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Welcome to Wednesday. The Lakers are selling for $12.5 billion! Holy cow!
Also in today’s edition: Apollo lands in the Bronx, LeBron reigns over opening night, On falls off track, the Flagg was captured, and more.
Time to show you the money...
BOMBSHELL BUY
The apparently exiting owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Mark Walter. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Breaking news this morning: Josh Kushner and Bob Iger are purchasing the Lakers for $12.5 billion, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. The sale price is the highest in sports history.
Quick U-turn: Mark Walter, who also owns the Dodgers, bought the controlling stake in the team from the Buss family less than a year ago, closing the deal in October at a then-record $10 billion valuation.
The incoming owners: Kushner is the founder of venture capital firm Thrive Capital, while Iger is the former two-time CEO of Disney.
Stunner: The deal is as stunning as it is monumental. Shelburne reports Walter is retaining the Dodgers, but what — if anything — does the sale signal about the future of his significant sports portfolio? Or was the offer simply too aggressive to refuse?
Loud and clear: For the moment, amid the many questions, one signal is crystal clear. The valuations for the premier assets in sports are rising incomprehensibly fast. Speaking of...
️ PRIVATE EQUITY
(Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Institutional investors are advancing further into the sports asset class, drawn to the unique appeal offered by scarcity, stable cash flows, and unparalleled cultural resonance. Now, the pinstriped suits of private equity are investing in the pinstriped uniforms of baseball’s most fabled franchise.
Billions to the Bronx: Yankee Global Enterprises, the holding company that owns the Yankees, announced a $2.6 billion financing agreement with Apollo Sports Capital on Tuesday. The Steinbrenner family will remain the controlling owners.
PE giant steps into sports: Apollo, the global alternative asset manager with over $1 trillion in assets under management, has long invested in the sports ecosystem. However, the firm formalized its sports approach with a dedicated vehicle in late 2025, launching Apollo Sports Capital, which invests primarily in credit and hybrid opportunities.
Long haul: A frequent criticism levied at private equity’s entry in sports is the incongruence of timelines. A traditional private equity or credit fund with a ten-year timeline may not be an appropriate partner for a family-based owner committed to the team for generations. Similarly, that timeline could force ill-timed sales. Enter the idea of “permanent capital.”
Bottom line: The tentacles of private capital are extending further into sports, scoring exposure to even the most celebrated franchises. But that exposure does not come solely in the form of equity stakes. A historically debt-averse industry has many levers to pull to welcome new investment from sophisticated partners. This is merely the beginning.
Disclosure: Yahoo is a portfolio company of funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management.
*Explained: Given the pace of capital appreciation in sports franchises, selling equity may not be the most efficient way of raising capital. A company’s optimal capital structure is situation-dependent, but in the current environment, many teams in need of liquidity could benefit from selling more debt… at least that’s part of the ASC thesis.
ICYMI
(Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Cowboys NFL’s most valuable: Sportico released its annual NFL team valuations Wednesday morning, crowning the Cowboys as the league’s most valuable team with a $15.5 billion valuation. The average team is worth $9.3 billion. More to come on this in Friday’s edition, but did valuations just rise again with the Lakers sale?!
Flagg debut card pulled: Rhody Breakers, a card breaking company based out of Rhode Island, pulled the redemption card for Cooper Flagg’s Debut Patch Autograph card on Tuesday morning. Now, its new owner must choose what to do with it, whether claiming Goldin’s $1.5 million cash advance, the Mavs’ 32-year season ticket offer, or any of the myriad seven-figure bounties available.
20-team CFP plan dismissed: Murmurs of a proposed 20-team College Football Playoff were quickly dismissed by the CFP management committee. The idea was believed to be favored by ESPN, which would retain the exclusive media rights under the format. That format would include 12 guaranteed berths and eight teams contesting play-in games.
NCAA eligibility motion denied: A Colorado district court judge denied the NCAA’s motion to stay the injunction that will grant a fifth year of eligibility to athletes who began college in 2022 and previously completed four years of eligibility. The appeals process will continue in the coming weeks, but the denial ensures that — for the moment — the injunction remains in place.
See what else is trending on the Yahoo Sports Business Hub.
JOCK STOCKS
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)
On has long been one of the fastest-growing and most impressive stories in the athletic footwear and sportswear industry — even across the consumer landscape — but with that growth has come exceedingly high expectations. Any failure to meet those expectations is not well tolerated by the market, which sent shares 20% lower after a substandard earnings report on Tuesday.
Sales slowdown: The tumble was primarily caused by slower-than-expected sales. Q2 net sales of CHF 850 million were below expectations closer to 880 million. The company also adjusted its full-year net sales guidance from "at least 23%" to “low-20%” constant-currency growth, which further disappointed a market accustomed to outperformance.
Paying the premium price: Beneath the surface of the headline numbers, the story is more complicated. On’s brand is not necessarily deteriorating — its direct-to-consumer sales growth actually accelerated to 34.3% for the quarter. However, the company is protecting the brand’s premium positioning from a promotional wholesale environment.
The big question: Is On losing its cool factor? Perhaps the softer wholesale sell-throughs are the result of industry — rather than brand — weakness, but they could also signal the early phases of cooling demand for On products.
What they’re saying: “Strong growth and premium execution can absolutely go hand in hand, as we proved this quarter, and doing it the right way is a non-negotiable,” said On CFO Frank Sluis. “What you see in our outlook is our premium growth strategy in action. This is a model built on discipline, on only pursuing the growth that protects and elevates our positioning.”
(Yahoo Finance Alphaspace)
On or off track? Based on the reaction, Wall Street vehemently disapproved of On’s willingness to take its foot off the growth gas pedal. However, the company appears willing to forfeit top-line growth and draw the market's ire to protect its premium position. Perhaps for On, though, there is no pleasing the market: Despite its remarkable growth, the stock is effectively flat since its 2021 IPO.
WINGS CLIPPED
(Harry How/Getty Images)
On this day in 2014, Steve Ballmer closed on his $2 billion acquisition of the Clippers from the Sterling Family Trust. The Lakers bombshell ensures that Ballmer's buy will now be the second-most important NBA team sale news to occur on August 12. Always one-upped by the cross-town rivals...
Fast forward: The Ballmer era hasn’t propelled the Clippers to the NBA’s mountaintop, though a 575-389 record is a testament to elevated on-court success. But the bigger success has occurred beyond the hardwood.
An intuitive investment: Ballmer’s most transformative measure was the construction of a state-of-the-art home that the Clippers can call their own. The Intuit Dome cost $2 billion to build. The project, privately funded by Ballmer, positions the Clippers as a commercial juggernaut.
Looking ahead: While Ballmer rescued the Clippers from a state of disarray, a new controversial chapter has begun as the league probes potential cap circumvention relating to Kawhi Leonard’s tenure.
LET'S PLAY
(Mark D. Phillips/AFP via Getty Images)
The Steinbrenner family has owned the Yankees since 1973, when George Steinbrenner, along with Michael Burke, led a consortium to purchase the team from CBS.
Question: How much did that Steinbrenner-led group pay for the Yankees?
A) $10 million
B) $20 million
C) $50 million
D) $100 million
Answer at the bottom.
KING'S REIGN
(Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports)
It’s no wonder Adam Silver was urging LeBron James to make his free-agency decision so that the league could set the schedule. NBA Opening Night isn’t the same without King James, and his 76ers will meet the Knicks in the second leg of this season’s opening night tripleheader.
Primetime player: LeBron didn’t appear on opening night for the first five seasons of his career. Since then, his team has featured in 17 of the last 19 seasons, and the Sixers’ inclusion prolongs his current streak to 8 years. Oddly enough, the last time James didn’t appear on opening night was in his first season as a Laker, in 2018.
Chalk toss: Even in year 24, James is a must-see attraction that keeps his teams in the spotlight throughout the season. His first appearance in blue and red, married with the beginning of the Knicks’ title defense, will no doubt deliver huge viewership to kick off the NBA’s 2026-27 campaign.
Trivia Answer: A) $10 million! The group paid just $10 million for the Yankees, less than the $13.2 million CBS paid in 1964, and about $2.59 billion less than Apollo just invested.
This quote, from Steinbrenner upon the successful acquisition, is an all-timer: “We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned. We're not going to pretend we're something we aren't. I'll stick to building ships.”
Thanks for reading! Wanna talk shop? Follow me on X and Linkedin, or drop me a line: [email protected].
Continue reading...
Also in today’s edition: Apollo lands in the Bronx, LeBron reigns over opening night, On falls off track, the Flagg was captured, and more.
Time to show you the money...
BOMBSHELL BUY
JUST IN: LAKERS SOLD FOR $12.5 BILLION
You must be registered for see images attach
The apparently exiting owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Mark Walter. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Breaking news this morning: Josh Kushner and Bob Iger are purchasing the Lakers for $12.5 billion, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. The sale price is the highest in sports history.
Quick U-turn: Mark Walter, who also owns the Dodgers, bought the controlling stake in the team from the Buss family less than a year ago, closing the deal in October at a then-record $10 billion valuation.
- The bombshell sale news comes just weeks after it was reported that Walter’s businesses are the subjects of a federal investigation.
- The $2.5 billion increase in value alone, achieved in just nine months, is more than any NBA team had ever sold for prior to 2019.
The incoming owners: Kushner is the founder of venture capital firm Thrive Capital, while Iger is the former two-time CEO of Disney.
- The pair was previously reported to be among the suitors for the NBA’s Las Vegas expansion franchise. Kushner owns a minority stake in the Heat, and Iger is the majority owner of Angel City FC.
- Kushner-led Thrive Eternal was positioned as the lead investor in the now-canceled FIFA Forward Enterprise entity, and it previously acquired a stake in the San Francisco Giants. While the ownership structure for the Lakers deal is not yet clear, Thrive Eternal could own up to 20% of the Lakers under NBA rules.
Stunner: The deal is as stunning as it is monumental. Shelburne reports Walter is retaining the Dodgers, but what — if anything — does the sale signal about the future of his significant sports portfolio? Or was the offer simply too aggressive to refuse?
Loud and clear: For the moment, amid the many questions, one signal is crystal clear. The valuations for the premier assets in sports are rising incomprehensibly fast. Speaking of...
️ PRIVATE EQUITYBRONX BOMBERS LAND BILLIONS
You must be registered for see images attach
(Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Institutional investors are advancing further into the sports asset class, drawn to the unique appeal offered by scarcity, stable cash flows, and unparalleled cultural resonance. Now, the pinstriped suits of private equity are investing in the pinstriped uniforms of baseball’s most fabled franchise.
Billions to the Bronx: Yankee Global Enterprises, the holding company that owns the Yankees, announced a $2.6 billion financing agreement with Apollo Sports Capital on Tuesday. The Steinbrenner family will remain the controlling owners.
- The investment is a mix of credit and equity, providing the Yankees with capital to invest in growth and refinance debt. It reportedly values the team at close to $10 billion, according to The Athletic.
- As a private equity entity is limited to no more than a 15% ownership stake in an MLB team, a significant portion of the transaction would be credit.
PE giant steps into sports: Apollo, the global alternative asset manager with over $1 trillion in assets under management, has long invested in the sports ecosystem. However, the firm formalized its sports approach with a dedicated vehicle in late 2025, launching Apollo Sports Capital, which invests primarily in credit and hybrid opportunities.
- To date, ASC’s high-profile investments have come in soccer. The company became a minority investor in Wrexham in December 2025, before making a bigger splash in March by becoming Atlético Madrid’s majority shareholder.
- ASC has shared its conviction in the idea that sports franchises are structurally underleveraged (10% loan-to-value) relative to other industries (40-70% LTV), resulting in over-equitized capital structures and a financing gap it’s keen to fill.*
- The company has referenced a particular appeal in “hybrid capital,” blending equity upside with the security of credit, underpinned by the stable cash flows inherent in the operations of premier sports franchises.
Long haul: A frequent criticism levied at private equity’s entry in sports is the incongruence of timelines. A traditional private equity or credit fund with a ten-year timeline may not be an appropriate partner for a family-based owner committed to the team for generations. Similarly, that timeline could force ill-timed sales. Enter the idea of “permanent capital.”
- Apollo Sports Capital was formed as a permanent capital holding company. That structure means it can serve as a long-term partner, appealing to incumbent owners as “patient” capital.
- Such a structure is becoming more common. Thrive Capital formed Thrive Eternal in April as a permanent capital holding company to steward assets over the course of decades.
Bottom line: The tentacles of private capital are extending further into sports, scoring exposure to even the most celebrated franchises. But that exposure does not come solely in the form of equity stakes. A historically debt-averse industry has many levers to pull to welcome new investment from sophisticated partners. This is merely the beginning.
Disclosure: Yahoo is a portfolio company of funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management.
*Explained: Given the pace of capital appreciation in sports franchises, selling equity may not be the most efficient way of raising capital. A company’s optimal capital structure is situation-dependent, but in the current environment, many teams in need of liquidity could benefit from selling more debt… at least that’s part of the ASC thesis.
ICYMILIGHTNING ROUND
You must be registered for see images attach
(Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Cowboys NFL’s most valuable: Sportico released its annual NFL team valuations Wednesday morning, crowning the Cowboys as the league’s most valuable team with a $15.5 billion valuation. The average team is worth $9.3 billion. More to come on this in Friday’s edition, but did valuations just rise again with the Lakers sale?!
Flagg debut card pulled: Rhody Breakers, a card breaking company based out of Rhode Island, pulled the redemption card for Cooper Flagg’s Debut Patch Autograph card on Tuesday morning. Now, its new owner must choose what to do with it, whether claiming Goldin’s $1.5 million cash advance, the Mavs’ 32-year season ticket offer, or any of the myriad seven-figure bounties available.
20-team CFP plan dismissed: Murmurs of a proposed 20-team College Football Playoff were quickly dismissed by the CFP management committee. The idea was believed to be favored by ESPN, which would retain the exclusive media rights under the format. That format would include 12 guaranteed berths and eight teams contesting play-in games.
NCAA eligibility motion denied: A Colorado district court judge denied the NCAA’s motion to stay the injunction that will grant a fifth year of eligibility to athletes who began college in 2022 and previously completed four years of eligibility. The appeals process will continue in the coming weeks, but the denial ensures that — for the moment — the injunction remains in place.See what else is trending on the Yahoo Sports Business Hub.
JOCK STOCKS
ON FALLS OFF
You must be registered for see images attach
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)
On has long been one of the fastest-growing and most impressive stories in the athletic footwear and sportswear industry — even across the consumer landscape — but with that growth has come exceedingly high expectations. Any failure to meet those expectations is not well tolerated by the market, which sent shares 20% lower after a substandard earnings report on Tuesday.
Sales slowdown: The tumble was primarily caused by slower-than-expected sales. Q2 net sales of CHF 850 million were below expectations closer to 880 million. The company also adjusted its full-year net sales guidance from "at least 23%" to “low-20%” constant-currency growth, which further disappointed a market accustomed to outperformance.
You must be registered for see images attach
Paying the premium price: Beneath the surface of the headline numbers, the story is more complicated. On’s brand is not necessarily deteriorating — its direct-to-consumer sales growth actually accelerated to 34.3% for the quarter. However, the company is protecting the brand’s premium positioning from a promotional wholesale environment.
- The company’s wholesale segment was the source of slower growth, with sales increasing just 12.7%, the lowest on record. The slowdown was at least partially the result of a deliberate management decision to sell less product into the channel as sell-throughs softened and the market became more promotional.
- The company does not want its brand tainted by a weaker wholesale environment, with inventories growing stale on shelves and requiring discounts, which dilutes the brand’s premium positioning.
The big question: Is On losing its cool factor? Perhaps the softer wholesale sell-throughs are the result of industry — rather than brand — weakness, but they could also signal the early phases of cooling demand for On products.
What they’re saying: “Strong growth and premium execution can absolutely go hand in hand, as we proved this quarter, and doing it the right way is a non-negotiable,” said On CFO Frank Sluis. “What you see in our outlook is our premium growth strategy in action. This is a model built on discipline, on only pursuing the growth that protects and elevates our positioning.”
You must be registered for see images attach
(Yahoo Finance Alphaspace)
On or off track? Based on the reaction, Wall Street vehemently disapproved of On’s willingness to take its foot off the growth gas pedal. However, the company appears willing to forfeit top-line growth and draw the market's ire to protect its premium position. Perhaps for On, though, there is no pleasing the market: Despite its remarkable growth, the stock is effectively flat since its 2021 IPO.
WINGS CLIPPED
THIS DAY IN HISTORY: BALLMER BUYS IN
You must be registered for see images attach
(Harry How/Getty Images)
On this day in 2014, Steve Ballmer closed on his $2 billion acquisition of the Clippers from the Sterling Family Trust. The Lakers bombshell ensures that Ballmer's buy will now be the second-most important NBA team sale news to occur on August 12. Always one-upped by the cross-town rivals...
Fast forward: The Ballmer era hasn’t propelled the Clippers to the NBA’s mountaintop, though a 575-389 record is a testament to elevated on-court success. But the bigger success has occurred beyond the hardwood.
- The franchise has become one of the league’s most valuable under Ballmer’s stewardship, with Sportico ranking the Clippers fourth at $6.7 billion in its most recent valuations. Over 12 years, that’s 235% in gross appreciation, or 11% annually. And with the Lakers selling for $12.5 billion, those figures are trending up.
- But by Ballmer’s standards, the returns aren't even very impressive. Microsoft stock is up 988% over the same period, and that holding produces passive income that would be the envy of nations. Clippers ownership, on the other hand, is a more active investment. On that note...
An intuitive investment: Ballmer’s most transformative measure was the construction of a state-of-the-art home that the Clippers can call their own. The Intuit Dome cost $2 billion to build. The project, privately funded by Ballmer, positions the Clippers as a commercial juggernaut.
Looking ahead: While Ballmer rescued the Clippers from a state of disarray, a new controversial chapter has begun as the league probes potential cap circumvention relating to Kawhi Leonard’s tenure.
LET'S PLAY
STEINBRENNER'S BRILLIANT BUY
You must be registered for see images attach
(Mark D. Phillips/AFP via Getty Images)
The Steinbrenner family has owned the Yankees since 1973, when George Steinbrenner, along with Michael Burke, led a consortium to purchase the team from CBS.
Question: How much did that Steinbrenner-led group pay for the Yankees?
A) $10 million
B) $20 million
C) $50 million
D) $100 million
Answer at the bottom.
KING'S REIGN
LEBRON BACK IN OPENING NIGHT SPOTLIGHT
You must be registered for see images attach
(Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports)
It’s no wonder Adam Silver was urging LeBron James to make his free-agency decision so that the league could set the schedule. NBA Opening Night isn’t the same without King James, and his 76ers will meet the Knicks in the second leg of this season’s opening night tripleheader.
Primetime player: LeBron didn’t appear on opening night for the first five seasons of his career. Since then, his team has featured in 17 of the last 19 seasons, and the Sixers’ inclusion prolongs his current streak to 8 years. Oddly enough, the last time James didn’t appear on opening night was in his first season as a Laker, in 2018.
Chalk toss: Even in year 24, James is a must-see attraction that keeps his teams in the spotlight throughout the season. His first appearance in blue and red, married with the beginning of the Knicks’ title defense, will no doubt deliver huge viewership to kick off the NBA’s 2026-27 campaign.
Trivia Answer: A) $10 million! The group paid just $10 million for the Yankees, less than the $13.2 million CBS paid in 1964, and about $2.59 billion less than Apollo just invested.
This quote, from Steinbrenner upon the successful acquisition, is an all-timer: “We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned. We're not going to pretend we're something we aren't. I'll stick to building ships.”
Thanks for reading! Wanna talk shop? Follow me on X and Linkedin, or drop me a line: [email protected].
Continue reading...
