Text | Tan Liwen
From the Timberwolves, Suns, Bucks to the Hornets, there are NBA team owners selling their teams.
According to well-known NBA reporter Wona Rosky (known as Walschen), current Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan intends to sell the team, but the NBA star will not completely withdraw from the ranks of shareholders, and is likely to become a minority shareholder to continue to participate.
Warshin added that Jordan intends to sell a majority stake to a consortium led by Charlotte Hornets minority shareholder Gabe Protkin and Atlanta Hawks minority shareholder Rick Schnarr.
Jordan first bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Hornets in 2006, when the team was still called "Charlotte Bobcats." Jordan became the team's second-largest shareholder, behind then-owner Robert Louis Johnson. In February 2010, Jordan completed the team acquisition as a major shareholder, becoming the first NBA player in history to own an NBA team.
Looking back on the past two years, many NBA team owners have "cashed out at a high level". The NBA's existing nine-year, $24 billion broadcast contract expires after the 2024-25 season, and the NBA is still working on the next sky-high contract. Therefore, this broadcast contract has also become the confidence for many NBA team owners to "shout high prices" at the negotiating table.
Last month, Bucks owner Mark Lasley sold the team at a valuation of $3.5 billion, and Matt Ishpeare bought the Suns for $4 billion in December 2022. Notably, the final purchase price of the Bucks and Suns was much higher than Forbes' valuation, which was valued at $2.7 billion at Forbes at the time and finally sold for $4 billion. (Previous article: Dragon set players buy the Suns with 4 billion knives, two points make investment in the NBA stable)
Given the current growth potential of NBA teams, the Charlotte Hornets are now valued at about $2 billion. Assuming that based on the investment of 275 million US dollars and the return of 2 billion US dollars, Jordan's book profit in just over a decade is 1.725 billion US dollars (about 11.89 billion yuan).
Charlotte Hornets' "tortuous" team history
The "twists" of the team's history may be NBA fans' first impression of the Charlotte Hornets.
Turn the clock back to 1988, when the Charlotte Hornets were officially formed. The Hornets didn't do well when they first started the team, but it didn't take until 1992 when Larry Johnson and "Tough Guy" Alonzo Monin joined the team, and they formed the Hornets Trident with Tyrone Boggs.
Later, between 1995 and 2001, the Hornets played many times under the leadership of Glenn Rice and Byron Davis, and were even one step away from the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals, but the team was unable to go further.
In 2002, when the Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans, they officially changed their name to the New Orleans Wasp. Due to the vacancy in the Charlotte area, the NBA subsequently approved the Charlotte area to prepare a new team to join. At that time, the consortium, including "Big Bird" Larry Bird, was interested in bidding, and the winner was Robert Louis Johnson, a black American entrepreneur and founder of black entertainment television.
Since the name "Hornets" was already in New Orleans, Charlotte's new team had to come up with another name. After much consideration, Charlotte's new team, known as the "Charlotte Bobcats", began playing in the NBA in 2004.
With the New Orleans Hornets changing their name to the New Orleans Pelicans in April 2013, the Hornets and the original Charlotte Hornets recorded NBA records from 1988 to 2002. Beginning with the 2014–15 season, the name "Bobcat" officially became obsolete and the Charlotte Hornets returned.
The team's dismal record may make Jordan retreat
From the previous simple review, compared to the traditional giants such as the Lakers and Celtics, the Charlotte Hornets' team history is not glorious. On the contrary, the "tortuous" history of this team has also made many fans feel a little "strange". In addition, the city's NFL team, the Carolina Panthers, performed better than the Hornets, and the former advanced to the NFL playoffs several times and won 6 divisional championships and 2 national league championships.
In addition, the "common disease" of the small ball market makes it difficult for the Hornets to attract big-name stars, and the team can only develop players through its own draft. However, as we all know, the Hornets have not had a good eye for the draft for many years, so they are basically in the bottom position of the league.
Therefore, under the influence of multiple factors such as low record, fan base and small cities, Charlotte Hornets do not pay much attention, so the cycle of Charlotte Hornets failed to step into the upward trajectory, forming a vicious circle.
But that all changed subtly when Jordan began becoming a minority shareholder in the team in 2006. Many Hornets fans pinned their hopes for the team's rise on the "basketball god".
In 2006, Jordan, an NBA superstar, became the team's second-largest shareholder, behind then-owner Robert Louis Johnson. In 2010, Jordan completed the acquisition as the team's majority shareholder, becoming the first NBA player in history to own an NBA team.
Notably, Jordan paid "only" $275 million when he closed the deal in 2010. According to Forbes' 2022 NBA team valuation list, the Charlotte Hornets rank 27th in the league with a valuation of $1.7 billion, with annual operating income of $94 million.
Since Jordan joined the Hornets, many Hornets fans have expected the NBA superstar who killed on the court to bring qualitative changes to the team. But in fact, Jordan proved that as a team manager, his ability is not as good as when he shoots those killer shots on the court.
The team hasn't improved much on the pitch since 2006. The perennial lottery Hornets have repeatedly proven their "vicious" eye for the draft — between 2011 and 2019, the Hornets held eight lotto picks, and only Kemba Walker scored and was selected as an All-Star. In the face of his hand-picked Walker, Jordan refused to spend money to renew his contract, and could only watch the latter leave.
The team's "riot operations" over the years are not few, which has created many "memes" and brought different attention to the team. One of the most famous is the "Jordan Tears" emoji, which has become the talk of many fans.
In terms of team record, the Hornets have only advanced to the playoffs in three seasons since 2006, and all three seasons have suffered a "round trip". So far this season, the Hornets are 14th in the East with 22-49, and the star "three-goal" LaMelo Ball has also suffered an ankle season reimbursement, so the team has basically missed the playoffs.
The team's lack of improvement over the years and no future in sight became a key factor in Jordan's sale of the team, after all, professional sports still have to speak by results. I think maybe Jordan's sale of the Hornets may not be a bad thing, on the one hand, after more than a decade of cooperation, the team's record has not improved, and maybe it is really time to make a change. Jordan, on the other hand, also got a huge return on investment with the Hornets.
Therefore, it is decent for both parties to "break up" under such circumstances. Moreover, Jordan has not completely withdrawn from the ranks of shareholders, but has changed from a big owner to a small owner, which also means that the "basketball god" still maintains a positive attitude towards the future development of NBA teams.
Jordan's $3.3 billion revenue made sports history
In fact, although everyone knows that Jordan is "rich", Jordan's net worth is far from the number one compared to other NBA owners. According to Forbes' list of the richest sports team owners in the United States released in October 2022, Clippers owner Ballmer topped the list with $78 billion, and the top three owners on the list were all worth more than $15 billion.
By comparison, Jordan is currently worth just $2 billion. Compared to these NBA "predators", Jordan is still just a "small fish". Limited by the only assets he has, this means that Jordan is unlikely to spend a lot of money to improve the team, which ultimately leads to the Hornets being in the bottom position of the league for many years.
But what has to be admitted is Jordan's ability to make money in business. In addition to the huge returns of investing in NBA teams, Jordan is best known to fans for its Jordan brand in partnership with Nike. According to the data, the Jordan brand generated a whopping $5.1 billion in revenue in fiscal 2022. Under the agreement, Jordan himself can receive a 5% dividend from sales, which means that Jordan received about $256.1 million from Nike last year.
It is worth mentioning that the sales dividend in 2022 is twice as high as Jordan's total salary in his NBA career. According to statistics, Jordan's total salary in the NBA is $90 million. The Jordan brand has generated revenue of $19.4 billion over the past five fiscal years.
Based on a 5% sales dividend, Jordan has earned $970 million from Nike over the past five years. The success of the Joran brand also made Jordan the highest-paid athlete of all time with a total revenue of $3.3 billion. If Jordan successfully sells a majority stake in the Hornets, his total revenue will take it to another level and continue to lead the world sports world.
Note: The images used in this article are from Osports All-Sports