Jimmy Haslam and his Haslam Sports Group are in advanced talks to buy Marc Lasry‘s stake in the Bucks, people familiar with the negotiations tell Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico.
Haslam, the chairman of the Pilot Flying J truck stop chain, and his wife Dee are the controlling owners of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and the Columbus Crew of the MLS. According to Novy-Williams, the Haslams are interested in expanding their professional sports portfolio and previously expressed interest in buying the Timberwolves.
Lasry, who owns about 25% of the Bucks, shares controlling owner responsibilities with fellow co-owner Wes Edens. The two co-owners have had an agreement since buying the franchise in 2014 to alternate five-year stints as the primary owner. Edens was in that role from 2014-19 and Lasry has occupied it since 2019, so he has about another year-and-a-half before handing it back to Edens.
Reports in December indicated that Lasry was mulling selling his stake in the team and had spoken to Mat Ishbia about a possible deal before Ishbia reached an agreement to buy the Suns. The Haslam Sports Group has been in talks with Lasry for the last few months, Novy-Williams writes, though he cautions there’s no guarantee a deal will be completed.
The Suns’ sale to Ishbia has led to speculation that we could see more NBA franchises – or minority stakes – change hands in the near future. The Suns were valued at $4 billion in that sale agreement, well above the $2.7 billion estimate Forbes published in the fall. With a new media rights deal around the corner and the possibility of expansion looming, the prices of NBA teams appear to be on the rise, which could make it a good time for current majority and minority stakeholders to cash out.
Forbes valued the Bucks at $2.3 billion in October, but presumably Lasry would be able to secure a higher valuation if he were to sell his portion of the team. He and Edens – along with a handful of minority investors, including Jamie Dinan – purchased the club from Herb Kohl for a reported sale price of $550MM in 2014.
Oh please god, no.
That sucks
Why would the NBA approve this hack? He has made a joke of the Browns. Amazing what money and greed will do to 2 parties.
his first move would be to get primo back in the league.
Well this is something I definitely didn’t wanna see.
GTFOH! At least stay in your own lane, there’s a perfectly good NBA team right there in Cleveland to run into the ground.
Would rather have Herb Kohl back than see this get any more traction.
As a Clevelander people of Milwaukee you don’t want this. If Haslam was responsible to himself he would have fired himself at least three times. He and Dee don’t know what their doing. They need to just stay in Tennessee and route for the Vols. Then there is his Pilot/Flying J fiasco. He stole from small trucking companies because he thought they were too stupid to figure out his scam. Well he was wrong and he played dumb while everyone around him got in trouble he pleaded ignorance. He knows nothing about owning a sports team. He just knows how to pump gas as does Dee. DONT LET THIS HAPPEN Bucks fans.