Lakers Buyers Lay Out Plans to Reach $30 Billion Valuation in Pitch to Investors
Group led by Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner estimate team revenue will more than double to at least $1.6 billion in a decade
- A buyer group led by Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger expects to nearly triple the Los Angeles Lakers’ valuation within 10 years.
- The buyers project the team’s valuation will rise from $12.5 billion to at least $30 billion, assuming TV and streaming rights double in value.
- The group plans to boost revenue to at least $1.6 billion by 2037 through international growth, local media rights and ticket price increases.
The buyers of the Los Angeles Lakers are telling prospective investors they expect to nearly triple the basketball team’s valuation within 10 years.
That is one of several aggressive financial projections included in an investor presentation being circulated by Thrive Capital, the investment firm helmed by Joshua Kushner, according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
A group led by Kushner and former Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger last month struck a deal to purchase the team from finance mogul Mark Walter at a $12.5 billion valuation. In the presentation, the buyers laid out plans to expand the storied National Basketball Association franchise, including through international growth and new opportunities in local media rights.
Those moves would help boost the Lakers’ valuation to at least $30 billion in a decade, the buyer group said, assuming that TV and streaming rights double in value. More favorable assumptions for the same period would place the long-term valuation at $62 billion.
The buyers are inheriting an already lucrative business. The group said the Lakers are on track to generate $681 million in revenue in 2026, with ticketing and media rights accounting for the largest share. Under their plans, they said, revenue would hit at least $1.6 billion by the end of 2037.
Profits are expected to zoom up as well, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization set to more than triple from an estimated $129 million to more than $589 million over that span, according to the presentation.
Thrive Eternal, a sports-focused holding company, struck its first deal earlier for a stake in Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants. Meanwhile, Jeanie Buss, the late Lakers owner Jerry Buss’s daughter, is fighting to hold on to a piece of the Lakers against Jerry Buss’s five other children.
The plan outlined by Thrive identifies around $150 million in near-term incremental revenue by 2028. That would come partly by reclaiming roughly 6,000 broker-held season tickets for single-game sales, which would raise average single-game ticket prices from $217 to $361. Lakers ticket prices have already been on the rise, and under Thrive’s plan more of that revenue would go to the team, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The buyers would also capture $40 million to $75 million from sponsorship opportunities and extract at least $20 million in operating cost efficiencies.
In 2024, the NBA struck media partnerships worth $77 billion over 11 years that more than doubled fees shared by teams in the league. Thrive said in its presentation that it expects fees can double again when the pact comes up for negotiation.
Live sports are a major draw for broadcasters and streamers alike, because they motivate people to subscribe to services and watch in real time, creating high-value opportunities for advertisers. Still there are questions about how ratings will hold up in a fragmented landscape that increasingly requires fans of the NBA and other sports to pay for multiple services to watch their favorite teams.