OT: Lakers sold, $10 billion

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edwin drood
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OT: Lakers sold, $10 billion

Post by edwin drood »

Bought by the owner of the LA Dodgers, Mark Walter, who owns several other teams ( WNBA, auto racing, women's hockey). A major investor and partner with Walter is the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund.

The Lakers had revenues last year of abot $550 million and an income of about $199 million. In comparison, U of Texas had revenues of $330 million last year, Ohio State about $250 million. Both Texas and Ohio state showed far less income though. But one has to wonder how much private firms will be willing to put up for the bigger schools and their athletic departments.

Changes to come, in my opinion: No more free TV - all streaming for a steep price. Examination and restructuring of many coaches contracts
jcgmoi
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Re: OT: Lakers sold, $10 billion

Post by jcgmoi »

I predict there will be a lot fewer Deputy Assistant ADs too.
edwin drood
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Re: OT: Lakers sold, $10 billion

Post by edwin drood »

jcgmoi wrote: 19 Jun 2025 12:35 pm I predict there will be a lot fewer Deputy Assistant ADs too.
And the Athletic Director will be the CAO and will be a CPA or a lawyer.
acco40
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Re: OT: Lakers sold, $10 billion

Post by acco40 »

edwin drood wrote: 19 Jun 2025 13:25 pm
jcgmoi wrote: 19 Jun 2025 12:35 pm I predict there will be a lot fewer Deputy Assistant ADs too.
And the Athletic Director will be the CAO and will be a CPA or a lawyer.
No NBA teams have Athletic Directors.
jcgmoi
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Re: OT: Lakers sold, $10 billion

Post by jcgmoi »

My previous post was intended for the House settlement thread. I have no idea how it ended up here. Sorry for any confusion.

** NBA teams don't have ADs but they do have cheerleaders.
edwin drood
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Re: OT: Lakers sold, $10 billion

Post by edwin drood »

acco40 wrote: 20 Jun 2025 20:07 pm
edwin drood wrote: 19 Jun 2025 13:25 pm
jcgmoi wrote: 19 Jun 2025 12:35 pm I predict there will be a lot fewer Deputy Assistant ADs too.
And the Athletic Director will be the CAO and will be a CPA or a lawyer.
No NBA teams have Athletic Directors.
I was referring to changes to college programs that would result from the investments of private equity. If you sink $400 million into a university athletic department, would you want a retired football coach running the show or a lawyer/MBA?
rezero
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Re: OT: Lakers sold, $10 billion

Post by rezero »

edwin drood wrote: 19 Jun 2025 11:15 am Bought by the owner of the LA Dodgers, Mark Walter, who owns several other teams ( WNBA, auto racing, women's hockey). A major investor and partner with Walter is the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund.

The Lakers had revenues last year of abot $550 million and an income of about $199 million. In comparison, U of Texas had revenues of $330 million last year, Ohio State about $250 million. Both Texas and Ohio state showed far less income though. But one has to wonder how much private firms will be willing to put up for the bigger schools and their athletic departments.

Changes to come, in my opinion: No more free TV - all streaming for a steep price. Examination and restructuring of many coaches contracts
When private equity firms get their hands into college sports a lot will change. They see the revenue streams and know they can cut the cost side to drive income. The key to doing that is by splitting cleanly from the university books like what UK is doing. The next phase will be cannibalizing non-revenue sports and turning those into more of a club sport model that match revenue and costs. If college ADs only had to focus on football and men’s basketball, they would have a very nice income stream even better than pro sports. PE firms know this.
edwin drood
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Re: OT: Lakers sold, $10 billion

Post by edwin drood »

rezero wrote: 21 Jun 2025 09:06 am
edwin drood wrote: 19 Jun 2025 11:15 am Bought by the owner of the LA Dodgers, Mark Walter, who owns several other teams ( WNBA, auto racing, women's hockey). A major investor and partner with Walter is the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund.

The Lakers had revenues last year of abot $550 million and an income of about $199 million. In comparison, U of Texas had revenues of $330 million last year, Ohio State about $250 million. Both Texas and Ohio state showed far less income though. But one has to wonder how much private firms will be willing to put up for the bigger schools and their athletic departments.

Changes to come, in my opinion: No more free TV - all streaming for a steep price. Examination and restructuring of many coaches contracts
When private equity firms get their hands into college sports a lot will change. They see the revenue streams and know they can cut the cost side to drive income. The key to doing that is by splitting cleanly from the university books like what UK is doing. The next phase will be cannibalizing non-revenue sports and turning those into more of a club sport model that match revenue and costs. If college ADs only had to focus on football and men’s basketball, they would have a very nice income stream even better than pro sports. PE firms know this.
I don't see it happening that way. The "Olympic sports" are too important to students, alumni and the university community. If, for example, Nebraska women's volleyball was being relegated to a club sport, the National Guard would need to be brought in. Same with women's basketball at UConn, soccer at North Carolina, gymnastics at UCLA, men's wrestling at Iowa and women's hockey at Minnesota. I think some sort of "Olympic sport fee" will be required annually to fund those sports, with investors entitled to any profits (which occur with both Nebraska volleyball and UConn basketball and likely a few others). Personally, I think these investors are seeing big revenues and not totally seeing the huge expenses. Think: air travel, training and medical staff, dining services, tutors and now, salaries and NIL deals for players. Gonna be an interesting next few years for sure.
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