The Los Angeles Lakers sold for a record $12.5 billion on Wednesday. The buyer was a group led by former Disney CEO Bob Iger, investor Josh Kushner, and Kushner's Thrive Eternal fund. They purchased a majority stake from Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter, who had only completed his own $10 billion purchase of the franchise last October, when the NBA's Board of Governors approved that deal.
According to a report by Yahoo Sports, ESPN reported the sale came together in just 72 hours, apparently without a formal auction process. The speed of the transaction drew attention across the sports finance world. Walter and his conglomerate, TWG Global, are reportedly under investigation by the DOJ and SEC, which may have contributed to the compressed timeline.
The price jump from $10 billion to $12.5 billion in a single year drew immediate analysis. "To go from a $10 billion valuation one year ago to $12.5 billion a year later is fascinating, but not completely surprising for what is sort of a crown-jewel franchise," said Jeff Shaffer, the managing director at Alvarez & Marsal's private equity services division. Shaffer led the carve-out of the YES Network from Fox and Disney in 2019 and counts major franchises in all North American pro leagues among his clients.
The Lakers deal is part of a broader surge in private equity investment in professional sports. The average NFL franchise is now worth $7.4 billion, up a record 31% from last year alone, according to Sportico valuations released Wednesday. As of May, the CFA Institute found 74 North American pro sports teams where institutional investors held stakes, driven by predictable revenues, rising franchise values, and stable long-term returns.
Owners tied to private equity funds reportedly hold stakes in 20 of the 30 NBA franchises, and that number continues to grow. NBA and NHL rules cap private equity ownership at 30% per team, with individual funds allowed to hold up to 20% of a single franchise. MLB sets the same 30% ceiling but limits any single fund to 15%.
Apollo Sports Capital, whose parent company Apollo Global Management owns Yahoo, has moved aggressively in this space. Before the Yankees deal, Apollo had already bought a majority stake in Atletico Madrid and a minority stake in Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham. On Tuesday, it announced a $2.6 billion investment for a minority stake in the New York Yankees at a reported $10 billion valuation, which includes a board seat for Apollo Sports Capital CEO Al Tylis.
Greg Bettinelli, a partner at The Chernin Group, which has bought and sold stakes in companies ranging from Slack and Oura to Barstool Sports and The Action Network, described what the Lakers sale signals about the current market. "It really shows the liquidity that exists in pro sports right now," Bettinelli told Yahoo Sports. "Where a $12.5 billion deal can get done in three days. That's how you know there's a level of sophistication of investors and the appetite to put money in and around big sports teams."
The Lakers deal now stands as the largest in professional sports history. Bob Iger, who led Disney for years before retiring and then returning as CEO, will be among the most prominent faces of the new ownership group as the franchise heads into the 2026-27 season.
