Forget the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA Championship in 2025. Ignore the fact that
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was chosen as the MVP. The real winner in the NBA is the owner of
the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mark Walter. He just purchased the The Los Angeles Lakers last week
for $10 BILLION. The previous owner of the Lakers, the family of Jerry Buss, who purchased
the Lakers in 1979 for just $67.9 MILLION, are not crying the blues. They scored a gain of $9,
932,100,000.i.e.1460% over the 45-year ownership period. That amounts to a gain of 32.4% per
year, never having to work up a sweat. Michael Jordan and Irving “Magic” Johnson combined,
cannot beat those numbers.
In addition to owner the Dodgers and the Lakers, he also owns the Los Angeles Sparks WNBA
team (co-owned with Magic Johnson), the Professional Womens Hockey League, and the
Cadillac Formula 1 Team (auto racing). He also is part owner of Chelsea FC, a professional
soccer club in the Premier League.
So now that Walter owns the richest team (sold) in all of professional sports, what is his future?
Bright! The globalization of sports in general, and the NBA in particular, will make his teams
even more valuable, and in a lot less time, than that of his peers and predecessor. As sports
television revenue rises, it is inevitable that sports will come to India (with its 1.4 billion
potential viewers) and China (with its 1.3 billion potential viewers) and Brazil (with its 212.8
million potential viewers).
Poor Wilt Chamberlin, Julius Irving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: They were just born too soon to
cash in on the MILLIONS that many players, with far less talent will make from globalization of
sports.
Sidebar question: Since The Lakers sold for $10 Billion, what are the Yankees worth? How ‘bout
them Cowboys? The Philadelphia Eagles? Whew…the MVP of sports isn’t a player on the court
or field: It’s the owner at the table!
