Ranking Los Angeles Lakers and the Most Expensive Sports Teams Sales of All Time

In June 2025, ESPN's Shams Charania broke the news of a historic deal: Mark Walter purchased a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, which were valued at $10 billion at the time.

Just over one year later, news broke that the Lakers have been sold again, this time at a $12.5 billion valuation.

If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is. Prior to the 2025 sale of the Lakers, the high for a professional sports franchise was the $6.1 billion valuation that the Boston Celtics sold for earlier in 2025.

This latest Lakers sale completely changes the landscape of sports ownership and blows away the rest of the list for the most expensive teams ever sold.

12. Carolina Panthers ($2.275 Billion in 2018)

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The Panthers have fallen on hard times since owner David Tepper took over in 2018.

Fresh off a 2017 campaign in which the Carolina Panthers went 11-5 and just over two years after Cam Newton won league MVP, David Tepper acquired the Carolina Panthers for a then-record $2.275 billion.

But maintaining that level of play is difficult in the NFL.

Despite having Newton in his prime and drafting star running back Christian McCaffrey ahead of the 2017 season, the Panthers have had the NFL's third-worst winning percentage since Tepper bought the team.

However, the Panthers went 8-9 in 2025 and made the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 campaign, suggesting they may finally be on the upswing.

11. New York Mets ($2.4 Billion in 2020)

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Steve Cohen hasn't shied away from opening his wallet since taking control of the Mets in 2020.

Just over two years after Tepper acquired the Panthers, Steve Cohen broke the record with his $2.4 billion purchase of the New York Mets.

In a league without a salary cap, the owner (and his or her willingness to spend) can make a massive, immediate difference.

In 2021, the Mets signed Max Scherzer to a three-year, $130 million deal and signed Francisco Lindor to a 10-year, $341 million contract. In 2022, New York added Justin Verlander for $86.7 million over two years. And in 2024, the Mets signed Juan Soto to an eye-popping 15-year, $765 million deal.

Given how much he's committed to his team, Cohen's $2.4 billion purchase price is starting to look like a mere initial investment in hindsight. However, the Mets have been headed in the wrong direction since their loss in the 2024 National League Championship Series, which is seemingly giving Cohen second thoughts about his free-spending ways.

10. Charlotte Hornets ($3 Billion in 2023)

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The Hornets' lack of success under Michael Jordan didn't stop him from breaking the bank in 2023.

You're about to witness a bit of a trend from here on out. NBA owners have had a knack for breaking this particular record in recent years, starting with Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Hornets.

In 2023, Air Jordan sold the Hornets to a group led by Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin at a $3 billion valuation. That price tag was surprising given the team's lack of success under MJ.

During Jordan's decade and change at the helm, Charlotte had the second-worst record in the NBA, but that didn't scare Schnall and Plotkin from buying the team. After all, rising franchise valuations and the NBA's 11-year, $75 billion national TV deals suggest the league is still on the way up.

As of October 2025, the Hornets were estimated to be worth $3.8 billion, according to Forbes, so Schnall and Plotkin's investment already appears to be paying off.

9. Dallas Mavericks ($3.5 Billion in 2023)

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Mark Cuban did not maintain control over basketball operations after selling the Mavericks in 2023.

In one of the most shocking ownership moves we've ever seen, Mark Cuban agreed to sell the majority share of his beloved Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families for $3.5 billion in 2023.

The peculiarity here, beyond the team's biggest fan selling just before the NBA's new national TV deal kicked in, was that reporting at the time suggested Cuban would maintain some level of control over basketball operations.

That obviously didn't happen, as most vividly evidenced by the jaw-dropping Luka Dončić trade that saw the Mavericks surrender years of title contention and a perennial MVP candidate for a post-prime and near-constant injury risk in Anthony Davis.

One year later, the Mavericks traded Davis to the Washington Wizards for 30 cents on the dollar. Luckily, the draft-lottery gods were kind to them in 2025 and gifted them No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg as their next franchise cornerstone.

8. Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury ($4 Billion in 2023)

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Mat Ishbia's tenure with the Phoenix Suns has gotten off to a bumpy start.

Mat Ishbia acquired the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury for $4 billion in 2023. A few years later, he already has an airtight case for one of the best examples of "new owner syndrome" that we've ever seen.

The Suns went to the NBA Finals in 2021, but the only player left from that roster is Devin Booker. Within months of taking over, Ishbia gave up much of his organization's future for Kevin Durant, who spent only two years in Phoenix before he was traded to the Houston Rockets.

Despite already being nearly all-in, Ishbia somehow found more chips to take on one of the worst contracts in the league in 2023 and added Bradley Beal. The Suns wound up waive-and-stretching Beal two years later, leaving them with nearly $100 million in dead money on their books for the ensuing half-decade.

Phoenix went 64-18 the last full season before Ishbia took over. In 2024-25, the Suns were 36-46. And now, he's claiming he wants to be even more involved in basketball decisions.

It's hard to imagine things getting much wilder for Suns fans, but Ishbia has already proven capable of shocking moves.

7. Denver Broncos ($4.65 Billion in 2022)

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Rob Walton nearly doubled the previous NFL record by buying the Broncos for $4.65 billion in 2022.

Following a years-long battle over ownership after Pat Bowlen's death in 2019, the Denver Broncos were finally sold to an ownership group led by Walmart's Rob Walton in 2022 for $4.65 billion.

The price didn't just break the record previously held by David Tepper's Carolina Panthers. It doubled it. And in this case, it was easier to understand how the number got so high.

The Broncos haven't been Super Bowl contenders for a decade, but for nearly 40 years (from 1976 through 2015), they had the best winning percentage in the NFL. They won three Super Bowls with star quarterbacks John Elway and Peyton Manning under center.

They haven't yet been able to recapture the luster of that era under Walton, but Denver is one of the marquee franchises of a league that generates several billion dollars in revenue every year. The Broncos do seem to be on the upswing with young quarterback Bo Nix, who helped guide them to a 14-3 record in 2025 along with an AFC Championship Game appearance.

6. Chelsea FC ($5.4 Billion in 2022)

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Chelsea appears to be on the way back up under new owner Todd Boehly.

During a nearly two-decade run under Roman Abramovich, Chelsea F.C. was one of the most successful clubs in international football, winning several trophies and generally hovering at or near the top of the Premier League.

But in 2022, thanks in part to sanctions imposed on the team for alleged connections to Russia's Vladimir Putin, Chelsea was sold to a group led by Todd Boehly, an American businessman who's also a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After having a positive goal differential in 27 straight domestic campaigns, Chelsea dropped below zero during the first season under Boehly, but that appears to have just been a one-year hiccup. It was plus-14 in 2023-24, plus-21 in 2024-25 and plus-6 in 2025-26.

5. Washington Commanders ($6.05 Billion in 2023)

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The ownership group led by Josh Harris immediately breathed new life into the Washington Commanders.

After 20-plus years of Dan Snyder's controversial ownership, a group led by Josh Harris, who co-owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, purchased the Washington Commanders for a record $6.05 billion in 2023.

That investment started to look like a solid one shortly after they made it.

The Commanders went 4-13 during their first season under the new ownership group, but that resulted in them getting the No. 2 overall pick, which they used on LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. He subsequently led Washington all the way to the NFC Championship Game as a rookie.

Granted, the Commanders took a step back in 2025, as injuries limited Daniels to only seven games and age caught up with the rest of the roster. However, they're now estimated to be worth $9.64 billion, according to Sportico, and they have a new stadium on the way that should drive their value even higher.

4. Boston Celtics ($6.1 Billion in 2025)

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The Celtics briefly held the record for the most expensive sale of a team... until the Lakers topped them.

Fresh off an NBA championship and with his title-winning roster almost entirely locked up through 2025-26, Wyc Grousbeck sold his majority ownership stake in the Boston Celtics in 2025.

The move came as a bit of a surprise, but even with the league's 11-year, $75 billion national TV deal, it may have felt nearly impossible to pass up the $6.1 billion offer from the group led by Bill Chisholm.

Unfortunately for the new stewards, franchise cornerstone Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles mere months after the deal, but that won't derail one of the league's best and most famous franchises. After all, they managed to win 56 games in 2025-26 despite Tatum missing most of the season.

Under Chisholm, the Celtics will almost certainly remain one of the NBA's most consistent organizations, even if they have to be more mindful of their spending moving forward due to the NBA's restrictive second apron.

3. Seattle Seahawks ($9.6 Billion in 2026)

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Wednesday's Lakers news wasn't our first report of a multi-billion-dollar sale of a team this summer.

Just last month, San Francisco 49ers limited partner Vinod Khosla led a group that purchased the Seattle Seahawks for an NFL-record $9.6 billion.

Along with the Celtics, it feels like we have a bit of a trend developing with owners cashing out shortly after winning a title.

2. Los Angeles Lakers ($10 Billion in 2025)

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Luka Doncic helped the Lakers become the first $10 billion sale in sports history.

That brings us to Mark Walter's record-shattering purchase of the Lakers. At the time, that deal obliterated the price tags of all of the above, but it somehow still felt worth it.

The NBA is in the early stages of a massive new media rights deal. All of the recent team sales suggest franchise valuations are skyrocketing.

And despite recently losing LeBron James in free agency, L.A. is just a few years removed from being on the right side of perhaps the biggest coup in NBA history.

The Lakers didn't just trade for Luka Dončić. They got him just ahead of his 26th birthday, for a price that was comically below his true value. That meant they still had assets to spend and build around Luka.

Under Walter, they did that. During the 2026 offseason, they added a potential franchise center in Walker Kessler.

Given Dončić's age and production, the Lakers figure to remain in the championship conversation for years to come, regardless of who owns the team.

1. Los Angeles Lakers ($12.5 Billion in 2026)

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To describe this sale as shocking almost feels like a disservice.

Mark Walter is currently under federal investigation for alleged fraud, but there have been few (if any) whispers that he was considering selling the Lakers.

This truly came out of nowhere, and the timing is what is perhaps most surprising.

From the summer of 1978 to the summer of 1979, John Y. Brown owned the Boston Celtics. He's the only NBA team owner since the ABA-NBA merger with a comparable tenure to Walter's in terms of length.

Most sports owners don't treat their franchises like an episode of Flip or Flop, but that's almost what this feels like for Walter.

Fourteen months after taking over one of the most storied and famous organizations in sports, he's selling for a $2.5 billion profit to Bob Iger (the former CEO and current senior advisor to the Board of Directors of Disney) and Josh Kushner.