John Henry’s future in Boston has apparently been settled in no uncertain terms: he and his family are staying put.
Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy was blunt Thursday morning when the subject came up on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” saying the Henrys are not going to sell the franchise.
“John Henry, Linda Henry, the Henry family, are never selling the Boston Red Sox,” Kennedy said. “And that’s a sound bite you can play forevermore. I’d bet anything on that.”
That kind of certainty stands out because the sale chatter has been hanging around for a while. Henry hasn’t always been easy to spot around the team, and his limited availability to Boston reporters has only fueled the speculation. He has been around Fenway Park more often in recent weeks, but Kennedy made clear that should not be read as a sign the Red Sox are being prepared for a future sale.
The club’s broader business footprint has also fed the conversation. Fenway Sports Group now includes Liverpool Football Club, Boston Common Golf and other investments, and the company recently completed the sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kennedy pushed back on the idea that that expansion means the Red Sox are on the market.
“Inside of Fenway Sports Group, we have 25, 30 investors of all types, all different types,” Kennedy said. “But John and Linda Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon are the investors and owners of the club that run the club, and that has been consistent for 25 years.”
Kennedy said he expects that setup to last “if not longer” than another 25 years.
The Henry-led group bought the Red Sox in 2002 and has overseen the most successful stretch in the franchise’s modern era, with World Series titles in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018 after an 86-year championship drought. But the ownership group has still taken heat along the way, especially over spending, direction and the trade of Mookie Betts, along with several seasons without a deep postseason run.
The topic of valuation naturally comes with all of that. Sportico estimated earlier in 2026 that the Red Sox were worth $6.65 billion, and a sale would likely command even more given the franchise’s history, market and ownership of Fenway Park. Kennedy said that kind of number does not move the Henry family.
“It doesn’t matter, and I mean that sincerely,” Kennedy said.
He was also asked about the New York Yankees’ reported $2.6 billion financing agreement with Apollo Sports Capital and whether Boston could explore something similar. Kennedy brushed that aside, saying the club is not focused on that. The priority, he said, is the team’s current situation on the field after Boston entered Thursday trying to bounce back from five straight losses that wiped away some of the momentum from its second-half surge.
For all the noise around ownership, Kennedy’s message was the simplest one of the day: the Red Sox aren’t changing hands anytime soon.
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