Lakers Sale Price Breaks Record for Sports Franchise

Ryan Phillips | Jun 18, 2025

LeBron James brings the ball up court against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the NBA playoffs. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold, and the price will be record-breaking.

Jeanie Buss and her family are selling the team to Mark Walter, the CEO and chairman of TWG Global. According to ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania, Walter will be buying a majority stake in the franchise with the total valuation of the team coming in at $10 billion. That is the largest sale of a professional sports franchise in history.

Mark Walter is entering agreement to purchase majority ownership of the Lakers from the Buss family for a valuation of approximately $10 billion, the largest sale of a professional sports franchise in the world, sources tell ESPN.

$10 billion. https://t.co/mgZkxcdXnp

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 18, 2025

Buss's father, Jerry Buss, bought the team in 1979 for $67.5 million, though that purchase also came with the Los Angeles Kings, The Forum, and a 13,000-acre ranch in Nevada. It's safe to say the Buss family did very well for themselves in both deals.

Walter has been a minority owner of the Lakers since 2021 and led Guggenheim Baseball Management's purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012. In that capacity he approved the Dodgers' spending that has broken MLB records since Walter came on board.

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