In the heat of the National Basketball Association’s (“NBA”) playoffs – and amidst mounting pressure for the Sterling Family to sell the Los Angeles Clippers – Rock the Capital* is sharing a portion of Forbes Magazine’s annual valuation list of professional basketball franchises.  RTC added additional and updated data.

The Los Angeles Clippers have emerged as an elite franchise, and not just “the other LA basketball team.” Although the Clippers were eliminated from the playoffs on by May 15 by the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team was valued at $575 million in January 2014.  They were the 13th most valuable organization out of 30 franchises on the Forbes Magazine’s list. Donald Sterling purchased the team in 1981 for $12.5 million.

The value of an NBA team does not necessarily reflect current on-the-court performance, but is generally a product of demography, location and multimedia profile. The current list includes seven teams that qualified for this year’s playoffs, and collectively account for 50 NBA championships since 1950.

The cache of owning a NBA franchise gives the seller added leverage, and can increase the sale price. For example, the average price of as NBA franchisee in January 2014 was $634 million, prior to the sale of the Milwaukee Bucks for $550 million in the spring of 2014. Forbes ranked the Milwaukee Bucks as the valuable NBA franchise, and priced the team at $258 million in January 2014.

* Forbes also produces a list of team salaries, and other data and valuations related to professional sports clubs and organizations.

 

 

Land of Basketball

 

1) New York Knicks
Owner:  Madison Square Garden Company.
James L. Dolan is the Chairman of the Madison Square Garden Company.
Value: $1,400 billion.
Established: 1946.
Number of championships: 2.

2) Los Angeles Lakers
Owners:  Philip Anschutz and Jerry Buss Family Trusts.
Value: $1,350 billion.
Established: 1946.
Number of championships: 16 including five crowns when the franchise was located in Minneapolis.

3) Chicago Bulls
Owner: Jerry Reinsdorf.
Value: $1,000 billion.
Established: 1966.
Number of championships: 6.

4) Boston Celtics
Owners:  Irving Grousbeck & Wycliffe Grousbeck.
Value: $875 million.
Established: 1946.
Number of championships: 17.

5) Brooklyn Nets
Owners: Mikhail Prokhorov and Bruce Ratner.
Value: $780 million.
Established: The team was founded in 1967, and was original  a member of the American Basketball Association. The Nets merged with the NBA in 1976.  The organization move to Brooklyn in 2012.
Number of championships: 0.

6) Houston Rockets.
Owner: Leslie Alexander.
Value: $775 million.
Established: The team was founded in San Diego in 1967, and was a original  a member of the American Basketball Association before merging with the NBA in 1976. The organization moved to Houston in 1971.
Number of championships: 2.

7) Miami Heat
Owner: Micky Arison
Value: $770 million.
Established: Expansion franchise created in  1988.
Number of championships: 3.

8) Dallas Mavericks
Mark Cuban.
Value: $765 million.
Established: The organization was created in 1980.
Number of championships: 1. 

9) Golden State Warriors
Peter Guber & Joe Lacob.
Value: $750 million.
Established: 1967.
Number of championships: 3 including two crowns when the franchise was located in Philadelphia.

10) San Antonio Spurs
Peter Holt.
Value: $660 million.
Established: The franchise was founded din 1967 and an original members of the American Basketball Association. The organization was originally based in Dallas and nicknamed the Chaparrals, before being renamed the Texas Chaparrals in 1970. In 1973 the organization was relocated to San Antonio and renamed the Spurs. The Spurs joined the NBA in 1976.
Number of championships: 4.

 

Sources: Forbes, Land of Basketball.com
Photo by Keith Allison