“There is a vista of opportunity for Steve Ballmer in the LA Clippers deal”
Shelly Sterling under her authority as the sole trustee of The Sterling Family Trust which owns the Los Angeles Clippers, has signed a binding contract to sell the LA Clippers to former CEO of Microsoft NASDAQ:($MSFT) Steve Ballmer for a record-breaking sum of $2 billion.
The sale was negotiated and approved subject to the approval of the NBA’s Board of Governors (three-fourths of the current NBA owners) after the NBA banned Donald Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million for making racist remarks that became public knowledge.
If the NBA approves the sale, it will not only signal the end of Donald Sterling’s 33-year tenure as the Clippers owner, but hopefully the end of the Clippers as we all know them. Steve Ballmer is a well known sports lover. He was the first business manager hired by Bill Gates in 1980 at Microsoft and has made several inroads in the sports business in the past most of which fell through. This time around, Ballmer used all the right words in his first statement after winning the bidding process to become the next owner of the Clippers.
Ballmer promised to do everything in his power to ensure the Clippers continue to win and win big in Los Angeles and that the team will in the coming years, become an even bigger part of the community. I verily believe him. If Steve Ballmer succeeds in owning the team (it is not yet clear if Sterling’s wife has the authority to sell) he will definitely have a bucket-list of things he wants to do when he takes charge.
At the top of that list should be to get good lawyers. Bobby Samini an attorney for Donald Sterling said there’s been no sale without Donald’s signature. Any further statement might be subjudice. The aftermath of that (if Ballmer is still in play) will be an overhaul of the team’s bench.
Team’s future signings. As CEO at Microsoft, Steve Ballmer required detailed business justification in order to approve of new products rather than allowing hundreds of products that sounded potentially interesting or trendy. This sounds a whole lot like describing the LA Clipper’s current bench. Ballmer as new owner will have to bring on-board his business strategy when it comes to LA Clippers future signings in the light of the team’s defensive woes clearly evident in their awful cumulative numbers.
Defensively, the Clippers are right outside the top five, with a defensive efficiency of 101.5. Ballmer will have to reshuffle the bench and spark his new team’s competitive fire with his exuberant personae as seen during his days at Microsoft.
Next on the list will be to build a new home for the Clippers. Ballmer has promised to keep the Clippers in Los Angeles but the question is, for how long? Ballmer and Chris Hansen once led a group of investors in an attempt to purchase the Sacramento Kings from the Maloof family and relocate them to Seattle for an estimated sum of $650 million. This attempt fell through. However, can it now happen with the Clippers? It is not yet determined if the approval from the other league owners would be reliant on a pledge to not relocate the team to Seattle.
Next on the list is the name, “LA Clippers”. Not only has the NBA asked Donald Sterling to go, but it’s also time to scratch “Los Angeles Clippers” off the board. Changing an NBA team’s name is typically a 22-month process and involves tricky legal huddles. The issue of amortization of the brand’s goodwill or whatever is left of it (Donald Sterling’s management track record was not stellar) will also be considered. Ballmer will most definitely be changing the team’s name and getting an exception from the league so it happens sooner rather than later. This possible name change also lends credence to the Clippers getting a new home, Seattle maybe?
Whatever happens with Ballmer’s purchase, which still awaits NBA approval and requires previous owner Donald Sterling to be fully declared mentally incapacitated, a new frontier has been established for franchise values. Donald Sterling bought the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million.
Source: wallstplaybook
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