Lakers News: Franchise Ranked 6th Most-Valuable In World
So, about that brand taking such irreversible hits due to tanking these last couple years… In Forbes’ most recent list of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, the Los Angeles Lakers finished sixth, the highest such ranking for any NBA team.
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"Fans tuned out with ratings on SportsNet LA off 54%. The team’s seven-year, 270-game sellout streak also ended. Despite the disastrous season, the Lakers still finished as the league’s most profitable team."
The Lakers are on the uptick, this much isn’t in question any longer. They’re coming off an underratedly successful offseason and, despite D’Angelo Russell’s summer league struggles, the lowest points of the franchise are behind them. As I quote above, ticket sales and TV ratings were part of the Lakers’ value, as I saw firsthand in Las Vegas, interest in this Lakers team is indisputable.
Forbes goes on:
"The Lakers have the NBA’s second highest ticket prices and a massive $4 billion, 20-year TV deal with Time Warner that kicked off in 2012."
The length of that TV deal should’ve been enough to stop columnists from writing those sappy “days of yore” articles, but alas, those clicks were just too hard to pass up. Jim Buss may have given himself some ridiculous ultimatum, but the family isn’t going anywhere. Why would they with this kind of value?
Lastly, Forbes spoke about how much the Lakers helped the rest of the NBA:
"The revenue-rich Lakers were forced to contribute $50 million to the NBA’s revenue sharing pool last season."
With owners crying poverty (again) the fact that the Lakers still forked up so much cash to their competitors is beyond frustrating. In a weird way, the league is probably excited about the Lakers increased interest heading into next season. The more the Lakers earn, the more those worthless franchises of the NBA get to hold out their hands.