TIER I
Bleacher Creature
$250or 4 × $65/month
- 1 founding share + numbered certificate
- Name on the digital Wall at Target Field
- Annual shareholder meeting access (online)
- Voting on jersey patches & non-baseball ops
A People's Bid · Est. 2026 · Minneapolis–St. Paul
The Twins belong to Minnesota.
It's time we owned them.
The Pohlads put the team on the market, then quietly took it back. They sold a minority stake to a New York venture firm at a $1.75 billion valuation while raising debt instead of payroll. Homegrown is a fan-led campaign to make them an offer they cannot refuse — and put the Minnesota Twins in the hands of the people who actually love them.
- Pledged so far
- $720,000in soft commitments
- Founding members
- 318individual pledgers
- Corporate inquiries
- 6Minnesota businesses
- Cities pledging
- 41across MN, WI, ND, IA
Phase 1 · The Whisper. We grow this number quietly until it speaks for itself.
The case
Forty-two years of the same family. One bad answer to every question.
Carl Pohlad bought the Twins for $44 million in 1984. Forty-two years later, his grandson Tom is the new "controlling owner," the family is sitting on $400+ million in debt, and the answer to every fan question — Sign Soto? Keep Buxton healthy? Fix the broadcast? — has become the same answer it was when they tried to contract the team in 2002: not our problem.
In February 2025, the family put the team up for sale. Justin Ishbia walked. Bids cleared $1.5B but stalled. By August they pulled the team back. In December they finalized a 20% minority sale at a $1.75B valuation — to Glick Family Investments (New York VC), Craig Leipold (Wild owner), and a handful of insiders led by George Hicks.
None of those names are accountable to a Twins fan. None of them ride the Blue Line to Target Field. None of them grew up listening to Herb Carneal call a game from the radio in the garage. The team is staying in private hands. It is not staying in our hands.
So we propose something different. Not a fantasy and not a stunt. A real, structured, lawyer-built fan acquisition vehicle modeled on what's worked elsewhere: the Green Bay Packers' 538,967 shareholders, the Rochester Red Wings' community ownership since 1959, the Glazers-out fan trusts in English football, and yes — the lessons from Krause House, ConstitutionDAO, and LinksDAO about what to copy and what to avoid.
The Twins won't sell to us tomorrow. They might never sell to us. But the Pohlads' patience is finite, the league's patience is finite, and the next time a control sale is on the table — whether that's in two years or twelve — we want a fully-funded, MLB-vetted, community-led bid sitting on the table the moment the bankers open the data room.
This is the offseason where we start building it.
The math
A $2.4 billion bid, broken into pieces a city can carry.
The Pohlads want $1.75B for the equity. We add roughly $400M of assumed debt, a $150M payroll war chest (call it the Soto Fund), and ~$100M in transaction costs and reserves. That's our number: $2.4 billion all-in.
It sounds ridiculous. It's not. The Packers raised the equivalent of roughly $200/share from half a million fans for stock that pays no dividends and can't be resold. We aren't asking for that. We're proposing a tiered raise: a small number of large checks from anchor partners, a medium-sized layer of regional businesses, and a wide layer of community members — all wrapped in an SEC-registered Reg A+ offering plus a private LP layer that MLB has approved for other clubs.
"If 1 in 1,000 of the team's regional fans pledges $5,000, that alone gets us $1.5 billion of the $2.4 billion. The rest is corporate. Minnesota has 17 Fortune 500 companies. We don't need all of them. We need eight."
Below is the working cap table. Numbers move as the campaign moves — but the shape holds.
Bid scenarios
Can we bid enough that they simply cannot say no?
Yes. Recent MLB and pro-team sales clear at meaningful premiums to public valuations — the Orioles ($1.725B, 2024), the Commanders ($6.05B, 2023), and the Celtics ($6.1B, 2025, the highest price ever paid for a North American sports franchise). A 50% premium to Forbes is the threshold at which refusing the offer becomes indefensible.
| Scenario | Equity to Pohlads | + Debt assumed | Total to seller | Premium vs. Forbes | Pohlads stay in? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A · Minority Coalition Buy out the Dec '25 minority block | $600M for ~30% | — | $700M | match | Yes · keep 70% control |
| B · 51% Control Flip Half the cap table, all the operating control | $1.0B for 51% | partial | $1.5–1.8B | +17% | Yes · keep 49% upside |
| C · Full Buyout at Market The Forbes price, no premium | $1.75B for 100% | $500M | $2.25B | 0% | No · clean exit |
| D · Unrefusable Offer Recommended The number that makes refusal indefensible | $2.6B for 100% | $500M | $3.1B | +47% | No · all-time MN price |
A 51% control flip is mechanically possible but strategically wrong: it leaves the Pohlads with 49% of upside and zero operational responsibility, and "Minnesotans bought back the Twins" is a far stronger story than "we became business partners with the family that wanted out."
Membership
Pick a tier. Get a piece.
All pledges are non-binding soft commitments until the legal vehicle is registered with the SEC and MLB. At conversion, your pledge becomes equity in the Homegrown LP plus the perks below. No tier carries voting control of the team — that's reserved for the MLB-approved control person.
TIER II
Knothole Member
$1,000or 12 × $90/month
- 4 founding shares
- Engraved brick at the new fan plaza
- Annual meeting in-person at Target Field
- 10% off team store, ticket presale window
- Limited founder cap & lapel pin
TIER III
Charter Owner
$5,000or 24 × $215/month
- 20 founding shares + framed cert
- Two seats at the inaugural Charter Banquet
- Field pass for one home batting practice
- Reserved presale across all 81 home games
- Charter blazer & numbered locker plaque
TIER IV
Founders Circle
$25,000+or family/business syndicate
- 100+ founding shares
- Named in the team's permanent founders ledger
- Annual private dinner with the front office
- One Foul Pole Suite night per season
- Direct seat on the Fan Advisory Council
Cornerstone partners
Eight Minnesota companies. One historic gesture.
The plan is not to ask 17 Fortune 500s for a little money. It's to ask eight of them to anchor a state legacy at $50M each — a price point that's well within the brand-marketing budgets of any of these names, and which delivers permanent IP and gate rights instead of expiring sponsorship contracts.
If you work at one of these companies and want to put us in front of the right person, the Founders Circle pledge form below has a "corporate liaison" toggle. We'll route appropriately.
- 01TargetNaming rights, retail integration$50M
- 02UnitedHealth GroupHealth & wellness partner, training facility$50M
- 033MInnovation lab, jersey patch, science nights$50M
- 04General MillsConcessions, youth baseball, community$50M
- 05Best BuyBroadcast tech, in-park experience$50M
- 06U.S. BankFinancial services, season ticket platform$50M
- 07CargillAg heritage, Caribbean academy programs$50M
- 08Ecolab / Polaris / C.H. RobinsonRotating eighth seat — open to bid$50M
Legal vehicle
Three ways to do this. Only one of them clears MLB.
The single largest reason fan-ownership efforts die is regulatory. MLB's Rule 20 prohibits diversified public ownership above 5%, requires a designated "control person," and demands all LPs be vetted individually. We've designed around the rule, not against it.
Romantic but blocked
The DAO
- Goes viral. Krause House raised $4M in a week.
- Treasury-style governance is fan-native.
- MLB has never approved DAO ownership.
- No "control person" — fatal under Rule 20.
- SEC ambiguity creates years of legal cost.
- ConstitutionDAO returned 100% of funds; LinksDAO pivoted to a token.
The Homegrown structure
Hybrid LP + Reg A+
- Reg A+ legally allows ~$75M/yr from non-accredited fans.
- LP layer absorbs anchor and corporate capital MLB already approves.
- Designated control person satisfies Rule 20.
- Soft pledges convert to equity at MLB approval — zero risk to pledgers if blocked.
- Optional fan-token layer (non-equity) preserves the viral DAO energy.
- ~$3-5M in legal/SEC setup before raise opens.
Slow & exclusionary
Classic Crowdfunding
- Easy to launch (Reg CF, GoFundMe-style).
- Familiar to donors.
- Reg CF caps at $5M/year — 480× short of target.
- Donations confer no equity, no rights.
- No mechanism to convert to ownership at sale.
Governance
Seven seats. Two are yours.
The Limited Partnership is governed by a seven-seat Board of Directors. Two seats — the Foundation Seats — are elected directly by ordinary Minnesotans who pay $10/year in Foundation membership dues, regardless of how much equity they own. This is the FC Barcelona socios model, adapted to U.S. corporate law. It is the constitutional spine of the proposal.
| Seat | Selected by | Term |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Chair / Control Person | The two Anchor Founding Partners | 5 years |
| 2 · Anchor Partner Seat | The other Anchor Founding Partner | 5 years |
| 3 · Cornerstone Seat A | Eight cornerstone corporates, rotating annually | 1 year |
| 4 · Cornerstone Seat B | Eight cornerstone corporates, rotating annually | 1 year |
| 5 · Public Equity Seat | Reg A+ shareholders, by majority | 3 years |
| 6 · Foundation Seat A Fan-elected | Homegrown Foundation members · one Minnesotan, one vote | 3 years |
| 7 · Foundation Seat B Fan-elected | Homegrown Foundation members · one Minnesotan, one vote | 3 years |
Three decisions can be vetoed by the Foundation outright — not just opposed, vetoed: (1) any move outside the seven-county MSP metro, (2) any sale of the franchise to a non-Minnesota control person, and (3) any reduction of the Civic Compact below 1.0% of revenue. The team cannot be relocated against the will of Minnesota. Ever.
The Civic Compact
One percent of revenue. Forever. To Minnesota schools.
Under Article VIII of the Limited Partnership Agreement, the LP irrevocably commits 1.0% of gross annual franchise revenue to a dedicated Twins for Minnesota Schools Fund. At current Twins revenue of approximately $350M that's $3.5M per year, growing with the franchise, in perpetuity. It will be the largest standing civic compact in the history of American professional sports.
| Use of funds | Detail |
|---|---|
| Youth baseball & softball | Facility grants, with priority to under-resourced school districts in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and rural Minnesota |
| STEM in Minnesota high schools | Equipment, lab refits, and Twins-branded data-science curricula tied to the team's analytics group |
| PE infrastructure | Gyms, fields, and equipment for K–12 schools statewide |
| Future-teacher scholarships | College tuition for Minnesota students entering the teaching profession |
The era of stadium boondoggles and taxpayer-financed luxury boxes is over. Homegrown is a deliberate repudiation of that model. Every dollar of the $3.1B raise is private capital. The Civic Compact runs in the opposite direction — from the team, to schools.
Layered on top — not as a replacement — of the existing Twins Community Fund, the existing $10M+ Hennepin County charitable arrangement, and a 20-year lease extension at Target Field through 2050. The LP is not asking the city, the county, or the state for any new public subsidies, tax breaks, or revenue dedications to fund the acquisition itself. Only private capital is buying the team.
The plan
Eighteen months. Four phases.
We are not pretending we close this in 2026. We are pretending — accurately — that we can be the prepared bid sitting in the data room when control next changes hands.
Phase 01 · Now → Q3 2026
Soft pledge & coalition
Collect non-binding pledges on this site. Stand up the founding nonprofit. Recruit a control-person candidate (a recognizable Minnesota name with the means to lead the LP). Quiet outreach to the eight cornerstones.
Phase 02 · Q4 2026
Legal vehicle live
Form the Homegrown LP. File Form 1-A for Reg A+. Engage MLB-experienced sports counsel (Greenberg, Foley, Proskauer). Open the first $75M Reg A+ tranche. Convert soft pledges to escrowed equity.
Phase 03 · 2027
Capital stack closed
All four tranches subscribed: anchor LPs, corporates, regional businesses, and the public Reg A+. Debt facility committed. Bid book delivered to MLB and Allen & Co. Public commitment on payroll philosophy (Soto Fund).
Phase 04 · 2027 →
When the door opens
The moment the Pohlads — or any subsequent owner — open a control sale, Homegrown is the only bid in the room with both the capital and the community. If not us, our presence still raises the floor of any bid that wins.
Pledge your share
This is how it starts. One signature at a time.
Your pledge is non-binding and free. We collect commitments, not money. When the legal vehicle is live and SEC-approved, you'll be invited to convert your pledge to actual equity at the same valuation as the largest LPs. Until then, you're on the founders ledger.
The detailed proposal
Read the full plan. All twenty pages.
Governance, MLB Q&A, corporate Q&A, fan rights and perks, the civic compact, four bid scenarios, an honest risk register, and the full timeline from coalition to closing. The document is built for sophisticated readers — league counsel, corporate general counsel, securities lawyers, sports bankers — and is the working blueprint for the LP.
Questions you should be asking
The skeptic's FAQ.
Is this real, or is it a stunt?
It is real, and it is not yet a legal offering. This page collects soft pledges to prove the demand exists. Once we cross the threshold of pledges that warrants the ~$3–5M of legal and SEC work to register a Reg A+ offering, the structure goes live and pledges convert to actual equity — entirely at the pledger's option. Nobody is charged anything for putting their name down today.
Why won't the Pohlads just say no?
They might. Their first answer to anything has been no for forty years. But the Pohlads are not selling out of love for the team — they tried to sell in early 2025, the bids didn't get them to $1.7B, and instead of selling control they sold a 20% minority stake at a $1.75B valuation to retire debt. Independent valuations sit at $1.5B. Time, debt, the broadcast cliff, and family dynamics all push toward another sale window. We want to be in that window with capital and a coalition.
And if they never sell — Homegrown still becomes a permanent fan institution, the way the Packers shareholder community is. We don't lose by trying.
Won't MLB just block this?
MLB will block a DAO. MLB will not block a properly-structured limited partnership with a designated control person, vetted LPs, and SEC-registered Reg A+ shares — because they've already approved very similar structures. The Orioles' 2024 sale to David Rubenstein closed with a 23-investor LP including Cal Ripken Jr., Mike Bloomberg, and Grant Hill. The Twins' own December 2025 minority deal includes Glick Family Investments, Craig Leipold, and a George Hicks-led group. We're using the same scaffolding — just wider at the base.
What about a DAO or crypto component?
Recommended: yes — but as a community/voting layer, not the equity layer. A non-equity fan token (think: governance over jersey patches, mascot polls, in-park initiatives, and the Soto Fund target) gives the campaign its viral spine and rewards early supporters without entangling the SEC and MLB approvals. Krause House and LinksDAO showed both the upside (rapid mobilization) and the downside (MLB will not approve a DAO as the controlling owner). The hybrid threads the needle.
Who runs the team day-to-day if fans own it?
The same kind of person who runs every team: a professional front office (GM, manager, president of baseball ops), reporting to a board with an MLB-approved control person. Fan ownership doesn't mean fans pick the lineup. It means the people who care most about the team aren't outvoted by a private equity firm whose only metric is multiple-on-invested-capital.
Why $5,000 as the headline number?
Math. The team's regional fan base is ~3.1M people (Nielsen Scarborough, Twin Cities DMA + greater Minnesota + Dakotas + Iowa). If 1 in 1,000 of them — 3,100 people, the size of a single sold-out section — pledge $5,000, that's $15.5M. Scale it to ~300,000 pledgers (1 in 10 of the regional base) and you hit $1.5B. That's most of the equity raise. Lower tiers exist so anyone can join. Higher tiers exist so anyone can lead.
What happens to my pledge if this fails?
Nothing — because nothing has been collected. Soft pledges are a count-and-coalition-building tool. Once the legal vehicle is registered with the SEC, we'll invite you to convert your pledge into an actual escrowed investment, at which point the funds are held by a regulated escrow agent and returned in full if the bid does not close.
Who is behind Homegrown?
This page is the public-facing front of an organizing committee being assembled now: a former MLB GM, two Minnesota-licensed securities attorneys, a Twin Cities-based investment bank veteran, and a coordinating team of long-time Twins fans. The full roster will be posted at the end of Phase 01, after the founding nonprofit incorporates. If you want to be part of the committee, mark "corporate liaison" in the form above and tell us why.