When an ownership group including Bill DeWitt, Jr. purchased the St. Louis Cardinals for $150 million in 1995, the move wasn't universally hailed as a stroke of business shrewdness.
As a St. Louis Post Dispatch article dated January 7, 1996 says:
Is this a good investment? One well-known local businessman and investor tosses out this off-speed projection: "This is not a good, long-term deal." He cited what he considers two big factors working against the Gateway team: Baseball is on a downhill slide, and probably will never fully recover.