I can’t discuss matters with the NBA or research financial health of the league better than Nate Silver but what I can do is… present some more tables and ask questions ;-) Because when you collect a lot of data about one topic like ownership history… you really should have some fun with it, right?
If you prefer picture than tables… well, that’s your lucky day because it will be the first one on this blog! ;-)
Known Team's Prices in the NBA Since 1962
This graph and table below have basically the same content as yesterday’s data but it’s focus is on a different piece of the puzzle… Here’s detailed version of League-Wide Picture of Team’s Prices.
BTW, I adjusted numbers not only for inflation but also to the full 100% [when possible].
For example, if someone bought 25% of any team for 10M$ I listed it as 40M$.
| Team’s name at the time | Owner or ownership group | Date of | Price (M$) | Adj. For Inflation |
| Detroit Pistons | Tom Gores | 2011 | 400 | 400,0 |
| Golden State Warriors | Peter Guber and Joe Lacob | 2010 | 450 | 450,0 |
| New Jersey Nets | Mikhail Prokhorov | 2010 | 250 | 250,0 |
| New Orleans Hornets | NBA | 2010 | 300 | 300,0 |
| Washington Wizards | Ted Leonsis | 2010 | 550 | 550,0 |
| Charlotte Bobcats | Michael Jordan | 2009 | 275 | 279,5 |
| Oklahoma City | Clay Bennett | 2006 | 325 | 351,5 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Dan Gilbert | 2005 | 375 | 418,7 |
| Atlanta Hawks | Atlanta Spirit, LLC (9 partners) | 2004 | 208 | 240,1 |
| New Jersey Nets | group headed by Bruce Ratner | 2004 | 300 | 346,3 |
| Phoenix Suns | Robert Sarver | 2004 | 401 | 462,9 |
| Boston Celtics | Wycliffe Grousbeck, Stephen Pagliuca, H. Irving Grousbeck | 2002 | 360 | 436,4 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | Howard Schultz | 2001 | 200 | 246,3 |
| Dallas Mavericks | Mark Cuban | 2000 | 285 | 360,9 |
| Denver Nuggets | Stan Kroenke | 2000 | 202 | 255,8 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | Michael Heisley | 2000 | 160 | 202,6 |
| Vancouver Grizzlies | Bill & Nancy Laurie | 1999 | 200 | 261,8 |
| New Jersey Nets | Finn Wentworth, Stanley Gale, Raymond Chambers | 1998 | 150 | 200,7 |
| Sacramento Kings | Joe Maloof & Gavin Maloof | 1998 | 156 | 208,7 |
| Toronto Raptors | Maple Leaf | 1998 | 125 | 167,2 |
| New York Knicks | Cablevision and ITT Corporation | 1997 | 300 | 407,6 |
| Dallas Mavericks | Ross Perot, Jr. | 1996 | 125 | 173,7 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Comcast | 1996 | 130 | 180,7 |
| Toronto Raptors | Allan Slaight | 1996 | 167 | 232,1 |
| Golden State Warriors | Christopher Cohan | 1995 | 126,66 | 181,2 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | Glen Taylor | 1995 | 89 | 127,3 |
| Houston Rockets | Leslie Alexander | 1993 | 85 | 128,3 |
| San Antonio Spurs | Peter Holt | 1993 | 75 | 113,2 |
| Denver Nuggets | Comsat Video | 1992 | 215 | 334,2 |
| Golden State Warriors | Christopher Cohan | 1992 | 84 | 130,6 |
| Sacramento Kings | Jim Thomas | 1992 | 140 | 217,6 |
| Orlando Magic | Richard DeVos | 1991 | 85 | 136,1 |
| Denver Nuggets | Comsat Video Enterprises | 1989 | 66,6 | 117,1 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | Paul Allen | 1988 | 70 | 129,0 |
| San Antonio Spurs | B.J. ‘Red’ McCombs | 1988 | 50 | 92,2 |
| Phoenix Suns | Jerry Colangelo | 1987 | 44,5 | 85,4 |
| Utah Jazz | Larry Miller | 1986 | 22 | 43,8 |
| Chicago Bulls | Jerry Reinsdorf | 1985 | 16,1 | 32,6 |
| Denver Nuggets | Sidney Schlenker and Allen Becker | 1985 | 20 | 40,5 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | Herb Kohl | 1985 | 19 | 38,5 |
| Boston Celtics | Don Gaston, Alan N. Cohen, Paul Dupee | 1983 | 17 | 37,2 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | George and Gordon Gund | 1983 | 20 | 43,8 |
| Indiana Pacers | Herb Simon | 1983 | 11 | 24,1 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | Barry Ackerley | 1983 | 21 | 46,0 |
| Kansas City Kings | Joseph Benvenuti, Frank Lukenbill, Gregg Lukenbill, Robert A. Cook, Stephen H. Cippa, Frank McCormack | 1983 | 10,5 | 23,0 |
| Houston Rockets | Charlie Thomas | 1982 | 9,8 | 22,1 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | Donald Sterling | 1981 | 13 | 31,2 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Harold Katz | 1981 | 12 | 28,8 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Ted Stepien | 1980 | 5,4 | 14,3 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Jerry Buss | 1979 | 20 | 60,1 |
| Denver Nuggets | Red McCombs | 1978 | 2 | 6,7 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Fitz Dixon | 1976 | 8 | 30,7 |
| Detroit Pistons | William Davidson | 1974 | 8 | 35,4 |
| Boston Celtics | Robert Schmertz | 1972 | 4 | 20,9 |
| Chicago Bulls | ownership group that included Arthur Wirtz | 1972 | 5,1 | 26,6 |
| San Diego Rockets | Billy Goldberg, Wayne Duddlesten, Mickey Herskowitz | 1971 | 5,6 | 30,2 |
| New York Nets | Roy Boe | 1970 | 1,1 | 6,2 |
| Atlanta Hawks | Tom Cousins and Carl Sanders | 1968 | 2 | 12,5 |
| Boston Celtics | Ballantine Brewery with Trans-National Communications in 1970 | 1968 | 6 | 37,6 |
| Denver Rockets | Bill Ringsby | 1967 | 0,25 | 1,6 |
| Boston Celtics | Marvin Kratter | 1965 | 3 | 20,8 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Jack Kent Cooke | 1965 | 5,175 | 35,8 |
| Baltimore Bullets | Abe Pollin, Arnold Heft, Earl Foreman | 1964 | 1,1 | 7,7 |
| San Francisco Warriors | Franklin Mieuli along with 32 other local investors | 1962 | 0,85 | 6,1 |
Finally, table about Expansion Team’s Fees:
| Team’s name at the time |
Owner or ownership group | Date of | Cost (M$) | Adj. for Inflation |
| Charlotte Bobcats | Robert Johnson | 2003 | 300 | 355,6 |
| Vancouver Grizzlies | Arthur Griffiths | 1996 | 125 | 173,7 |
| Toronto Raptors | John Bitove Jr. | 1996 | 125 | 173,7 |
| Orlando Magic | William duPont III, James and Robert Hewitt, Pat Williams | 1989 | 32,5 | 57,2 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | Marv Wolfenson, Harvey Ratner | 1989 | 32,5 | 57,2 |
| Charlotte Hornets | George Shinn | 1989 | 32,5 | 57,2 |
| Miami Heat | Billy Cunningham, Lewis Schaffel and Ted Arison | 1989 | 32,5 | 57,2 |
| Dallas Mavericks | Donald Carter and Norm Sonju | 1980 | 12 | 31,8 |
| New Orleans Jazz | 9-man group headed by Fred Rosenfield | 1974 | 6,15 | 27,2 |
| Buffalo Braves | Paul Snyder | 1971 | 3,7 | 19,9 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | Larry Weinberg, Herman Sarkowsky, Robert Schmertz | 1971 | 3,7 | 19,9 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Nick Mileti and others | 1971 | 3,7 | 19,9 |
| Phoenix Suns | Richard Bloch and Karl Eller, Don Pitt, Don Diamond, Bhavik Darji, Marvin Meyer | 1969 | 2 | 11,9 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | Wes Pavalon | 1969 | 2 | 11,9 |
| San Diego Rockets | Robert Breitbard | 1967 | 1,75 | 11,4 |
| Seattle SuperSonics | Sam Schulman | 1967 | 1,75 | 11,4 |
| Chicago Bulls | Dick Klein | 1966 | 1,6 | 10,8 |
OK, that was fun and all but I think there’s a point to be made here… and yes, that means a new table with new information [numbers are from insidehoops.com and are adjusted for inflation to average for 2010]…
| Years | Number of Sales With Known Prices | Avg Price per Team | Avg Total TV Revenue for NBA |
Avg TV Revenue per Team |
| 1960-69 | 7 | 17,5 | 9,7 | 0,69 |
| 1970-79 | 8 | 27,1 | 35,7 | 1,62 |
| 1980-89 | 17 | 50,0 | 72,3 | 2,89 |
| 1990-99 | 16 | 202,2 | 403,8 | 14,95 |
| 2000-09 | 16 | 346,9 | 828,7 | 28,58 |
So here’s my question: Why Rising Franchise’s Values aren’t more of a Factor in CBA Discussion?
If we assume slight early losses, and then sizable profit with a sale after X number of years that was still a very good investment, right? Obviously, it brings a question “how long will those prices rise?” and I have no idea but considering that next TV contract is coming up and supply of wealthy people isn’t exactly thin…
I just think it should be discussed more…
Leszczur
July 7, 2011 at 08:39
Franchise Values are not a factor in CBA discussion probably because players are not participating in profits sharing after the team is sold.
And secondly there probably is no simple formula to translate franchise value to revenues on a yearly basis.
That’s why it’s not fair to ask players to finance teams’ purchase as it currently is being proposed.
wiLQ
July 7, 2011 at 12:23
> Franchise Values are not a factor in CBA discussion probably because players are not
> participating in profits sharing after the team is sold.
But it should be their argument, right? “Either let us participate in those profits or stop with those paper losses created because of ownership’s change”.
Lifetime Fan
August 7, 2011 at 17:24
It shouldn’t be too difficult to calculate the value of a franchise. Ticket revenue + merchandise sales, etc minus costs like player salaries, facilties, etc. From that create a soft cap, similar to team salary caps. If an owner purchases a franchise over the the soft cap, he pays a luxury tax, just like they do for player salaries. All luxury tax money from team sales, is divided among the players. This will help hold team purchases in line and protect salaries.
Yes, team purchases should be part of the CBA. They affect a teams abiility to turn a profit and as a result can affect player salaries.
wiLQ
August 7, 2011 at 20:51
“It shouldn’t be too difficult to calculate the value of a franchise. Ticket revenue + merchandise sales, etc minus costs like player salaries, facilties, etc.”
In this scenario aren’t you assuming that all those things are predictable from year to year?
Also again I’m not sure that owners will even talk about a solution where they take an additional financial hit.