Just call them the baseball Lakers now.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson was a great basketball player, but he’s probably an even better businessman in his retirement years. Since retiring from basketball due to contracting HIV, the man known as Magic has made millions of dollars in various business ventures, and now he’s putting that money to good use. An ownership group led by Magic Johnson and longtime baseball executive Stan Kasten have bought the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers, which Major League Baseball had taken over last season, were sold by Frank McCourt for a record $2 billion dollars, shattering the record for a sports franchise. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross paid $1.1 billion for that NFL team, which is the American record, and Tampa Bay Buccaneer owner Malcolm Glazer purchased Manchester United, the Barclays Premier League franchise in the UK, for $1.47 billion in 2005. That’s a huge profit for McCourt, who bought the team for $430 million in 2003, and McCourt will retain the ownership of the parking lots around the stadium, ensuring a revenue stream for McCourt from every sold-out game in LA.
“I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise and intend to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section in our wonderful community of Los Angeles,” said Magic Johnson said in a statement issued to the press.
Mark Walter, CEO for financial services company Guggenheim Partners, will be the controlling owner, and I assume Stan Kasten will be the baseball guy while Magic (who is still incredibly popular in LA) will become the public face of the organization. Those three, along with several other executives and millionaires, will form Guggenheim Baseball Management to administer their new plaything. The group outbid several interested partners, including some Chinese interests who had tried to buy the time.
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