Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis could soon have a very famous co-owner.
Los Angeles Lakers legend-turned-businessman Magic Johnson is in talks to purchase a minority stake in the Raiders, according to Semafor’s Liz Hoffman. Per the report, Johnson has been assembling a team of investors in recent weeks and the group is conducting due diligence with the team.
The deal would reportedly come at a price that would set a new record for team valuation. As Semafor notes, Forbes reported In August Davis had an offer on the table that would value his team at $6.5 billion, well ahead of the American record set by the $4.65 billion sale of the Denver Broncos, the Raiders’ division rival.
It is not confirmed that Johnson made that offer or if the current deal being discussed even carries that valuation, but it’s hard to imagine anyone getting a bargain buying into the Raiders given skyrocketing revenues of NFL franchises and the favorable Las Vegas location.
Johnson has flirted with pursuing the Raiders before, as he reportedly considered investing in a bid to bring the team back to Los Angeles back when the team was facing a relocation crossroads in Oakland.
Magic Johnson’s wide-ranging sports/business portfolio
If Johnson successfully buys into the NFL, it will be yet another addition to his massive business portfolio.
In the realm of sports alone, Johnson already holds minority stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers of MLB, the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, and the Los Angeles Football Club of MLS, plus an interest in the majority owner of esports giant Team Liquid. All of those stakes are minority shares, but they speak to the diversity of Johnson’s investing and billionaires’ desire to have him as a face of their own groups.
Johnson previously held a stake in the Lakers until 2010 and the Dayton Dragons, a minor league baseball team, until 2014.
In non-sports ventures, Johnson is the majority owner of the EquiTrust Life Insurance Company and famously built his net worth with investments in Starbucks, Pepsi and Burger King. However, even a person doing as well as Johnson can have one enormous regret.
