CF Montreal owner Joey Saputo starts process to sell the club

Joey Saputo has put CF Montreal up for sale. The owner announced at a press conference on Monday 9 November 2026 that his family is starting a structured sale process for the Major League Soccer club, the top professional league in the United States and Canada.

Saputo has owned the Quebec club for more than thirty years. He said he hopes to find a buyer who shares his commitment to Montreal and will keep the team in the city for many years. The club's own statement confirmed the process.

He did not rule out a buyer who would move the team to another city. Saputo said he would accept a relocation offer if it fits with MLS. He also declined to give an estimated selling price or a timeline. The sale will be run with MLS and the club's investment bankers, the financial advisers who help match sellers with buyers.

Saputo paid a $40m expansion fee to bring the club into MLS in 2012. That is the one-off payment a new team makes to join the league. Recent sales elsewhere have come in much higher. The Illig family sold 71% of Sporting Kansas City to Peter Malouk at a $700m valuation, and the Haslem family sold a 37% stake in the Columbus Crew at a $900m valuation. A valuation is the total worth put on a club.

Guardian reported that Forbes estimated CF Montreal at $435m as of June 2025. That made it the second least valuable club in the league, ahead of only the Colorado Rapids.

The club owns its home ground, Stade Saputo. It opened in 2008, was expanded in 2012 when the club joined MLS, and holds just over 19,000 fans.

For supporters, the question now is who might take over. Saputo has not named a buyer, and he has not said how long the search will take. Until then, the club's fans are left waiting, as they have been before in the long history of football ownership changes.