Floyd Mayweather Wants to Buy an NBA Team, But Can He Afford One?

Hey everyone, for Complex News, I’m Justin Block.
It’s been no secret that retired boxer Floyd Mayweather has been itching to own an NBA
team, but his love for sports betting, among other issues, has always been a roadblock.
In March of 2016, during a press conference for an Adrien Broner/Ashley Theophane bout,
Mayweather spoke openly about his dream.
"You guys know I like to bet on sports, but I’m looking forward to stepping back from
betting on sports now.
I’m looking forward to probably getting into ownership of an NBA team."
It’s been over a year since he made this grand statement, and he isn’t any closer
to realizing his dream of owning his own NBA franchise.
He’s still dreaming about it though, because on Thursday, he had a meeting with Los Angeles
Lakers team president Magic Johnson.
In the past, Mayweather made his intentions clear:
“It's about time for me to buy an NBA team, if you're ready to sell your NBA team, please
get in touch with me.”
This begs the question: could Floyd Mayweather own an NBA team?
In short, no.
Think that sounds crazy?
Well there are a few factors that cancel Floyd out from owning an NBA team right now.
For one, he’s still placing sports bets, recently a posting picture of his winnings
after betting on Isaiah Thomas before Thomas dropped 53 points during a Game 2 playoff
win against the Wizards.
It was another big win for Mayweather, who lives in Las Vegas and is a heavy sports gambler,
but it’s something he wouldn’t be able to do as an NBA owner.
And the thing is, Mayweather could win a half billion dollar bet right now, and still probably
come up way short in an offer for an NBA team.
That means, yes, there’s actually something out there that Floyd “Money” Mayweather
can’t afford.
While many of us would love to be worth $340 million, that’s not enough to think about
owning an NBA franchise.
Most NBA owners are billionaires, not millionaires.
In fact, the NBA has the most billionaire owners out of America’s major professional
sports leagues, with 20 of the league’s 30 teams owned by billionaires.
And if you look at recent sales of NBA teams, you’ll see a wide gap between Mayweather’s
wealth and the actual cost of a team.
Teams like the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers are worth over $3 billion, but because
there are only 30 NBA teams, the actual buying cost of an NBA team is way higher than its
reported value.
The NBA franchise last sale occurred in 2015, when the Atlanta Hawks sold for $850 million.
Before that, the Milwaukee Bucks sold for a bargain price of $550 million in 2014.
Those aren’t exactly marquee franchises in major markets.
But that same year, the Los Angeles Clippers went up for sale, and Mayweather explicitly
told the press that he wanted to buy the team, saying:
"When I'm not boxing, I'm at the games all the time...Me and my team do want to buy the
Clippers and we can afford the Clippers."
Of course, that didn’t happen.
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who’s worth over $20 billion, ended up buying the
Clippers for a record $2 billion.
There’s no way Mayweather could’ve afforded that.
At this point, any NBA team is likely to fetch close to, if not more than, $1 billion in
a sale, and again, that’s way out of Mayweather’s league...if he’s trying to do it alone,
that is.
On top of being priced out, there just aren’t any teams to be bought right now.
In September of 2016, SB Nation reported that the sales of NBA teams have slowed down to
a crawl over recent years.
While 18 teams have been sold since 2000, we’ve only seen a few teams change owners
in recent years, with current owners content to let their prized franchises continue to
soar in value.
Not only that, but it’s harder than ever to become an NBA team owner, even if you’ve
got the cash.
In 2015, the NBA’s Board of Governors instituted the “Jay Z Rule,” mandating that shareholders
in NBA teams must own at least 1 percent of the team.
If you don’t recall, Jay Z used to own less than 1 percent of the Nets, but sold his stake
to get into athlete representation.
After all, the NBA is picky about who gets to own their franchises.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver basically forced the sale of the Clippers and Hawks after their
former owners made racially insensitive statements.
This isn’t a moral equivalency, but if the NBA is willing to ban racist owners, why does
anyone think they’d allow Mayweather, a man who's a convicted domestic abuser, into
their power circle?
Mayweather may not believe it, but he’d be bad PR for the league.
We also can’t forget about Mayweather’s lavish spending habits.
For a man who’s earned $700 million in the boxing ring, [editor: can we put a cha-ching
sound effect when these assets pop up?] things like exotic trips to Egypt, incredibly rare
Ferraris, closets full of designer sneakers, a literal fleet of cars and jets, enough chains
to break your neck, and even an all-too-real Ironman costume are just a few toys to drop
a few million on.
Each purchase, however, in the long-run, could be a financial step back for Mayweather—even
if his side businesses and investments earn him “7 figures monthly without moving a
finger,” as he claimed on Instagram last year.
Hey, it’s possible that Mayweather is way richer than we know.
But if Mayweather was anxious enough to pursue a deal, he’d need a squad to invest with,
similar to how Derek Jeter plans on owning a Major League Baseball team with Jeb Bush.
But the way Mayweather rolls, we’re not sure if he’s really trying to own an NBA
team as part of a collective.
That's the news for now, but for more on Floyd Mayweather and his hoop dreams, be sure to
subscribe to Complex on YouTube today.
For Complex News, I’m Justin Block.

Floyd Mayweather Wants to Buy an NBA Team, But Can He Afford One?

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