Haslam Family Planning to Sell Tennessee Smokies Baseball Team

In a move that is “absolutely not” related to the legal troubles of Pilot Flying J, the ownership group led by the Haslam family is looking to sell the Tennessee Smokies baseball team.

Jimmy Haslam notes that part of the reason for the sale is that it will allow him to focus more of his efforts in Cleveland with the Browns. Of course, when he resumed his role at Pilot Flying J earlier this year, one would have thought that would distract him from his ownership duties. Then again, that was right before the company was hit with all of its legal problems so, you know, maybe he knew something was coming down the pike.

According to Forbes:

"Haslam has a net worth of $1.8 billion and Pilot, of which he owns about 21%, generates close to $30 billion in annual revenue. He clearly does not need the few million dollars he will net from the sale of the Smokies to live. But the additional liquidity could come in handy if he buys the remaining 30% of the Browns still owned by Randy Lerner within the next four years as planned."

Haslam may be focusing his efforts on Cleveland, but how that turns out will depend on the fallout from the investigation into his company. He might feel comfortable about it right now, but he’s not exactly out of the woods just yet.