RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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In a little over a year, the Los Angeles Lakers raised the bar twice for what a professional sports team is worth.
In June 2025, Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter agreed to buy a majority stake in the Lakers from the Buss family in a deal that valued the team at $10 billion , a then-record for a sports franchise.
Earlier this month, Walter sold his majority equity in the Lakers to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger in a deal that values the team at $12.5 billion and now tops the list of most expensive team purchases in U.S. sports.
The two Lakers deals headline the recent surge in the seemingly ever-increasing price of pro sports teams. Last week, private equity firm Arctos agreed to buy 10% of the Atlanta Falcons in a deal that valued the team at $10.6 billion. In July, the Khosla family entered into an agreement to buy the Seattle Seahawks for $9.61 billion. In March 2025, a group led by private equity executive Bill Chisholm bought the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion.
But it wasn't long ago that $6 billion for a sports team was viewed as a massive number that would take a long time to be surpassed. That's the price that a consortium led by Josh Harris paid to acquire the Washington Commanders in May 2023.
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So, what does Harris, who also owns the Philadelphia 76ers and several other sports properties, think about the Lakers' price?
"I bought the Commanders for $6 billion, and everyone said it was the highest price on planet Earth, and I think that now it looks like an attractive deal," Harris told CNBC's Michael Ozanian. "I think the Lakers are worth every bit of $12 billion."
Harris said he is not concerned that sports team valuations are reaching bubble levels, even as revenue multiples have skyrocketed. CNBC's proprietary team transaction database suggests that the $12.5 billion paid for the Lakers would be an estimated 20 times the team's 2025-26 season revenue — an all-time high multiple for a control stake in an NBA team.
Instead, Harris pointed to the continued interest in live content, and how sports have both massive fan bases and media value across the globe, areas that are growing further.
He also cited the growing investment from private equity into sports, helping to not only fund purchases but evolving what was historically a rather illiquid asset.
Harris said he is "not surprised" by the roughly 25% Lakers valuation increase in about a year. "That's basically what these things have been growing … the multiple implies massive growth but there's also that scarcity value, people want to own it."
"At some point you transcend traditional valuation metrics," Harris said.
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