Wow. Did Ballmer overpay? Probably. How long before they are the Seattle Clippers, or I suppose, Sonics? I say 2 years max. Good news for Paul Allen though.
This is how it will play out. Ballmer offers $2bill saying he wishes to relocate team. NBA opts to go for highest bidder who will keep the team in LA and grants Seattle an expansion club.
2 billion really only makes sense if he's keeping the team in LA. That's a LOT of money to pay for a team to play in Seattle..without an arena. Yes, the guy is filthy rich, but 2 billion + the cost of relocating + the cost of a new arena? Almost 3 billion to put an NBA team back in Seattle? Me thinks it's just a move to quicken the approval of an NBA expansion team.
Yep. Team will sell for around $1.8b to an LA group. Either that, or Ballmer will have to sign some sort of agreement to not move the team to Seattle for 'x' amount of years.
If he was going to move the team to Seattle, he could have bid 1B on the Bucks. I do not think he is that hell bent on getting a team back.
I believe one of the requirements for buying the Bucks (from the previous owner) was that they had to stay in Milwaukee.
Steve Ballmer has won a bidding war to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reports that Ballmer and the Sterling family trust signed a binding agreement on the sale and that it will go straight to the NBA for final approval. Ballmer, who was chief executive of Microsoft for 14 years, was chosen over competitors that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Bruce Karsh and a group that included David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to three individuals familiar with the negotiations. One of the individuals with knowledge of the negotiations said the Geffen group bid $1.6 billion and Ressler at $1.2 billion. The tentative deal must also receive the blessing of Donald Sterling, followed by an approve from the 29 other owners.
What's interesting with this is he has already said that if he purchses it, it would be for LA. If that is the case that leaves Seattles future team without an invester. Or atleast a publicly known.
