The LA Lakers Had to Be Sold
The Buss family took the team far, but family-owned franchises can’t financially compete in this new era of sports.
Switching up the playbook.
Photographer: Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images North AmericaLongtime fans of the National Basketball Association couldn’t help but feel a little wistful at the news that the Buss family is selling the Los Angeles Lakers to Guggenheim Partners LLC Chief Executive Officer Mark Walter. The deal, which values the team at a record $10 billion, will almost certainly lead to a better product on the court. But along the way the Lakers will lose some of the personality and flair that 46 years of family ownership brought to the city, its arenas and television screens.
It’s not just the Lakers that is experiencing change. As the cost of owning and operating teams rises, ownership is becoming professionalized. Gone are the owners whose primary asset — and means of occupying time — is the team. In their place are those who view their teams as one more property that must be managed competently. For them, financial acumen, as much as sports knowledge, is the key to winning.