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The buyers of the Los Angeles Lakers are telling prospective investors they expect to nearly triple the basketball team’s valuation within 10 years. That is one of several aggressive financial projections included in an investor presentation being circulated by Thrive Capital, the investment firm helmed by Joshua Kushner, according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
A group led by Kushner and former Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger last month struck a deal to purchase the team from finance mogul Mark Walter at a $12.5 billion valuation. In the presentation, the buyers laid out plans to expand the storied National Basketball Association franchise, including through international growth and new opportunities in local media rights. Those moves would help boost the Lakers’ valuation to at least $30 billion in a decade, the buyer group said, assuming that TV and streaming rights double in value. More favorable assumptions for the same period would place the long-term valuation at $62 billion.
The plan outlined by Thrive identifies around $150 million in near-term incremental revenue by 2028. That would come partly by reclaiming roughly 6,000 broker-held season tickets for single-game sales, which would raise average single-game ticket prices from $217 to $361. Lakers ticket prices have already been on the rise, and under Thrive’s plan more of that revenue would go to the team, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Dan Woike: One note - per sources with knowledge of the Josh Kushner-Bob Iger plans, the Lakers are not planning a rapid price hike to increase ticket revenue. Team does, however, want to grab control of tickets controlled by outside brokerages and increase revenue by cutting out those brokers.
The prediction-market platform is paying James $15 million a year under the recently announced partnership, sources tell FOS. James is not an investor in Polymarket, just an endorser, one source says. The length of his agreement with Polymarket was not clear, although one source says it’s an “ongoing engagement” with multiple “deliverables,” such as social media posts and other content. Under the deal, James will focus on promoting football, not basketball.
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Chelsea Football Club today announced affiliates of Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (“Clearlake”) will acquire the ownership interest of Todd Boehly. Hansjörg Wyss will remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group. As part of the transition, Clearlake will also acquire Mark Walter’s ownership interest and therefore acquire full control of the Club. In 2022, Todd Boehly and Clearlake joined together to lead the historic acquisition of Chelsea – successfully navigating an unprecedented period of uncertainty imposed by outside political events – and Todd organised his chairmanship with an unwavering commitment to this ownership group’s fundamental belief that the supporters are at the heart of everything the Club does.
LeBron James will make more money from his Polymarket partnership than from playing for the 76ers, Front Office Sports has learned. The prediction-market platform is paying James $15 million a year under the recently announced partnership, sources tell FOS. James is not an investor in Polymarket, just an endorser, one source says. The length of his agreement with Polymarket was not clear, although one source says it’s an “ongoing engagement” with multiple “deliverables,” such as social media posts and other content. Under the deal, James will focus on promoting football, not basketball.
Derek Jeter and Eli Manning, who also appeared in the Polymarket commercial first teased by James, are being paid under “smaller” endorsement deals than James’s, one source says. The commercial featured a slew of other athletes and celebrities, including Spike Lee, Reggie Bush, and Alexandra Daddario; some of the celebrities were paid just for that one commercial, rather than for longer-term endorsement deals, the source says. Other than James, Jeter, and Manning, it wasn’t clear who has long-term agreements in place versus who received a one-time payment to appear in the ad.
Both Polymarket and Kalshi are official partners of the NHL, while Polymarket is MLB’s exclusive prediction-market partner and Kalshi is an “authorized prediction market” under MLB’s integrity framework, which has allowed it to do a number of team-level deals. The NBA and NFL have yet to embrace prediction markets. Sources tell FOS the former is closing in on agreements, while the latter remains a staunch holdout.
Mike Vorkunov: Knicks star Jalen Brunson is starting his own company, Thirty Third Management Group, to handle his off-court business. The co. intends to handle other clients in NIL women's sports. His mother, Sandra, is president; his sister, Erica, is a director. Brunson will still stay w/ CAA for NBA deals.
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Prices for Knicks games at Madison Square Garden surged during their first title run in 53 years, with the cheapest seats in the arena during the NBA Finals costing more than $7,500. The momentum has continued with ticket prices surging on the secondary market ahead of the 2026-27 season. According to online marketplace StubHub, demand for the defending champions is 60 percent higher than the same point a year ago. Search has also increased 174 percent from last year. Of those purchasing tickets on StubHub, 67 percent are return buyers, up from 55 percent last season.
As of Tuesday, tickets for the Knicks’ Oct. 20 home opener against the Philadelphia 76ers start at $1,314 and top out at $36,210 on StubHub. Vivid Tickets has tickets for the opener ranging from $1,335-$20,951, with tickets on SeatGeek ranging from $1,400-$36,004.
The Knicks were a popular road draw during their title run, and it looks like that will continue in 2026-27. Games at Philly, Miami, Boston and Washington are popular on StubHub, which said 25 percent of Knicks road-game purchasers are based in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut. That’s up from 21 percent last season.