Mark Medina discusses landmark sale of LA Lakers | Could other teams exceed $10bn valuation?

right now to another landmark deal in the United States the Los Angeles Lakers have smashed the record sale of a US sporting franchise after the bus family agreed to a deal valued at $10 billion with the Chelsea co-owner Mark Walter well for more on this we can speak to Mark Medina an NBA expert who’s covered the Lakers for a number of years mark really good to speak to you about this um did you ever think you would see the day when the bus family didn’t control a majority stake in the Lakers i didn’t I remember talking to Jeannie Bus in her office several years ago and asked that very question on if the bus family would ever sell and she would often say that uh her father worked very hard to make it to this point so that the bus family could keep the franchise forever now she said those words in 2015 there’s so much that has changed since then um you know Philip Anush sold his minority shares to Mark Walter in 2021 uh the value of NBA franchises have skyrocketed with recent sales with the LA Clippers the Dallas Mavericks uh and the Boston Celtics and the franchise value with the Lakers soared even more after acquiring Luca Donuch so I think it became one of these things where it’s too good to pass up because the money’s very good all been agreed but just how close is Walter to actually sealing the deal oh it’s very close i think it’s all but official it was approved by a majority vote within the Bus family so now it’s just about dotting the uh dotting the eyes and crossing the seas what about the fans perspective then because we’ve mentioned the Bus family have owned the Lakers since 1979 how has this gone down with the fans well I think there’s been a lot of excitement for this because uh they know Mark Walters’s background as you alluded to he has a lot of ownership stakes including with the Chelsea soccer team but he also has a majority ownership group that owns the Dodgers and so there’s a lot of Los Angeles fans are very familiar with what he’s done with the Dodgers with being very committed to spending in the organization and I think that they expect them to do that with the Lakers and the one thing to keep in mind even though the Lakers are an iconic global franchise that have won 17 championships have a lot of star power with players like Magic Johnson uh Kobe Bryant Kareem Abdul Jabbar Shaquille O’Neal it goes down the line this was always a family-owned business and this was the only source of revenue that the Bus family had so they would spend a lot on the star players and they cared about winning but they’re also very judicious when it came to spending with role players coaches front office members staff members and I think the expectation with Mark Walter is that he’s uh not going to spare any expense whatsoever so there’s a lot of appreciation for the Bus family he uh he bought the franchise for 67.5 million dollars in 1979 as as well as the forum the the Kings Hockey Club and some real estate and he’s had a great track record but I think there’s even more excitement because in 2025 uh today’s ownership groups need to be in a position to spend a lot more money yeah and not a bad profit that it seems like they’re making there i mean $10 billion a record deal means it’s almost worth double the price of the Boston Celtics in March what do you think is going to happen do you expect the value of these sports franchises just to keep going up and up yes I think it’s inevitable it’s going to keep going up and up now the Lakers they’re the most iconic franchise in all of sports but we have to in all of the NBA I mean but we have to keep in mind a few things they did not sell uh the Lakers in its totality the the Bus family still has a minority share and they also didn’t sell this franchise with an arena attached they still have a stake with that with AEG so I would suspect that if the Knicks the New York Knicks were ever sold it would be even higher same thing with the Golden State Warriors but again the Lakers are an iconic franchise so there’s a reason why right now they’re the most valued franchise in the NBA and we are seeing more and more American owners over here in the Premier League and in other leagues in this country when you see these record figures for teams in the United States do you think that they see that they’re getting perhaps more value in England yeah there’s certainly a lot of value overseas and domestically now how does that compare in the NBA remains to be seen i know that Forbes currently lists Manchester United at about 6.5 billion Liverpool at 5 billion uh the NBA media rights deal that’s going to kick in next fall is now valued for 75 billion for the next 11 years but I think the bottom line is professional sports uh are a profitable commodity and that’s why there’s a lot of bidding for from very rich and smart owners to try to be involved mark great to speak to you we appreciate your insight thank you so much for joining us [Music]

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The controlling stake of the Los Angeles Lakers is to be sold to Chelsea co-owner Mark Walter with a franchise valuation of $10bn – the highest ever for a professional sports franchise.

As part of the deal, Jeanie Buss, whose family has had control of the Lakers since her father bought the team in 1979, intends to remain as team governor, Associated Press reported.

It is not clear how much more of the Lakers that Walter is acquiring. He was part of a group that bought 27 per cent of the Lakers in 2021. Jeanie Buss will still own at least 15 per cent of the Lakers once this transaction is completed; by NBA rule, a governor must have at least that much of an ownership stake.

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5 Comments

@LêThanhHồngng 7 months ago
I thought this day would be ordinary, but this video made it special. Thank you, internet🧡
@HoàngÐứcQuangng 7 months ago
This video is better than any show on TV. Now I know how to spend my evening👅
@Theboxingobserver 7 months ago
Good on them. They've been going through hoops to get this sale. Paid off.
@ravd8082 7 months ago
how is lakers worth $10 billion? it makes less than real madrid, Man utd, Barcelona & PSG , Lakers has Smaller fan base than these clubs as well
@bronkman96 7 months ago
10 Billion with NO STADIUM. INSANE