Steve Ballmer buys Clippers

[colincb]

ESPN:

"The Sterling family trust has signed an agreement to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer for $2 billion, sources tell ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne.

The agreement is going straight to the NBA for final approval and does not require additional approval from banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling, according to sources."

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/11003237/former-microsoft-executive-steve-ballmer-submits-winning-bid-buy-clippers-according-sources

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

2 billion with a friggen B?? Got da%n! He won! Forget that, I take my money and my racist self and live HAPPY and say w/e I want to from here on out!

Seriously. But the attention was what Sterling loved about owning the Clips, and it's hard to put a price on that attention to a vain rich dude with everything he wants already.

Like this Ballmer guy. The Clippers probably aren't worth close to two billion, they don't even own an arena. But Ballmer will get lots of press and attention, and can be a hollywood celeb.

I agree.

[Ogaju]

Yeah 2 billion but don't forget he really does not own the team. The team is owned by the NBA and the players. He just bought a right to say he owns the team. If he annoys anyone enough to cause the threat of a boycott of games in the first round of the playoffs he is gone.

[LooseCannon]

If it's Ballmer, will there be pressure on him to find a minority investor who is a minority?

[saltlover]

Yeah 2 billion but don't forget he really does not own the team. The team is owned by the NBA and the players. He just bought a right to say he owns the team. If he annoys anyone enough to cause the threat of a boycott of games in the first round of the playoffs he is gone.

The Sterlings are walking away with $2 billion.  Get over it.

[indeedproceed]

Yeah 2 billion but don't forget he really does not own the team. The team is owned by the NBA and the players. He just bought a right to say he owns the team. If he annoys anyone enough to cause the threat of a boycott of games in the first round of the playoffs he is gone.

That's a pretty casual characterization of Sterling's actions over the past 30 years.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Well---There goes our Top Lottery Pick from the Clippers next year...Trade it--!!

[D.o.s.]

Yeah 2 billion but don't forget he really does not own the team. The team is owned by the NBA and the players. He just bought a right to say he owns the team. If he annoys anyone enough to cause the threat of a boycott of games in the first round of the playoffs he is gone.

That's a pretty casual characterization of Sterling's actions over the past 30 years.

Very Charitable description of that post, IP.

[LarBrd33]

can someone explain to me why the Clippers are worth 2 billion.  I know that's a dumb question, but I just saw a graphic that said the Clippers were the most valuable team in NBA.  Why?  Simply because they play in massive market LA?  HOw could they possibly be more valuable than the Lakers?

[Ogaju]

Yeah 2 billion but don't forget he really does not own the team. The team is owned by the NBA and the players. He just bought a right to say he owns the team. If he annoys anyone enough to cause the threat of a boycott of games in the first round of the playoffs he is gone.

That's a pretty casual characterization of Sterling's actions over the past 30 years.

Very Charitable description of that post, IP.

Charitable or not you cannot argue with the fact. Annoy the right people or wrong people you could be done.

[Ogaju]

I hope the sale of the Clippers goes through. Steve Ballmer is a good buyer and will make a good owner.

[kraidstar]

can someone explain to me why the Clippers are worth 2 billion.  I know that's a dumb question, but I just saw a graphic that said the Clippers were the most valuable team in NBA.  Why?  Simply because they play in massive market LA?  HOw could they possibly be more valuable than the Lakers?

pretty sure that's just because the clips are up for sale... you can bet the lakers would sell for even more. the actual "value" is subjective beyond belief here. there are a very limited number of teams for sale out there, owning a sports team is a status thing among the elites - and it's a huge rush, too, they're already ultra-competitive people, is there any better or more visceral way to channel that energy than sports? and as a fan, i'd much rather have an enthusiastic owner who overvalues his team rather than a business guy who only wants to make money. i think as time goes on, more and more of those ownership slots will likely be filled by legit enthusiasts (in large part because the pool of billionaires continues to grow).

[colincb]

can someone explain to me why the Clippers are worth 2 billion.  I know that's a dumb question, but I just saw a graphic that said the Clippers were the most valuable team in NBA.  Why?  Simply because they play in massive market LA?  HOw could they possibly be more valuable than the Lakers?

Because they just sold for the highest price in the NBA. Ballmer may well have overpaid, but other bidders would have made it the most expensive NBA team purchase.

In the bigger picture, you're right. Lakers should be the more valuable franchise in LA. Forbes had valued Lakers at $1.35 billion compared to the Clippers $575 million back in January but Clippers were going to close that gap with a new TV contract. Even so Lakers will still have more real estate assets and a better TV deal, so they should be worth more in the country's 2nd biggest market.

The biggest outcome of this sale will be the players opting out early from the current CBA in 2017.

[kraidstar]

The biggest outcome of this sale will be the players opting out early from the current CBA in 2017.

+100000000000
this is something that doesn't get mentioned enough, the value of these teams just goes up and up... it's like some sort of crazy pyramid party - but any owner could sell their team for a huge profit over what they paid for it. so in the long run those operating losses are a pittance compared to the overall boost in value of the franchises. and that's one weapon the players (should) have in labor disputes: the threat of devaluing the league with a lockout/strike.

[colincb]

Yeah 2 billion but don't forget he really does not own the team. The team is owned by the NBA and the players. He just bought a right to say he owns the team. If he annoys anyone enough to cause the threat of a boycott of games in the first round of the playoffs he is gone.

That's a pretty casual characterization of Sterling's actions over the past 30 years.

Very Charitable description of that post, IP.

Charitable or not you cannot argue with the fact. Annoy the right people or wrong people you could be done.

More like 92% of the people according to the new ESPN poll.  There are more deserving souls of  disdain than an old racist with dimentia, but it was no privileged minority that doomed Sterling.