Two billion dollars. The reports are that the Los Angeles Dodgers were sold for $2 billion. The first news of a deal was broken by Ken Gurnick, and the second peep came from the Wall Street Journal:
Report: Los Angeles Dodgers To Be Sold To Group Led By Magic Johnson
Breaking from WSJ: Magic Johnson-led group buys LA Dodgers for $2 billion, shattering all previous prices paid for sports franchises.
— Dennis K. Berman (@dkberman) March 28, 2012
Two billion dollars. Possibly even more.
The Dodgers were put up for sale after Major League Baseball assumed fiscal control over the franchise following financial skullduggery on the part of Frank McCourt, who was allegedly using the team as something of an ATM. Previous estimates had the Dodgers pegged at about $1.5 billion, including one recent one from Forbes.
The big name is Magic Johnson, Los Angeles basketball legend, but he was a part of a group that had the support of Guggenheim Partners and Stan Kasten, among others. That doesn’t mean anything to me. I stopped to marvel at Magic Johnson’s name. The recruitment of other investors was probably why Johnson was a part of this.
The Dodgers are now in better hands, and those hands are probably looking to make a return on this ridiculous amount of money. Maybe by getting some better players?
"I wish we had the team already, I would have been at Albert Pujols' house at 12:01 a.m. on the first day of free agency," Johnson said with a laugh. "I can't wait."
That’s from a December story from the Los Angeles Times. Because when you spend $2 billion, what’s a couple hundred million among friends?
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