The Los Angeles Lakers have been sold for $12 billion, with Josh Kushner and Bob Iger agreeing to purchase majority ownership from Mark Walter, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. ESPN reported the price as the largest sale of a professional sports franchise in the world.
The deal marks the second time the Lakers have set a sale-price record in recent memory; Walter purchased the team earlier in 2025 for $10 billion, ESPN reported. Kushner and Iger had pursued overtures toward an NBA franchise in Las Vegas before pivoting to buy the Lakers for $2 billion more than Walter paid the previous year, the report said.
The transaction is part of a broader rise in franchise valuations. In March 2025, Bill Chisholm’s Symphony Technology Group agreed to buy the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion, a figure that eclipsed the prior American sports mark set by the Washington Commanders, according to ESPN. The Celtics deal came within a year of their 2024 championship.
The Commanders sold for $6.05 billion in 2023 after a period of turmoil; owner Dan Snyder was fined $60 million following findings by attorney Mary Jo White, ESPN reported. A group led by Josh Harris — whose Harris-Blitzer Sports Entertainment includes ownership stakes in the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils — led the purchase. The team went from a 4-13 record in 2023 to 12-5 in 2024 after drafting quarterback Jayden Daniels, the report noted.
Other high-profile U.S. sales detailed by ESPN include the Walton-Penner group’s $4.65 billion purchase of the Denver Broncos in 2022 and the combined $4 billion sale of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, which received league approval in February. The Dallas Mavericks sold for $3.5 billion in 2023 to the Adelson and Dumont families, and the Charlotte Hornets changed hands for $3 billion in the summer of 2023 to a group led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall.
ESPN’s reporting frames the Lakers’ $12 billion price as the latest example of rapidly rising valuations across major U.S. sports franchises.
