It’s hard not to take Pablo Torre seriously when he warns about one of the two LA franchises. Fresh off revealing another cap circumvention allegation against the LA Clippers, he explained what the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers’ controlling stake means for the fanbase that has only known the Buss family’s governance. Now the foundation of the NBA’s most glamorous franchise has shifted just 14 months after Jeanie Buss relinquished their historic, nearly five-decade controlling stake to Mark Walter at a $10 billion valuation, signaling what many sports business analysts are calling the end of an era for legacy sports ownership.
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Thrive Capital venture capitalist Josh Kushner are acquiring Mark Walter’s majority stake in a deal valuing the team at a staggering, record-breaking $12.5 billion. Discussing the rapid flip on a recent sports media broadcast, Breaking Points host Krystal Ball asked Torre, “What is the reaction from the family? What is the reaction from LA fans?”
Torre responded with a grim forecast for modern professional sports franchises. “Yeah, we’re watching the death of the family business owning these teams in real time.”
The Pulitzer-winning journalist warned, “And Jeanie Buss, who was the owner of the team, it’s funny, she worked out a deal with Mark Walter in recognition of that concern, in which she would be still heavily involved in basketball operations. So, as if the fans could trust the money guy is going to be different, but the way the team operates is going to be the same. Well, Bob Iger was just asked yesterday, ‘Are you going to honor that agreement that Mark Walter had with Jeanie Buss?’ And the quote, I’ll paraphrase it, was: ‘We have every intention to do so, but if things change, they change.'”
While the sale shows an unprecedented $2.5 billion valuation spike in just a year, the rapid transition has raised fans’s anxiety. The Lakers organization has seen its ups and downs within the Buss family since Dr. Jerry Buss was at the helm.
After Mark Walter purchased the team, Jeanie Buss’ younger brothers, Joey and Jesse Buss were fired from their front office positions. That left Jeanie the last Buss standing as acting governor.
However, while Walter was happy to give her the reins, Iger and Kushner put an asterisk on that arrangement.
“We have every intention to honor the agreement that was made between Mark and Jeanie,” Iger told the Post, but also added, “If things change, they’ll change, but we’re going into this with enormous respect and appreciation for who she is and what she represents in the organization.”
Fans have already been feeling alienated since Walter came in and raised ticket prices significantly, with some sections seeing increases of around 14 percent plus fees, and others approaching or exceeding 40-45%, and added more courtside seats for high-net-worth individuals.
Given Iger’s and Kushner’s business backgrounds, LakeShow fears a shift to a deeper fixation on the bottom line.
Torre emphasized that under private equity rules, consumer sentiment rarely dictates business strategy.
“And now, guys, we’re in the world of private equity, right? And so I ask you: have you seen a case study in which private equity says, ‘You know what, I know that we could make money by optimizing in the way that we think would keep that green arrow going up to the right, but you customers really seem to care about this, so we’re going to do what you want’? It’s not, again, terribly complicated if those are the people actually calling the shots.”
The Lakers remain a crown jewel of global entertainment, yet the speed of the transaction proves the market is highly volatile.
Iger’s reported willingness to let the original agreement lapse if “things change” confirms that Jeanie is on thin ice even if the Buss family’s minority stake is intact. For a fan base accustomed to four decades under the Buss name, it feels like the Lakers are no longer a family treasure, but a corporate asset.