Travis Kelce is adding a new title to his burgeoning business portfolio: Major League Baseball owner.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end is joining the Cleveland Guardians' ownership group as a minority investor, he told ESPN on Wednesday, purchasing a stake in the team he grew up watching and reconnecting with the game he once believed offered the clearest path to a professional sports career.
"I have so much love for this city," Kelce told ESPN. "I say it all the time: I'm just a kid from the Heights living the dream. I credit every good thing in my life to Cleveland and being raised here with the values and the people and the work ethic. Cleveland Heights is such a diverse and dynamic place. Every friend, neighbor, teacher and teammate -- they all made me the man I am today. It just fueled such a deep appreciation for life and community and service. That mentality of Cleveland against the world runs deep.
"I've been lucky enough to have a front-row seat to good ownership in my career, and I know the best teams prioritize culture. Everyone is there to play their role, and right now, I'm here to observe and learn and really to support the team and the city when and where I can."
Kelce, 36, is the latest active professional athlete to acquire an equity stake in an MLB team. Other current athletes who have become minority investors in baseball teams include LeBron James (Boston Red Sox), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Brewers), Cade Cunningham (Texas Rangers) and Kelce's Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes, who in July 2020 became a minority owner of the Kansas City Royals.
The Guardians are valued around $1.7 billion -- a stark increase from their $1 billion valuation in 2022, when lead minority owner David Blitzer purchased a stake in the team that includes a pathway to majority ownership.
Like Cunningham, Kelce's purchase is personal. He grew up during Cleveland's baseball renaissance in the 1990s, when the team won five consecutive American League Central titles. Calling himself a "die-hard," Kelce said he would take the rapid-transit light rail system downtown and keep score with his father, Ed, who also served as his baseball coach.
"There was nothing like Cleveland baseball in the '90s," Kelce said. "That's just a core memory for me. Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, Jim Thome, Sandy Alomar Jr., the list goes on, and I admire how they just continue to pour into this city and this game. It's something that resonates with me, giving back to the places and the people that gave so much to you."
Before he was recruited to the University of Cincinnati to play football, Kelce was one of the best baseball players in the Cleveland metropolitan area. In his senior season in 2008, he hit .588 with six home runs. Two years later, he played summer baseball as an ultra-physical outfielder with speed, power and a strong throwing arm.
"I think I had always felt most confident on the diamond," Kelce said. "I was playing every sport growing up, but baseball was actually the only one I had early interest from scouts, so I really did think it was a viable option for me. The football thing chose me at the end of the day, and when I moved to tight end, it really took off for me.
"I mean, it's hard to find a better feeling in sports than hitting a home run. But the best part about playing baseball growing up for me was enjoying it with the fellas and their families I played with. I was lucky enough to be on some great teams growing up on the east side of Cleveland."
Kelce, who along with Mahomes invested in the Alpine Formula 1 team, also owns stakes in an amusement park company, a mattress company, a beer company, a restaurant and a lucrative podcast. He was brought into the Guardians' ownership group by Blitzer, also a co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, whose pathway to majority ownership of the Guardians could be converted as early as after the 2027 season.
Rebranded as the Guardians in 2022, they are in first place in the Central after winning the division each of the past two seasons. The Guardians hold a nine-game lead over the Royals -- a fact, Kelce said, that won't go unnoticed in the Chiefs' locker room when he talks baseball with Mahomes.
"We're both as competitive as it gets, so you know there will be some bragging rights on the line when we play our division games," Kelce said. "But I really have a lot of respect for the Royals and their organization. It was a fun time in Kansas City cheering them on for their World Series win in 2015."
