imagine owning the Lakers. How would you fix this s*** show?

[KobeDunk]

i would sell the team and move to Bora Bora

[activeverb]

[Laker's Fan]

Who knows what the Buss kids really want. But if they sell the team, we're going to be saying the answer was right in front of us.

They have been cutting expenses and running the team as low cost as they can get away with. In one of his initial acts as VP, Jim cleared out a lot of long time (expensive) staff. They are well known not to have the staff organizational depth that many other franchises do. The top, and usually most expensive positions have been filled by family members (until Magic joined, the defacto President (Jeanie), VP Basketball Ops (Jim), Head of Scouting (Jesse) and President of the Minor League affiliate (Joey) were all Buss kids). They have kept player payroll obligations to a minimum for years. On the revenue side, they banked the brand, the market, KFT, and so far LFT. They also 'hire Laker family' which is another creative way to trade on fan nostalgia.

As good an asset as the Lakers are, it makes far more sense to sell high and diversify.

There are a lot of ways to value a business. Usually (1) NPV of projected revenues, (2) expected growth opportunity, and (3) goodwill, which is sort of the intrinsic value of the brand are the primary factors. Sometimes strategic value of an asset comes into play (ehem, LeBron James). The Lakers are well positioned on all of these fronts. Strong revenue track record justifying bullish projections, check. Healthy league, rapidly expanding it's revenues and tapping into several new and exciting revenue streams (increasing value of live event broadcasts, gambling, global markets, league operated streaming properties), check. Prestige brand, check. Strategic asset in LeBron, check. And their balance sheet is clean.

On the demand side, for various reasons a strong stock market is an important part of producing a robust market. I would say that has been going very well for those with elite wealth.

Anshultz, who already owns 25% and Staples Center, gets "First Look" which isn't quite as strong as right of first refusal. He's getting close to 80 though, and I'm not sure he's scaring other bidders off. The Guggenheim Partners who own the Dodgers, were rumored to want to buy the team and as part of the plan would install Magic as their front man 'running' the organization. Jeanie already put that in place.

It might be a couple years before things unfold, especially while everyone sees how the gambling revenue starts to impact team valuations. But the end of the Buss ride makes a lot of sense.