On Tuesday morning NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from any NBA association for life after Sterling made controversial racist remarks. Now Silver is urging other owners to force a sale of the Clippers which is bringing in potential buyers.
According to Yahoo Sports reporter Adrian Wojnarowski , “Several groups with desire to purchase Clippers are already stepping forward, with a bidding war expected to exceed $1 billion for Clippers.” Potential buyers include NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, Dr. Dre, Rick Ross, Diddy, Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso. There’s word that even Oprah Winfrey and Matt Damon are interested in purchasing the team.
Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners group are expected to be “front-and-center” of the bidding war. Meanwhile, hip hop mogul Dr. Dre has shown interest in buying the L.A. Clippers, saying he’s “absolutely” interested and that “he is thinking about it” when asked if he wanted to buy the L.A. team.
Ross and Diddy went to Twitter to express their interest in buying the L.A. Clippers after Silver announced current Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s lifetime ban from the NBA:
“I will always be a Knicks fan, but I am a business man. #DiddyBuyTheClippers #NameYourPrice,”- Diddy tweeted on Tuesday.
“I’d be interested investing in @LAclippers !!!! Make It #WingstopArena @WingstopCEO Lets Goooo !!!” Ross Tweeted on Tuesday.
Mayweather said he is interested in putting a group together with himself as the main owner if the team becomes available. Caruso says he is ready and willing to buy the L.A. Clippers if it is up for grabs. Caruso attempted to buy the L.A. Dodgers back in 2012 and is absolutely interested in buying the Clippers.
“We have a group still together from when we looked at the Dodgers … and if it makes sense, I’ll take a shot at it,” said Caruso.
Even television legend Oprah Winfrey is getting into the mix. “Oprah Winfrey is in discussions with David Geffen and Larry Ellison to make a bid for the Los Angeles Clippers should the team become available,” her spokesperson Nicole Nichols confirmed in an email.
David Carter, the executive director of USC’s Sports Business Institute, reveals some of the reason’s why sports teams are so sought after.
“Interest in the team results from the combination of NBA teams being rare assets that are seldom available for purchase,” says Carter. “The location of this particular team, and potential owners’ belief that revenue streams linked to rehabbing the brand and participating in future revenue linked to a new TV deal all make the team very attractive to prospective buyers.”
Whether Donald Sterling is willing to sell the team or not remains to be seen. Most experts predict that Sterling will force a long legal battle to challenge the NBA’s authority on whether they can pressure him to sell the team.
