Hal Steinbrenner denies report family will sell New York Yankees

In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ sale for $2.175 billion, reports swirled that Hal Steinbrenner could soon sell the New York Yankees, potentially for as much as $3 billion, sources told the New York Daily News‘ Michael O’Keeffe and Bill Madden.

But Steinbrenner denied the rumors cited by the Daily News in a statement tweeted this morning by CBS’s Jon Heyman.

steinbrenner: "i just read the daily news story. it is complete fiction. me and my family have no intention to sell the yankees ...''(cont)

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Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) May 24, 2012

"and expect it to be in the family for years to come.'' (end of hal steinbernner statement)

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Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) May 24, 2012

The Daily News quoted one baseball official as saying, “There has been chatter all around the banking and financial industries in the city for a couple of weeks now” that the Yankees were considering a sale.

Multiple “insiders” told the paper that it was a good time for the Yankees to sell, in light of the high price a group including Magic Johnson paid for the Dodgers and Steinbrenner’s desire to lower the payroll. Other sources said they believe Steinbrenner doesn’t care about baseball as much as his late father, long-time Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner.

George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees in 1973 for $8.8 million. The team is now annually considered one of the most valuable sports franchises. Last year, Forbes said the Yankees were nearly twice as valuable as any other major league baseball team and the third-most valuable sports franchise overall.