Sport
Magic Johnson leads group that buys WNBA franchise – The Los Angeles Sparks
Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson
An investment group led by Magic Johnson and co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mark Walter has bought the WNBA franchise Los Angeles Sparks. The WNBA and NBA Board of Governors have unanimously approved the sale.
”We are totally thrilled,” WNBA President Laurel Richie told reporters. ”When Magic chooses to enter into a partnership with a WNBA team, that’s a great thing. He is a legend within basketball. He is very knowledgeable about the game. He is a larger-than-life personality. He’s an extremely successful business man. He cares about the community the way that the WNBA does.”
Johnson and Mark Walter had previously teamed with a group of investors to buy baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 for a record US$2.15 billion. It will be the same group owning the Sparks, minus Peter Guber, who owns a stake in the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
The purchase of the Sparks is being made separately from Walter and Johnson’s ownership of the Dodgers, a source told ESPN.com. The price Johnson and Walter will pay to purchase the Sparks is unclear.
The Sparks are one of the 8 original WNBA franchises, but the franchise’s status has been uncertain since Christmas. That’s when the previous owner, Paula Madison, told the WNBA and Sparks employees that her company could not operate the team any longer.
She told reporters that her family lost US$12 million on the franchise since purchasing it from the Buss family in 2007.
The league took control of the Sparks at that point and started looking for new owners. ESPNW reported the Golden State Warriors owners were interested in buying the team and moving it out of Los Angeles to the Bay Area.
The decision by Johnson and Walter to buy the franchise means the franchise can stay in Los Angeles. It also means logistical issues regarding scheduling and player signings can continue.
Source: Reuters, Associated Press