New corporate operation in the NBA. Former eBay’s first chairman, Canadian Jeffrey Skoll, is set to buy Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), parent company of the Washington Wizards, according to reports Sporty.
The operation also includes other assets of the sports holding, which in addition to the basketball franchise check out the Washington Capitals of the NHL, the Washington Mystics of the WNBA, NBC Sports Washington, two esports teams, and MSE’s digital media network. Likewise, owns the Capital One Arena, the magician’s pavilion, with a capacity of 20,356 spectators.
For now the details of the operation are unknown, but a recent study by Sporty values the Wizards at $2,150 million (€2,076 million) and the Capitals at $1,220 million (€1,178 million). Added to this are the valuations of the rest of the companies and holding assets in the US capital.
Shareholders of MSE, chaired by Ted Leonsis, include Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, Sheila Johnson and Mark Lerner, owner of MLB’s Washington Nationals. Now Skoll is stepping in as a lead investor, making his first bet in the sports industry after 20 years of eBay-funded philanthropy. His assets reach 5,600 million dollars (5,407 million euros), according to Bloomberg.
The Wizards’ sale comes at a time when Robert Sarver’s Phoenix Suns – owner of RCD Mallorca – are looking for a new owner and when the Philadelphia Suns Sixers has also seen their ownership structure changed recently; in his case, with the exit of the minority Michael Rubin, CEO of Fanatics.
