Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy Clippers for $2 billion

Slew Foot · May 30, 2014

Shit if the Clip Joint is worth 2 billion, then the Lakers are what, $4 billion?

Leros · May 30, 2014

Chrono said:
Guys... DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS.

Nuff said.

FREE THROWS FREE THROWS FREE THROWS

Ballmer has been known to throw chairs. Maybe he'll pull a Bob Knight.

The Boston Dangler · May 30, 2014

Slew Foot said:
Shit if the Clip Joint is worth 2 billion, then the Lakers are what, $4 billion?

i dunno...the dodgers, yankees, cowboys and manchester united are all in the $2B neighborhood with the sf giants, patriots and red sox not far behind. actually, all 32 nfl teams were in forbes top 50, 2013. buying the clippers for $2B is like buying a house for the land, and hoping you strike oil. surely a clean-slate nba franchise with no stadium isn't worth more than $1B? but then again, actual buyers have ponied up more. i guess it's worth what someone pays.

drebo · May 30, 2014

I can think of WAY better uses for $2 billion than buying a shit team in a shit sport.

Carson Dyle · May 30, 2014

drebo said:
I can think of WAY better uses for $2 billion than buying a shit team in a shit sport.

In a shit city.

Northern Lawn · May 30, 2014

waggy said:
2 billion...wow

It's not like he worked for that money, he's just an over paid oligarch bureaucratic.

AznAnarchy99 · May 30, 2014

Slew Foot said:
Shit if the Clip Joint is worth 2 billion, then the Lakers are what, $4 billion?

Shit do you think the Clips were really worth 1.6 billion either?

summit · May 30, 2014

Its worth however much someone is willing to pay. Cash that check!

Deeko · May 30, 2014

Every other franchise loves this...he just doubled their net worth.

JEDI · May 30, 2014

jjsole said:
Mark Cuban has been preaching the franchises are severely undervalued, and the bucks sale, which recently went for between $500m-$600m, should have been closer to $1B. If value is based on what someone is willing to pay for something (which it is), then he's been right.

The LA dodgers recently were sold for over $2b, which is partially why this team went for so much...location and lots of national and international marketing possibilities.

the dodgers were also from a forced sale.
husband and wife owners divorced...

so I guess forced sale = more $ than someone putting up a for sale sign?
$2B: dodgers + clippers
$500M: bucks

apparently, yup

IndyColtsFan · May 30, 2014

waggy said:
jesus some are calling for the NBA to confiscate teh cash from the sale

People are so freaking stupid it is almost painful.

ultimatebob · May 30, 2014

Ol' Blammer seems a little high strung to be a NBA team owner.

The poor guy is probably going to die of a coronary the first time his new team loses a playoff game due to a bad referee call

Man... I wish that I could get "punished" like this for being a racist!

lupi · May 30, 2014

If only there was another thread for this.

SP33Demon · May 30, 2014

drebo said:
I can think of WAY better uses for $2 billion than buying a shit team in a shit sport.

Yup. Horrible investment, the franchise won't actually be worth that money for another 10 years whereas you could have doubled that money in other ventures.

Gibsons · May 30, 2014

SP33Demon said:
Yup. Horrible investment, the franchise won't actually be worth that money for another 10 years whereas you could have doubled that money in other ventures.

The NBA is getting a new media deal in 2016. It's probably going to be big.

Basketball is probably the second most popular sport internationally, and likely to keep growing.

Why does Ballmer need to invest money anyway? If he needs another yacht, island, mansion and jet he can still afford ten of each.

SP33Demon · May 30, 2014

Gibsons said:
The NBA is getting a new media deal in 2016. It's probably going to be big.

Basketball is probably the second most popular sport internationally, and likely to keep growing.

Why does Ballmer need to invest money anyway? If he needs another yacht, island, mansion and jet he can still afford ten of each.

Nobody is saying that the NBA won't grow, but today on paper that sale was a horrible investment since he won't recoup his initial investment for awhile. The opportunity cost simply isn't worth it. He must really love basketball.

AznAnarchy99 · May 30, 2014

SP33Demon said:
Nobody is saying that the NBA won't grow, but today on paper that sale was a horrible investment since he won't recoup his initial investment for awhile. The opportunity cost simply isn't worth it. He must really love basketball.

For the love of basketball investment.

smackababy · May 30, 2014

SP33Demon said:
Nobody is saying that the NBA won't grow, but today on paper that sale was a horrible investment since he won't recoup his initial investment for awhile. The opportunity cost simply isn't worth it. He must really love basketball.

Well, if he can get the team to move to Seattle, that investment would pay off more quickly I'd think. I mean, sure, the media market of LA is like 4x the size of Seattle, but you're also competing against a team that has been far more popular for a long time. Getting another team to Seattle would generate a lot of incentives and income for the owner.

I am still a bit baffled Balmer is worth $20 billion. I didn't think it was that much.

Gibsons · May 30, 2014

SP33Demon said:
Nobody is saying that the NBA won't grow, but today on paper that sale was a horrible investment since he won't recoup his initial investment for awhile. The opportunity cost simply isn't worth it. He must really love basketball.

For him, I doubt it's an investment at all, thus not a 'bad investment.' Do you think he ever plans on selling?

Gibsons · May 30, 2014

smackababy said:
Well, if he can get the team to move to Seattle, that investment would pay off more quickly I'd think. I mean, sure, the media market of LA is like 4x the size of Seattle, but you're also competing against a team that has been far more popular for a long time. Getting another team to Seattle would generate a lot of incentives and income for the owner.

I am still a bit baffled Balmer is worth $20 billion. I didn't think it was that much.

He's said he's not moving it.

cabri · May 30, 2014

Depends if Sterling will go along.

The 2B is from the wife's agreement, not him.
She is trying to do a legal end-around by declaring him to be incompetent

smackababy · May 30, 2014

Gibsons said:
He's said he's not moving it.

Eh, then he is doing it purely for the love of basketball. I believe I read the Clippers make like $50 million a year profit, so $2 billion ain't coming back soon. However, since he doesn't need a real job, buying the team and helping manage it is certainly a good retirement, if you ask me.

Imported · May 30, 2014

smackababy said:
Eh, then he is doing it purely for the love of basketball. I believe I read the Clippers make like $50 million a year profit, so $2 billion ain't coming back soon. However, since he doesn't need a real job, buying the team and helping manage it is certainly a good retirement, if you ask me.

Moving the team to Seattle would devalue the team in half..

darkewaffle · May 30, 2014

SP33Demon said:
Nobody is saying that the NBA won't grow, but today on paper that sale was a horrible investment since he won't recoup his initial investment for awhile. The opportunity cost simply isn't worth it. He must really love basketball.

Well, while I have no doubt he probably wants to make money on it eventually (or at least isn't interested in losing money), I think that's hardly the sole purpose. Owning a team is the kind of thing that almost nobody else can do both because of the cost and the super limited supply. Simmons wrote kind of a neat piece about it not long ago summarizing some of the reasons the NBA is on the rise (globally especially) and that teams are a hot commodity. Written prior to the Sterling incident, he actually guesstimated 1.7B needed to just get Sterling's attention. Is a few hundred million more than even that worth the massive image boost you'd get from 'rescuing' the Clippers from Sterling? Ballmer must think so (plus Ballmer is almost certainly remembering how good it looked when Paul Allen got to lift the Lombardi trophy).

But you can’t rationally assess the “value” of anything when ego is involved. What’s the value of sitting courtside as everyone watches YOUR team? What’s the value of having an NBA superstar laughing at your jokes, treating you like you’re the president and pretending you’re his buddy? What’s the value of walking into a restaurant in Italy and telling the maître d’, “I’m the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, I’d like a table”? What’s the value of having a potential business partner say to you, “Hey, I heard you own the NBA team that has Durant and Westbrook”?

Kind of the essence of the whole thing.

smackababy · May 30, 2014

Imported said:
Moving the team to Seattle would devalue the team in half..

The team is already do inflated in value, that wouldn't be a bad thing. The Clippers are not worth $2 billion, not by a long shot.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy Clippers for $2 billion

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