The three major NBA giants were sold out within 150 days! The record of 10 billion US dollars, and the league is about to miscalculate

Editor|Old Kankan Football

NBA offseason has passed, and this summer, the league is very lively. Many players have received the top salary they have always dreamed of. Among them, the Thunder is the most proud. They renewed the three core cores Alexander, Jewish and Chet at one go, with a total expenditure of more than 822 million US dollars, which is really amazing. The Lakers rushed to Doncic for a three-year, $165 million contract extension, and the Suns also renewed Booker in advance with two years and 150 million (a new season high in NBA history). It is obvious that with the effectiveness of the new broadcast contract in the league, the salary record is also refreshing over and over again.

The rise in players' income is inseparable from the support of team bosses. But obviously these capitalists are not charities. The reason why they are willing to pay such high salary contracts for the players is naturally because these players can bring them higher returns and returns.

Sky-high sale: The three giants became capital games

After the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship last year, the team's valuation rose rapidly. On March 21 this year, the team's boss chose to cash out at a high point, and the team completed the change of ownership; just three months later, on June 19, the Los Angeles Lakers also followed Boston and sold the team at a record high price; in August, it was August, and famous reporter Shams broke the news: the Portland Trail Blazers sold the team for $4.25 billion, setting the third highest team trading record in NBA history.

In just 150 days, three traditional NBA giants were sold out, with a total transaction volume of astonishingly high as 20.35 billion US dollars, which is jaw-dropping:

Celtics: $6.1 billion, taken over by William Chisholm, co-founder of private equity firm STG Partners, and paid in stages;

Lakers: $10 billion, setting a record for the highest transaction of global professional sports teams, Mark Walter became the new boss, and the Bass family still retained 15% of the equity;

Trail Blazers: $4.25 billion, NHL Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dungton, who led the consortium to acquire, and will be paid in two transactions.

In 1979, businessman Jerry Bass bought the Lakers for $67.5 million. After 46 years, his market value soared 148 times, becoming one of the most money-making giants in the NBA. The Trail Blazers deal was particularly historically ironic. In 1988, Paul Allen bought the team for only $70 million; 37 years later, his estate management committee cashed out at a return rate of more than 60 times.

Similarly, the current Celtic manager, the Grussbeck family, took over for only $360 million in 2002, and is now sold for 6.1 billion, with assets increasing by nearly 17 times.

Capital Carnival: Behind these transactions is the crazy hunting of the NBA by financial capital:

The team of the new Celtic boss William Chishom is Aditya Mital (son of the chairman of the Arcelomital Group, the second largest steel company in the world) and the private equity company "Sixth Street";

Trail Blazers' acquisition consortium includes Mark Zar, co-president of Blue Owls Capital, and Sher Taylor, co-CEO of Collective Global;

Although some of the Bath family equity is retained in the Lakers' transaction, private capital has controlled 85% of the team's shares. The NBA League significantly increased team revenue through television rights, commercial sponsorship and global promotion, with the original intention of motivating bosses to better run the team. Now it is counterproductive - the capital giant regards the team as a cash-out tool, the loyalty and inheritance of professional sports are vulnerable to money, and the league is really miscalculated.

NBA Future: The Death of Sports Spirit? After the Celtics were sold, the team's salary was reduced from $540 million to $239 million through a series of transactions this summer, a drop of up to 56%! The rules of the capital game are very clear: first reduce costs and then sell them at high prices, players' loyalty and team chemistry are secondary.

With the massive entry of private capital, the NBA is gradually declining from competitive sports to a capitalist game - professional sports has become a more profitable investment target than technology and finance. The success criteria for professional sports have also changed from the number of champions to the increase in asset value, which is ironic.

What is even more worrying is the chain reaction caused by the soaring valuations of NBA teams. Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf invested only $16 million in 1985. The team's valuation is now close to the Celtics' 6.1 billion US dollars. In fact, in June this year, the Reinsdorf family announced the sale of the Chicago White Sox (MLB). So will the Bulls become the next NBA team to be sold?

It has to be said that today's NBA has completely become a capital game market. After NBA President Adam Xiao Hua introduced the consortium and the casino, sportsmanship was already buried in the numbers in the ledger!