EYDER PERALTA, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PERALTA: The LA Lakers sold again, and the WNBA can't escape the spotlight. Reporter Michele Steele joins me now. She writes the Steele Cut Substack on sports and economics. Hey, Michele.
MICHELE STEELE: Hey, Eyder. Great to talk to you again.
PERALTA: Yeah, so let's start with this stunning announcement in the NBA this week. Mark Walter - the owner of the LA Lakers - is selling the team just one year after he bought it. The reported price tag, $12.5 billion. The new ownership group is headed by former Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law. Michele, what more do we know about the deal, and how is the news being received around the league?
STEELE: How is it being received? Lakers fans have whiplash. Eyder, this is the fastest ownership flip in modern NBA history. Walter bought the Lakers barely a year ago, and now he gets to pocket a $2.5 billion profit, which is a wild return, even by the sky-high team prices we've seen lately, thanks in part to people like Mark Walter, who just bid these things up and up and up and up. Now, the timing raises eyebrows. He's currently the subject of a federal investigation into how he disclosed loans tied to his insurance companies. It should be noted, insurance money is supposed to be in really boring assets, not like buying the Dodgers, which he also owns. Walter's side denies wrongdoing, but reporters are certainly asking the question out loud, what is really going on here?
PERALTA: Michele, are the Lakers and Mark Walter an outlier in the NBA, or is the league having more problems when it comes to team owners?
STEELE: Yeah, it's not just the Lakers, Eyder. Ownership across the league is getting a little bit weird. In Phoenix, Suns owner Mat Ishbia just lost $600 million on a failed business deal outside of basketball. Obviously, not great news for a fan base that's used to him spending on the team. And in Portland, the new owner of the Trail Blazers, Tom Dundon, has earned the nickname El Cheapo for what's seen as a very high tolerance for cost-cutting, laying off dozens and dozens of employees, forcing staffers to check out of a hotel early the day of a game so he wouldn't be on the hook for fees.
I've covered the NBI. I've never heard of that. He gave his new head coach a one-year deal, which, in my opinion, is setting him up for failure. Now, the common thread here is many of these owners have built their fortunes in businesses that are very sensitive to interest rates and the credit markets, you know, private equity or subprime lending. And when that kind of money funds a sports team, the team's fortunes can end up a lot more tied to Wall Street than fans would like.
PERALTA: Let's talk WNBA. This week, commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that a task force of team executives would meet to discuss transgender participation in women's sports. This comes following weeks of demonstrations at Indiana Fever games after one of their players, Sophie Cunningham, said that she supports a ban on transgender girls and women from girls' and women's sports.
Now, we should point out that the WNBA has never had any known transgender athletes. Michele, the WNBA has seen explosive growth in recent years, but it seems like the league is also struggling to keep the spotlight on the court, doesn't it?
STEELE: Yeah. The league's on-the-court story is genuinely great, but the off-the-court noise keeps competing for that headline. And you said it yourself, the WNBA has never had a known transgender player. Now, the task force just cannot unilaterally announce they're going to change eligibility because this is collectively bargained with the players' union, so they can study the question on transgender players, but they can't hand down a new rule. Their statement was very pointed this week, denouncing bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean and marginalize others. They're very clearly frustrated, Eyder, at being pulled into this.
PERALTA: Finally, Tuesday night, the Chicago White Sox hosted the holy grail of all giveaways - 40,000 pope hats. Did you get one?
STEELE: The team says they're sending me one in the mail...
PERALTA: (Laughter).
STEELE: ...After I posted about extreme FOMO, and I can be even more infallible next time I'm on with you, Eyder.
PERALTA: Michele, thank you so much.
STEELE: You bet. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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