Buss family to sell Los Angeles Lakers at US$10 billion valuation, ESPN says
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold in a record-breaking US$10 billion deal that makes the iconic franchise the highest-valued sports team in US history.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold in a record-breaking US$10 billion (S$12.88 billion) deal that makes the iconic franchise the highest-valued sports team in United States history, ESPN reported on June 18.
The report said the Lakers owners, the Buss family, would sell their controlling interest in the team to billionaire Mark Walter, who already owns a minority stake in the franchise.
While Jeanie Buss will continue as Lakers governor, the deal ends the Buss family’s 46-year reign over the National Basketball Association (NBA) giants.
Walter is the chief executive of holding company TWG Global, which has built an impressive portfolio of professional sports teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Sparks. He is also a part-owner of English Premier League side Chelsea.
TWG also owns the Billie Jean King Cup tennis tournament and the Cadillac Formula One team.
While further specifics of the deal were not disclosed, Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson – a business partner of Walter – was among the first to react to news of the agreement.
“Laker fans should be ecstatic,” 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.”
Johnson cited Walter’s ownership of the Dodgers baseball team as a reason for optimism.
The Dodgers have won the World Series twice since Walter’s ownership group took over the club and in recent years have adopted an aggressive recruitment strategy that has seen them sign some of the sport’s best talent, including Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani on a 10-year, US$700 million deal.
“Mark is the best choice and will be the best caretaker of the Laker brand,” Johnson wrote. “The proof is in the pudding on what he’s been able to accomplish with the LA Dodgers. Mark has been nothing short of a winner.”
The Buss family selling the Lakers marks the end of an era in the NBA, whose modern popularity owes much to the franchise’s 1980s heyday.
The Lakers were bought in 1979 by charismatic tycoon Jerry Buss, Jeanie’s father, who quickly helped turn the franchise into a sporting powerhouse as well as a globally recognised brand.
The Buss era brought the Lakers 11 NBA championships – more than any other team over the same period – and encompassed golden ages which included the “Showtime” Lakers of Johnson as well as a hat-trick of championships from 2000 to 2002, when the team were spearheaded by the late Kobe Bryant.
More recently, the team recruited superstar LeBron James, who led the Lakers to a 17th championship in 2020. In February, they stunned the league by swooping for former Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic.
Walter has been a minority owner of the Lakers since 2021, when he bought a share in a deal which also gave him first refusal to purchase the club, should the Buss family ever decide to sell.
The sale of the club smashes the previous highest figure paid for a US sports team, the US$6.1 billion paid for the Boston Celtics in March.
That Celtics sale eclipsed the US$6.05 billion that Josh Harris paid for the National Football League’s Washington Commanders in 2023. AFP
