Billionaire Missouri native expresses interest in buying the St. Louis Cardinals

At the St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up a few weeks ago, team owners Bill DeWitt Jr. and Bill DeWitt III were asked how the future ownership of the team would look down the road. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat asked both DeWitt family members what the long-term future of stewardship of the franchise would look like. Bill DeWitt Jr., who is 84 years old, responded emphatically.

"Our family has been in baseball a long time, and I think it will continue. I mean that's the plan," said DeWitt Jr. "Obviously I'm getting to an age where I'm not going to be around forever. Bill (DeWitt) III is at a perfect age to continue on for a long time, so that's our goal. We're baseball people, and the third generation here, probably a fourth underneath him coming along somewhere, so we're here."

That's a message that should tell fans that this current ownership group isn't going anywhere anytime soon. That's a reasonable decision by the DeWitt family, as valuations of sports franchises have risen exponentially since they purchased the Cardinals in 1995. The Cardinals were recently ranked as the 11th most valuable franchise in baseball by Forbes. Clearly, there's money to be made in owning a sports team.

However, that isn't stopping interested parties from inquiring about a potential purchase of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Billionaire and Missouri native David Hoffmann has expressed interest in purchasing the St. Louis Cardinals from the DeWitt family.

David Hoffmann, a native of Washington, Missouri, has recently stated that he would like to buy the Cardinals in the near future. Hoffmann just completed his purchase of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he has his eyes set on a baseball team. Buying the Cardinals would marry his geographic home with his financial endeavors.

Hoffmann, 73, intends on expanding his sports ownership portfolio in the near future. "What we plan to do is buy (the Penguins franchise), pay it off and buy a baseball team. We’d like that to be the Cardinals,” Hoffmann said at the St. Louis Business Journal's Advance STL event at the St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch.

Following the event, however, Hoffmann told the St. Louis Business Journal that "Everybody tells us no," in regards to if the team is available for purchase or not.

Hoffmann's business portfolio includes brands in agriculture, aviation, financial services, hospitality, industrial manufacturing, marine, media & marketing, professional services, real estate, and transportation. One of Hoffmann's real estate ventures was the purchase of a winery in Augusta, Missouri, with the hope of turning it into a wine capital similar to those in Napa Valley.

When the St. Louis Blues were for sale in 2012, Hoffmann finished second in bidding. He then turned his focus to the Florida Everblades, a minor-league affiliate of the Blues. Hoffmann also finished second when the Carolina Hurricanes were sold in 2021.

Hoffmann has also invested throughout the Missouri area, including purchasing Lee Enterprises, the parent company of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in late 2025. His dabbling in a winery in Augusta, Missouri, and his family's purchase of Hoffmann-Hillermann Nursery in his hometown of Washington, Missouri, prove that he's willing to invest in the state.

Missouri is home to several billionaires who could feasibly purchase the Cardinals if it were to go up for sale, but David Hoffmann is the only one who has expressed interest in buying the franchise. For the foreseeable future, Hoffmann will be kept waiting, as the DeWitt family has no interest in selling the Cardinals.