Latest news with #sportsownership
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The $10bn LA Lakers sale proves sports have outgrown billionaires
The sale of the Los Angeles Lakers is many things. First of all, it is a record. The glitziest team in basketball is changing hands at a valuation of $10bn, the biggest ever for a sports franchise. Second, it is probably an excellent deal for the buyer, even at that astonishing valuation. And third, the shift in majority ownership from the Buss family to an investment group led by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter, is something else: inevitable. Advertisement Sports teams are an eye-watering asset class. Not only does owning one confer countless perks and the kind of societal status that most money can't even buy, but team valuations in the major North American sports have been on a steep upslope for decades. The sale of the Lakers represents a new peak and is also the latest data point that illustrates a new fact about sports ownership. The best properties have become too valuable an asset class for people like Jeanie Buss to control them. Related: Lakers to be sold to Dodgers owner at $10bn valuation, per reports Buss' father, Jerry, bought the team in 1979, and the Lakers have since then operated like one of the world's largest family businesses. The Lakers are by far the biggest source of the Buss family's wealth, and as ESPN reported on Thursday, the team has traditionally used its own revenues to pay its expenses. Its golden goose is an enormous local television deal with the LA cable provider Spectrum. The cable bundle is dying, however, and these days the biggest sports teams are increasingly owned not by wealthy individuals and families but by consortiums of deep-pocketed investors and institutions. The Lakers had already moved in this direction; the Buss family sold a quarter stake in the team to a group led by Walter in 2021. That same group – with Walter as the frontman, but by no means doing it alone – took control of the Dodgers in 2012 and later bought control of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. Advertisement Blue-chip sports properties like the Lakers are now too big for even most billionaires to just reach into their pocket and by all alone. For that reason, leagues have gradually made it much easier for institutional investors to buy stakes in teams. (The NFL, with limits, has swung open the door to private equity.) The corollary to that trend is that when a longtime owner like Jeanie Buss has buyers lined up with enough liquidity to secure her family fortune in cash, rather than ownership of a team, she's likely to jump at it. The Lakers' new owners are likely to do very well on their investment. The decline of cable is a major threat to professional sports teams, and some smaller-market clubs in the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have taken substantial cash flow hits as regional carriers have faded. But the Lakers are so entwined with one of the world's largest cities that to bet against their continued growth is to bet against the future popularity of basketball, the city of Los Angeles and live entertainment altogether. Angelenos will not stop buying Lakers tickets and, even more critically, will not stop happily paying to watch 82 games per year, whether they're doing that on a streamer or traditional TV. The Lakers are too big to fail, and some time down the line, someone will value them at well more than $10bn. The sale will probably be good for Lakers fans, though they are not the priority in any transaction of this type. Walter's group has done wonders with the Dodgers, seizing on the franchise's natural advantages – a rabid fanbase and a location players want to play in – and turned the team into the most consistent winner in baseball. It is harder to flex a financial advantage in the NBA than in salary cap-less MLB, but Walter's Dodgers have become the team with the best reputation among ballplayers. Not that the Lakers have a hard time attracting stars, but one could imagine them attracting even more of the players they covet. At the end of the day, isn't that kind of product what fans want to see? While this will all likely go fine for the Lakers, the shift in ownership models does raise questions about what will become of sports teams that don't defy gravity by their very existence. Plenty of individual club owners have been massive flops who have earned the endless scorn of their clubs' fans. But the fact of having one highly visible, specific owner has at least rendered a version of accountability. After all, it's easier for Manchester United fans to chant 'Glazers out!' than it would be to chant 'shadowy consortium of institutional investors out!' A move toward large groups of investors controlling iconic teams will make it easier for individual actors to milk them for cash without facing the kind of public shaming that has long been possible for teams with more identifiable villains in the owner's suite. The Lakers are big enough and successful enough that this dynamic might never come to a head. Most teams can't say the same.
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
The $10bn LA Lakers sale proves sports have outgrown billionaires
The sale of the Los Angeles Lakers is many things. First of all, it is a record. The glitziest team in basketball is changing hands at a valuation of $10bn, the biggest ever for a sports franchise. Second, it is probably an excellent deal for the buyer, even at that astonishing valuation. And third, the shift in majority ownership from the Buss family to an investment group led by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter, is something else: inevitable. Sports teams are an eye-watering asset class. Not only does owning one confer countless perks and the kind of societal status that most money can't even buy, but team valuations in the major North American sports have been on a steep upslope for decades. The sale of the Lakers represents a new peak and is also the latest data point that illustrates a new fact about sports ownership. The best properties have become too valuable an asset class for people like Jeanie Buss to control them. Buss' father, Jerry, bought the team in 1979, and the Lakers have since then operated like one of the world's largest family businesses. The Lakers are by far the biggest source of the Buss family's wealth, and as ESPN reported on Thursday, the team has traditionally used its own revenues to pay its expenses. Its golden goose is an enormous local television deal with the LA cable provider Spectrum. The cable bundle is dying, however, and these days the biggest sports teams are increasingly owned not by wealthy individuals and families but by consortiums of deep-pocketed investors and institutions. The Lakers had already moved in this direction; the Buss family sold a quarter stake in the team to a group led by Walter in 2021. That same group – with Walter as the frontman, but by no means doing it alone – took control of the Dodgers in 2012 and later bought control of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. Blue-chip sports properties like the Lakers are now too big for even most billionaires to just reach into their pocket and by all alone. For that reason, leagues have gradually made it much easier for institutional investors to buy stakes in teams. (The NFL, with limits, has swung open the door to private equity.) The corollary to that trend is that when a longtime owner like Jeanie Buss has buyers lined up with enough liquidity to secure her family fortune in cash, rather than ownership of a team, she's likely to jump at it. The Lakers' new owners are likely to do very well on their investment. The decline of cable is a major threat to professional sports teams, and some smaller-market clubs in the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball have taken substantial cash flow hits as regional carriers have faded. But the Lakers are so entwined with one of the world's largest cities that to bet against their continued growth is to bet against the future popularity of basketball, the city of Los Angeles and live entertainment altogether. Angelenos will not stop buying Lakers tickets and, even more critically, will not stop happily paying to watch 82 games per year, whether they're doing that on a streamer or traditional TV. The Lakers are too big to fail, and some time down the line, someone will value them at well more than $10bn. The sale will probably be good for Lakers fans, though they are not the priority in any transaction of this type. Walter's group has done wonders with the Dodgers, seizing on the franchise's natural advantages – a rabid fanbase and a location players want to play in – and turned the team into the most consistent winner in baseball. It is harder to flex a financial advantage in the NBA than in salary cap-less MLB, but Walter's Dodgers have become the team with the best reputation among ballplayers. Not that the Lakers have a hard time attracting stars, but one could imagine them attracting even more of the players they covet. At the end of the day, isn't that kind of product what fans want to see? While this will all likely go fine for the Lakers, the shift in ownership models does raise questions about what will become of sports teams that don't defy gravity by their very existence. Plenty of individual club owners have been massive flops who have earned the endless scorn of their clubs' fans. But the fact of having one highly visible, specific owner has at least rendered a version of accountability. After all, it's easier for Manchester United fans to chant 'Glazers out!' than it would be to chant 'shadowy consortium of institutional investors out!' A move toward large groups of investors controlling iconic teams will make it easier for individual actors to milk them for cash without facing the kind of public shaming that has long been possible for teams with more identifiable villains in the owner's suite. The Lakers are big enough and successful enough that this dynamic might never come to a head. Most teams can't say the same.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Buss family reportedly to sell majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter in record $10 billion deal
After more than four decades under the Buss family, the Los Angeles Lakers are changing hands. The Buss family is entering an agreement to sell majority ownership of the NBA franchise to Mark Walter, who is the CEO and chairman of TWG Global, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. Walter is also the primary owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he owns stakes in Chelsea in the English Premier League, an F1 team and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, among other things. He currently holds a minority stake of 26% in the Lakers, too. Advertisement The deal is expected to have a valuation of approximately $10 billion, which makes it the largest sale of a professional sports franchise in the world. Jerry Buss first purchased the Lakers in 1979 for $67.5 million in a deal that also included the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and The Forum in Inglewood, California. The franchise passed down to his children after he died in 2013, and Jeanie Buss has been the team's governor ever since. Jeanie is expected to continue in that role after the sale. Currently, the Buss family owns about two-thirds of the Lakers. Specifics of the deal, including what percentage of the team Walter is purchasing and for how much, are not yet known. He first joined the Lakers' ownership group in 2021. According to a CNBC report earlier this year, the Lakers were valued at about $7 billion, which made them the third-most valuable team in the league behind only the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors. The Boston Celtics were the last NBA team to be sold when they struck a deal with a group led by Bill Chisholm earlier this year. The group purchased the Celtics for $6.05 billion, which set an NBA record. Controlling ownership of both the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks were sold in recent years, too. Advertisement The Lakers have shined under the Buss family's leadership and become one of the premier franchises in all of sports. They've won 11 NBA titles under the Buss family, most recently in 2020, including a rare three-peat from 2000-02 with head coach Phil Jackson and star Kobe Bryant. Most recently, the team stunned the NBA world with its trade to acquire Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić this season. Walters had the first right of refusal to purchase the Buss family's 66% share after he bought Phil Anschutz's stake of 26 percent in 2021. Lakers Hall of Fame point guard Magic Johnson, who has played, coached and served as president under the Buss family — and is part of the Dodgers ownership group with Walter — congratulated both sides on the agreement. "Laker fans should be estatic," Johnson wrote on X. "A few things I can tell you about Mark - he is driven by winning, excellence, and doing everything the right way. AND he will put in the resources needed to win! I can understand why Jeanie sold the team to Mark Walter because they are just alike." While Jeanie is still set to control the Lakers, the Buss family selling the franchise marks the end of an era for the team that has led the NBA in a number of ways for decades.
CNA
2 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Buss family to sell Lakers at $10 billion valuation, ESPN says
Los Angeles :The Buss family is entering an agreement to sell a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN reported on Wednesday, marking the end of an era for one of the NBA's most influential owners. Mark Walter, the CEO and chairman of holding company TWG Global, is set to take the majority ownership under the agreement which values the Lakers at $10 billion, ESPN reported, making it the largest-ever sale of a professional sports team. Walter, already an established figure in Los Angeles sports, has existing shares in MLB team Los Angeles Dodgers and WNBA franchise Los Angeles Sparks. The Lakers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The late Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers in 1979 and turned it into one of the most popular franchises in all of professional sports, winning five championships during their now-iconic "Showtime" era in the 1980s. His daughter, Jeanie Buss, took over as principal owner after Jerry died in 2013, making her one of the most powerful women in sports.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Basketball-Buss family to sell Lakers at $10 billion valuation, ESPN says
Los Angeles (Reuters) -The Buss family is entering an agreement to sell a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN reported on Wednesday, marking the end of an era for one of the NBA's most influential owners. Mark Walter, the CEO and chairman of holding company TWG Global, is set to take the majority ownership under the agreement which values the Lakers at $10 billion, ESPN reported, making it the largest-ever sale of a professional sports team. Walter, already an established figure in Los Angeles sports, has existing shares in MLB team Los Angeles Dodgers and WNBA franchise Los Angeles Sparks. The Lakers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The late Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers in 1979 and turned it into one of the most popular franchises in all of professional sports, winning five championships during their now-iconic "Showtime" era in the 1980s. His daughter, Jeanie Buss, took over as principal owner after Jerry died in 2013, making her one of the most powerful women in sports. Jeanie Buss will stay on as governor after the sale, according to the ESPN report.
