Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and executive Stan Kasten addressed the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers by current Dodgers owner Mark Walter, who is reportedly keeping the Dodgers.
Walter seemingly completed his LA sports empire by buying the Lakers, while already owning the Sparks and Dodgers.
He bought the West Coast basketball franchise for a total of $10 billion, making it the biggest American sports franchise sale ever.
However, Walter has now sold the franchise for $12.5 billion to former Disney executive Bob Iger and investor Josh Kushner.
Naturally, the move to sell the Lakers raised questions about Walter’s future ownership of the Dodgers and what the relationship between both franchises would be like moving forward.
Dave Roberts, for his part, was stunned at the sale, especially given what led up to the purchase.
“I was shocked, like I think everyone else was. That’s above all of our pay grades. But I know that he was excited to take on the Lakers, and so I was as surprised as everyone,” Roberts said.
Meanwhile, Dodgers president Stan Kasten made a definitive statement on how the Dodgers will be affected by the sale of the Lakers from Walter.
“This is a Laker story, not really a Dodger story. It really, has nothing to do with the Dodgers. They’re completely separate. And so there are no changes here or contemplated here, and I think that pretty much is the whole story,” Kasten explained.
What can change for the Dodgers?
By all accounts, the sale of the Lakers was quite sudden, with Walter mulling the offer for only 72 hours before accepting.
He did not necessarily want to sell the Lakers, but the offer was seemingly too good to pass up, making a profit of $2.5 billion.
Walter is facing an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into insurance companies that he owns.
It is hard to know the impact that those investigations had on Walter and his willingness to sell a team so shortly after buying it, but by all accounts from reporting and figures within the Dodgers, there are no plans or intent to sell the Dodgers
