Mark Walter Asset Sale: Sparks Next After Lakers

The Mark Walter asset sale is turning into the biggest fire sale in American sports, and the latest piece on the table is the Los Angeles Sparks. Bloomberg reported this week that the Dodgers and Lakers power player is shopping the WNBA team and its new practice facility for more than seven hundred million dollars.

It is a wild list when you put it all in one place. The Lakers are going for a record, Chelsea shares are gone, and now the Sparks and a Formula One stake are being pitched to buyers. Here is the rundown of what is happening and why people are asking whether anything is safe.

What is on the block right now

According to USA Today, Walter is seeking a buyer for the Sparks after agreeing to sell the Lakers at a record valuation of twelve and a half billion dollars. Sportico values the Sparks at four hundred million dollars, which means the asking price is well above that estimate.

Walter and Magic Johnson led a group that bought the Sparks in two thousand fourteen, saying at the time they wanted to keep the team in Los Angeles. The team plays at Crypto.com Arena and has missed the playoffs six seasons in a row, so a seven hundred million dollar ask is a big bet on where women's basketball is headed.

The Lakers deal and the Buss family fight

The Lakers sale is the headline piece. Josh Kushner, the founder of Thrive Capital, and former Disney chief Bob Iger are buying the team at a twelve and a half billion dollar valuation, a quarter more than the ten billion Walter agreed to pay the Buss family a year earlier. That figure values the whole team, not only Walter's controlling share.

Per the Los Angeles Times, Walter and Kushner agreed on all outstanding terms last Thursday at Walter's Florida home. The NBA still has to review the financing and ownership structure before the deal is official.

Meanwhile, the Buss family is stuck in court. Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is fighting her five siblings, who voted to sell the family trust's remaining stake of about seventeen point eight percent. A hearing is set for December eighth in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Why the sports empire is shrinking

The reason behind the Mark Walter asset sale is money. The Los Angeles Times reports that Walter is selling sports assets while the insurance companies he controls face federal investigations and investor lawsuits. He could need more than twenty billion dollars to recapitalize those companies and satisfy state regulators.

The Chelsea share sale, co-owned with Todd Boehly, brought in about one point two seven billion dollars, according to the Financial Times as cited by the Times. Sportico reported on Monday that Walter is also seeking about three billion dollars for his stake in the Cadillac Formula One team.

Are the Dodgers next?

This is the question everyone in LA is asking. Walter told the California Post last week that he will keep the Dodgers no matter what. But the Times points out that his company said in August it was not considering exiting the Cadillac F1 stake, and that reversed.

A Dodgers sale could bring ten to thirteen billion dollars, the Times has reported, and some would-be bidders have already asked quietly. Commissioner Rob Manfred said at the World Series that the league is watching developments closely. For now the team is officially not for sale.

What to watch next

Keep an eye on three things: whether the NBA signs off on the Lakers sale, how the December court hearing goes, and whether a real buyer shows up for the Sparks at that price. If you want more of this beat, check out our sports coverage for the latest.

The bigger story is how fast a sports empire built on insurance money is being taken apart. A year ago Walter was the guy who paid a record for the Lakers. Today he is the guy selling nearly everything except the Dodgers, and fans are doing the math on how long that promise lasts.

One more thing makes the Sparks piece interesting: women's sports valuations have been climbing fast, so a seller can ask a lot. Whether a buyer agrees is the part nobody knows yet, and it will tell us how much the market really believes in the league.

For more context, read the original reporting from USA Today and the column by Bill Shaikin in the Los Angeles Times. Another look at the wider business world is worth a scroll too.