Steve Ballmer, Clippers, & Donald Sterling: Shelly Sterling Agrees to Sell Team to Former Microsoft Chief Steve Ballmer; Deal Worth $2 Billion
It looks as if Steve Ballmer will be the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Ballmer is most known as the Harvard graduate who was the CEO of Microsoft for 14 years.
It's not one hundred percent official yet, but the NBA will most likely approve this because it would be the fastest way and would possibly eliminate a long drawn out voting process. The NBA doesn't want any more negative publicity surrounding its product.
Ballmer won the bid to buy the Clippers franchise at $2 billion, which comes at a surprise, because just last month the Milwaukee Bucks were bought for $550 million, the most in NBA history. Did Ballmer pay too much? He certainly surprised most financial experts with the amount, but we must remember a few things. One, the team is located in Los Angeles which is a huge financial market only second to New York City. Two, the Clippers have never been hotter than they are now.
According to the report, the Clippers were only valued at $575 million.
With the winning bid of $2 billion, the Clippers are now the sixth sports franchise to hit the $2 billion plateau. The others include the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid. The top three highest franchises are all soccer teams, showing that global value and popularity beats national.
These are now the most valued NBA franchises:
Clippers 2 billion
Knicks 1.4 billion
Lakers 1.4 billion
Bulls $ 1 billion
Celtics $875 million
Again, a common theme among the most valued teams is location. Big markets are dominating the money. Three of those five teams didn't even make this year's playoffs, but the fans will continue to pack the arenas.
As for Donald Sterling, he bought the Clippers in 1981 for just over $12 million. Despite the terrible reception from fans, media, and public, this has proven to be a great investment. The fans just want him gone at this point, regardless of how much he makes. Sterling will do anything to avoid a vote, which was scheduled for June 3.
For Clippers fans, this could be the best thing in the world. Ballmer is a proven successful businessman who doesn't have a controversial past. A new owner would mean more players would want to come to the Clippers and the current players would want to stay. The Clippers also have no future plans of relocating -- sorry, Seattle. In a way, this could be a win-win for everybody.
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