Sporticast 460: A New King of Los Angeles?
On the latest Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Kurt Badenhausen dive deep into Mark Walter's record-shattering $10 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Lakers.
They discuss how the Lakers could be worth so much given their current revenue—and also why NBA team valuations have exploded over the last decade, even as a number of franchises have gone up for sale. This is a 'once every 50 years' type exchange for one of the U.S.'s most well-known sports properties, Kurt says.
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They also look at the transaction from Walter's perspective. He now owns two of the 10 most valuable franchises in the world—the Lakers and the Los Angeles Dodgers—a short time after being a relative unknown among industry insiders. Scott then makes a prediction about how long it will be before we see another $10 billion transaction in sports. There is also discussion of the $10 billion Walter's TWG Global holding company recently received from Mubadala Capital, an investment arm of Mubadala Investment Company, the sovereign wealth fund based in the United Arab Emirates, and what that transaction portends for Walter's next move.
Afterwards, Kurt shares the latest on the potential sale of the Tampa Bay Rays, after breaking the news that Jacksonville, Fla., developer Patrick Zalupski has agreed to buy the team for roughly $1.7 billion. However, that is far from the end of the story, which also includes the potential for MLB expansion, as Kurt explains. The deal comes amid intrigue surrounding the sale of other baseball teams too.
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