Following Jeanie Buss’ decision to sell majority ownership of the Lakers to LA Dodgers chairman Mark Walter, many are left wondering what led to this sudden shift. For 46 years, the Buss family has been associated with the Purple and Gold franchise, taking the team to unimaginable heights. Their constant effort eventually led to this record $10 billion sale. But Jeanie’s historic move might have been her genius plan to save her family from massive embarrassment.
Once the deal is finalized, Jeanie will reportedly retain 15% minority stake in the LA franchise and continue her role as team Governor. That means she will continue to benefit from the Lakers’ current local television deal with Spectrum that runs through 2032. During their latest podcast episode, veteran insiders Brian Windhorst, Tim Bontemps, and Tim MacMahon addressed the significance of this deal in Buss family’s successful tenure as majority owners.
“For the Lakers, that local television deal is why the Buss family could exist and why they could operate the team.” The analyst remarked. Lakers’ Spectrum deal, that is the envy of every other NBA team, was worth a whopping $184.7 million this season and will grow incrementally through 2032. In comparison, the Celtics’ current local TV deal with NBC Sports Boston is worth $53.97 million for next season. Windhorst highlighted, “The Lakers’ primary source of income is their local TV deal.”
While the Spectrum contract keeps the Lakers secure till 2032, that income source could turn into an issue later because of NBA’s declining TV viewership. The analyst continued, “As the RSNs, the regional sports networks across the country have all fallen off, yes, the Spectrum deal is still in place with the Lakers and with the Dodgers ironically, I believe. But at some point, paying an exorbitant number even for Laker games, that’s gonna run out. Whenever that runs out, the Lakers are not gonna be in a position to keep up with everybody else. Now, that is irrelevant.” Had Jeanie stayed the majority owner, she might have faced the brunt of criticism amid the team’s potential financial crisis. But now, she does not need to worry about it because its Walter’s headache from here on. And the new Lakers owner might already have begun planning his next move to avoid this crisis.
Veteran insider hints at Mark Walter’s first step as Lakers’ new majority owner
With only seven years left in the Lakers’ local TV deal, Walter needs to come up with other avenues to generate revenue for the franchise. An obvious way would be to build their own arena, as veteran insider Tim Kawakami remarked, “Gotta believe one of Walter’s first orders of business will be to build the Lakers’ own arena. They’re tenants now and that arena isn’t exactly aging well, either.”
While the Lakers have called Crypto.com Arena (previously named Staples Center) their home for several years and achieved great feats in that building, they do not own the place. Only three years ago, they inked an extension to their current lease that keeps Crypto.com Arena their home through 2041. However, new ownership could bring a change of plan because having their own building would be a massive source of income for the franchise.
Windy highlighted its importance on the pod, “There are plenty of teams out there that earn money off arena deal, arena sales more than the Lakers do. It’s one of the reasons why Steve Ballmer wanted his own arena with the Clippers.” Yes, be it the recently launched Intuit Dome or Warriors’ Chase Center, team owners are leaning more toward building their own arenas because it boosts their income exponentially. Walter could do something similar for the Lakers with a new state of the art facility. A change seems imminent for the Purple and Gold franchise as they step into the post Buss family era. Are you excited?
