Marc Larry believes the valuation of NBA franchises will continue to increase in the future, but the rate of growth will decrease. Lasry and Wes Edens bought a total 50 percent stake in the Milwaukee Bucks in 2014 at a valuation of $550 million. In 2023, Lasry sold his take at a $3.5 billion valuation, which represents a 218 percent increase.
“I don’t think you’re gonna have the growth that I had, where you paid a dollar and you got paid $8 ten years later,” Lasry told Front Office Sports in the latest episode of Portfolio Players.
Larry admitted that uncertainty around the future of Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Bucks played a role in his decision to sell.
“People always pay a premium for someone who’s a winner,” said Lasry.
Lasry predicts more modest increases in valuations moving forward as the NBA enters its new media rights deals.
“It’s not that it’s just going to stop,” said Lasry. “It can level off, it can go up 5%, it may go up 10%. I don’t think it’ll be going up 20% or 30%.”