Lakers sold; Rays could be
Lakers beat Celtics again. Scheffler paired with Spaun at Travelers. Sun's Mabrey hit with flagrant on Clark
Good morning, all!
What a day for sports franchises. I don’t know what I enjoyed more, reading about the sale or potential sale of franchises or reading the ego-drenched websites twisting themselves into pretzels, trying to claim they were the first to break the stories.
Let’s start with the late breaking Wednesday story that the LA Lakers have been sold to the mega billionaire owner of the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers Mark Walter. The Buss family, owner of the legacy team since 1979, will fetch a record $10B, the highest sale price ever for a U.S.-based sports franchise. The $6-plus billion paid for the immortal Celtics is a mere pittance to what Walter will shell out for the Lakers. The late Red Auerbach must be rolling over in his grave to think that the hated Lakers sold for more than his venerable Celtics.
Then you have the battle of the websites. ESPN broke the story of the Lakers sale, which really pissed off The Athletic. Owned by the NY Times, The Athletic is not supposed to be scooped on a story of such magnitude. So the online sports site, which put the once, signature NY Times sports department out of business, made sure not to mention ESPN broke the story, until the sixth paragraph.
Then you have the potential sale of the Tampa Bay Rays to a group headed by Jacksonville, FLA developer Patrick Zalupski. Rays owner Stu Sternberg has reportedly secured a letter of intent from Zalupski to buy the franchise for $1.7B, which would not be a bad ROI for Sternberg, who doled out $202M to buy the club.
In the battle of the sports business websites, Sportico broke the story, much to the chagrin of Front Office Sports. So agitated was FOS that Sportico had the scoop on this major story, it placed that “little” factoid behind its paywall to make it appear it was FOS who had the story first. I even called them out on it on X.
In the case of both The Athletic story on the Lakers and the FOS story on the Rays, they had to begin their pieces by writing “sources have confirmed” to make it appear as if they broke the stories. How childish. Who bleepin’ cares who broke the story?
Anyway, it was a big day for sports franchises and a far cry from the $8M George Steinbrenner paid CBS to buy the Yankees in 1973. And supposedly, Steinbrenner only ponied up $800G’s of his money. If the Lakers sold for $10B, the Yankees would certainly top that. Although the way they’ve been playing recently, you might be able to buy them for the rights to “No, No, Nanette.” And if I have to explain that one, you are subscribing to the wrong newsletter.
Here are some other DAN ON SPORTS stories making news for Thursday, June 19, 2025:
What a field! Scheffler paired with J.J. Spaun at Travelers
Call upgraded. Connecticut Sun’s Mabrey hit with flagrant foul on Clark. Fined too
Haliburton game time decision. Pacers-OKC Game 6 tonight
Shedeur Sanders nabbed for going over 100 MPH
NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 6: Ratings nosedive from last year
Watercraft crash claims life of 19-year-old Orioles minor league player
Earnhardt Jr. to be crew chief
NFL announces joint practice sessions for preseason. Why? Because the NFL is king at staying in the news everyday
Whopping pay hike for Cowboys cheerleaders
Ya think? Manfred: MLB new media rights deal will impact franchise values
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DAN