Inside The Padres

Peter Seidler’s Wife Fears Brothers Could Sell or Relocate Padres Amid Lawsuit

Maren Angus-Coombs

Oct 2, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres fans before game two in the Wildcard round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs between the Padres and Atlanta Braves at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Oct 2, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres fans before game two in the Wildcard round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs between the Padres and Atlanta Braves at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images / Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
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The dirty details in the lawsuit Sheel Seidler filed on Monday took an unexpected turn.

Seidler, the widow of late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler, is suing her late husband's brothers for control of the team.

Read more: Peter Seidler’s Widow Suing Family for Control of Padres

Seidler has accused Matt and Bob Seidler, two of Peter Seidler’s nine siblings, of violating their fiduciary responsibilities as executors of his estate and trustees of the trust he established prior to his death in November 2023. She alleges that the brothers engaged in actions reflecting "irreconcilable conflicts of interest," including conspiring to purchase trust assets at "significantly below market value" as part of a plan to strengthen their hold over the Padres.

The lawsuit, filed in Travis County, Texas, alleges that Bob Seidler’s wife directed “racist, profane, and hateful comments” at Sheel Seidler, who is of Indian descent. It further claims that Bob and Matt Seidler acted with racist and sexist intentions, seeking to “take control” of the Padres to prevent “an Indian-American woman” from managing what they consider their “family business and ancestral entitlement.”

Sheel Seidler's lawsuit also claims that the brothers might be trying to prevent her from ruining their plans to sell or relocate the franchise.

"Indeed, Matt's efforts to promote his brother John as Control Person and to block Sheel may well be part of his efforts to sell, and perhaps relocate, the team, over Sheel's strident objection," the lawsuit states. "In any event, they are a clear breach of his fiduciary duties to Sheel."

Seidler asserted that she and her three children represent the “largest single-family ownership” stake in the Padres. She also alleged that Matt and Bob Seidler are pushing to have another brother, John Seidler, appointed as the team’s control person. Last month, the Padres announced that John, the eldest of Peter Seidler’s siblings, had been selected as the next control person, pending Major League Baseball’s approval.

“As the holder of the largest individual ownership stake in the San Diego Padres, and the sole beneficiary of the Seidler Trusts, which possess exclusive rights with respect to control of the franchise, I am seeking to be named the control person for the Padres,” Sheel Seidler wrote Monday in a statement posted on X.

Major League Baseball mandates that a control person must own at least 15 percent of their team. In her lawsuit, first reported by Sportico, Sheel Seidler stated that she and her children collectively “beneficially own approximately one-quarter of the Padres.”

“We do not comment on pending legal matters,” the Padres said when asked for comment by The Athletic. The league also declined to comment Monday.

A spokesperson for Seidler also declined further comment.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite being raised in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer for the LA Sports Report Network.

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