The jaw dropping trade for the Slovenian superstar raised the prices of the Lakers, all by himself.
Both the Lakers and Clippers rank among the 10 most valuable NBA franchises at the beginning of 2025, according to a new report from CNBC.
The Lakers, despite not owning their own arena, ranked No. 3 with a valuation of $7 billion.
Crypto.com arena, the home of the Lakers, is owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group. That means the team does not generate revenue from the building outside the games it plays there.
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This, according to CNBC senior sports reporter Michael Ozanian, “makes ticket revenue to Lakers games very, very important in terms of the overall Lakers revenue.”
The Lakers also benefit from the recent jaw dropping trade of Slovenian superstar Luca Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks. While the team did lose fan favorite and key factor to 2020’s championship run Anthony Davis, Dončić is already being crowded as the air to the Laker throne.
"Star power impacts valuations because it drives fans," Ozanian said. "And what you want and the reason why you bring stars to your team is you want to win a championship. You want to at least be a contender…Winning teams generally, not always, tend to drive more fans, get higher ticket prices. They're able to get more sponsorship revenue”
Crosstown rivals the Clippers, despite having far fewer accolades to their name, ranked eighth among the NBA’s 30 franchises at $5.4 billion.
Central to the Clippers evaluation is the recently finished construction of the Intuit Dome, fully sponsored by owner Steve Balmer.
Unlike the Lakers, the Clippers generate revenue from every event and aspect of the stadium, making the franchise money even during the off season.
The dome is also one the most sophisticated in the world, featuring new facial recognition technology, “halo board” jumbotron, and interactive fan wall experience.
How did Ozanian and CNBC determine the valuations?
"Sports teams are valued based on multiples of revenue," Ozanian said. "So, for example, NBA teams are typically (worth) somewhere between 10 to 13 times (of their) revenue. Other leagues are valued on different multiples of revenue. The NFL is somewhat comparable to the NBA. Major League Baseball and the NHL are at lower multiples to the NBA and the NFL."
Ozanian added "the reason why you look at revenue multiples, instead of say multiples of earnings, is because it's depending on how much you pay players. You could have a huge for instance up front or bonus payment for a player in a particular, it could really sway what your bottom line is."
"So, at CNBC, we go back and we look at historical transactions. We spend a lot of time getting the details of, when teams are sold, what was the team's revenue? What was the enterprise value that it was sold for? And then what was the ratio of enterprise price value to revenue. And then we try to look at the specifics of those deals, what market was the team in, what were the arena economics and then we apply that to our valuations going forward."
Both the Lakers and the Clippers are now preparing for the 2025 playoffs where both will intend to make a deep run. In the western conference the Lakers currently rank fifth, and the Clippers directly behind in sixth.
