LOS ANGELES (AP) — If Donald Sterling is compelled to
sell the Los Angeles Clippers, the list of potential buyers has more
stars than their roster.
Oprah Winfrey is contemplating a bid. Sean Combs is a Knicks fan, but he wants in.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants the whole team. Matt Damon wants a tiny piece.
Billionaires,
entertainers and athletes alike announced their intentions to pursue
the Clippers with varying degrees of seriousness Wednesday, proving the
longtime losers will be quite a prize if the NBA is able to wrest
control of the team away from Sterling after his lifetime ban for racist
remarks.
Winfrey led the list, and the media mogul is already bringing in her friends.
"Oprah
Winfrey is in discussions with David Geffen and Larry Ellison to make a
bid for the Los Angeles Clippers should the team become available,"
spokesperson Nicole Nichols confirmed in an email.
If Winfrey
joins Geffen, the billionaire entertainment executive, and Oracle CEO
Ellison to pool their vast resources for a bid, they could be among the
top contenders for a franchise that would be among the most valuable
sports properties to hit the market since the Los Angeles Dodgers’ $2
billion sale in 2012 to the Guggenheim Partners group fronted by Magic
Johnson, the Lakers great and another potential Clippers bidder.
The
Clippers spent the last three decades rotting in the shadow of the
glamorous Lakers, who piled up championships while the lowly Clips only
racked up losses. With Sterling’s ouster, the Clippers suddenly became
the most attractive team in town to wealthy fans lining up for an
unlikely chance to seize control of a Hollywood sports franchise on the
move.
David Carter, the executive director of USC’s Sports
Business Institute, identifies multiple factors contributing to the
Clippers’ extraordinary value.
"Interest in the team results from
the combination of NBA teams being rare assets that are seldom available
for purchase, the location of this particular team, and potential
owners’ belief that revenue streams linked to rehabbing the brand and
participating in future revenue linked to a new TV deal all make the
team very attractive to prospective buyers," Carter said.
For a
day, almost everybody seemed interested in being those buyers — and even
entertainers without those limitless resources were clamoring for the
chance.
Combs, Rick Ross and Snoop Dogg all aired their interest,
as did longtime Clippers fan Frankie Muniz and Damon, who told CNBC he’d
like to be a "super tiny minority investor." Fans also got in on the
frenzy, opening campaigns on Kickstarter and Crowdtilt to pool their
resources for the club.
Mayweather spoke seriously about his
interest while preparing for his fight with Marcos Maidana this
Saturday, although Money May would have to curb his enthusiastic sports
gambling habit. Oscar De La Hoya, the majority shareholder in Golden Boy
Promotions whose statue sits outside Staples Center, volunteered
himself as a part-owner.
"The league has made it known that it
wants more minorities involved, and as a proud Mexican-American, I will
bring a different perspective to the NBA in general, and the Clippers in
particular," De La Hoya said. "I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I
know what it takes to run a successful sports entity."
A vocal
segment of the NBA’s social media following immediately started a
campaign to move the Clippers to Seattle, a basketball-loving city that
has been without a team since Clay Bennett moved the SuperSonics to
Oklahoma City in 2008.
But much of the Clippers’ value results
from their location in the nation’s second-largest city and their
opportunity to sign a lucrative new television rights deal in 2016.
The
Clippers’ association with Sterling’s racist remarks could have been
crushing to their prestige and value, but they don’t seem to be a
problem if Sterling is no longer associated with the club.
"The
short term damage has been dramatic, but Commissioner (Adam) Silver
provided a tourniquet that has stopped the brand erosion," Carter said.
"The NBA, working in conjunction with new ownership, will have an
extraordinary opportunity to rehabilitate the team’s reputation, and
then extend its brand."
The Clippers haven’t been known for
success during most of their existence, but that’s changing. And what’s
more, the Clippers are cool.
Led by point guard Chris Paul and
high-flying forward Blake Griffin — two All-Stars signed to long-term
contracts — the Clippers have won two straight Pacific Division titles
and are on the brink of their third playoff series victory since
Sterling bought the team in 1981.
The Clippers have captured the
imagination of Los Angeles’ counterculture, the transplants and
contrarian fans who aren’t interested in the Lakers’ bandwagon. They’re
also attracting more of an international following with each
highlight-reel performance by Paul and dunking virtuosos DeAndre Jordan
and Griffin, who coined the phrase "Lob City" to describe their
daredevil style of play.
And it doesn’t hurt that the Lakers just
finished their worst season in more than 50 years, missing the playoffs
for just the third time in 38 seasons. The Lakers appear to be years
away from title contention, while the Clippers are built to contend
every year in the near future.
"We’re proud of this team," Clippers guard Jamal Crawford said. "We’re proud of our city,
and we want to make them proud of us."
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