Sales prices for sports teams are soaring to record levels. Here’s why, and what that means for fans
CNN
The Los Angeles Lakers topped their archrival the Boston Celtics with a record-setting $10 billion franchise price tag this week — just three months after the Celtics held the honor for the highest sale price for a professional sports team at $6 billion. The record may not last long.
The Los Angeles Lakers may not have as many NBA titles as the Boston Celtics, but the Lakers topped their archrival with a record-setting $10 billion franchise price tag this week — just three months after the Celtics held the honor for the highest sale price for a professional sports team at $6 billion. But this record might not last very long. The NFL’s New York Giants are in the process of shopping a 10% ownership stake, which could put the team’s overall value above $10 billion, according to Marc Ganis, a Chicago-based sports consultant who advises NFL, NBA and MLB clubs. What’s clear is that the valuations of sports teams are continuing to climb — and climb rapidly. Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at College of the Holy Cross who specializes in sports business, said in his 30 years of studying sports sales, he can’t remember a team selling for less than it was purchased. For example, a 10% stake in the Milwaukee Bucks was sold in September 2024, which valued the small-market NBA team at $4 billion, a windfall from when the team was sold a decade earlier for $550 million. So even if the $10 billion record for the Lakers stands a while longer, other teams will eventually be sold at a hefty premium to their previous purchase price. The impact on fans, meanwhile, can be complicated. Fans often publicly yearn for an owner who is willing to spend what it takes to make the team competitive, yet some of the wealthiest owners have lousy records. In the end, fans are more likely to care about a team’s winning percentage than its owner’s net worth.
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