Mark Walter, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is entering into an agreement to buy majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN. Jeanie Buss will retain her role as the team’s governor after the sale, according to the report. The reported price for the sale valued the team at a whopping $10 billion. The Buss family trust, which includes all six Buss siblings, owned 66% of the team prior to the sale. The largest team sale in NBA (and North American sports history) is the Celtics‘ recent $6.1 billion sale to Bill Chisholm. That deal was agreed upon in March.
The Buss family has owned the Lakers since 1979, when Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the team from Jack Kent Cooke. What followed has been among the most successful runs any professional sports team has had. The Lakers have won 11 championships since the Buss family took over, most recently in 2020. Jerry Buss died in 2012, and Jeanie has been the governor ever since.
Walter purchased the Dodgers in 2012, and they, too, have been tremendously successful. They have won two World Series in that time period, and Walter has been a minority investor in the Lakers since 2021. The Dodgers have been known under Walter as the most financially aggressive team in baseball. They frequently add expensive veterans in an effort to win.
The Lakers, by virtue of their market and history, have always been willing to spend on stars and front-facing personnel. However, the team in recent years has been a bit thriftier when it comes to supporting pieces. They infamously allowed Alex Caruso to leave as a free agent in 2021 over the possible luxury tax implications of keeping him. The four-year deal he signed in Chicago wound up becoming one of the biggest bargains in basketball. The Lakers are not known for heavy investments into front office and support staff. If Walter treats the Lakers as he has the Dodgers, they will likely spend as much or more than their competition in any relevant areas.
The exact nature of Buss’ governorship is also to be determined. When Grousbeck sold the Celtics, for instance, he retained governorship of the team for a fixed three-year period afterward. Ownership transitions can be complicated, and when nothing is spelled out, it favors the incoming owner. Consider the situation Mark Cuban just faced in Dallas. He sold the Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont thinking he would retain control over basketball operations. That didn’t happen, and he could not stop their decision to trade Luka Dončić… to the Lakers. How exactly major decisions will be made in Los Angeles is not yet clear, but it will be critical moving forward.
For now, though, the two most beloved sports teams in Los Angeles are now under the same banner, and Walter is now perhaps the most powerful owner in the sports world.
