June 2025, he hired Moelis & Co. to sell the MLS club, as he transitioned his MLB team from Oakland to Las Vegas. The Athletics played the past two seasons at Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park, the home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, and the A’s new $2 billion Vegas stadium is expected to open in 2028.
Alden is a private equity firm based in New York and has snapped up newspapers around the country via its Digital First Media enterprise. It is the second-largest publisher in the U.S., behind USA Today Co., and has come under fire for severe cost-cutting at the publications.
The sale comes the same week the Saputo family announced plans to sell CF Montréal and hired a pair of banks. The Vancouver Whitecaps are also still on the market, with Goldman Sachs leading that process.
The Earthquakes ranked 23rd in Sportico’s MLS team valuations at $585 million.
Moelis was the exclusive financial advisor to the Earthquakes. Katten, Munchen and Rosenman, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom acted as legal counsel to the Earthquakes in connection with the transaction. Sidley Austin was legal counsel to Heath Freeman.
(This has been updated in the final paragraph with additional firms that worked on the deal.)