Quote:The Houston Rockets have been sold to local billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who called the purchase of his hometown team a "dream come true."

Terms of the sale, which was announced Tuesday, were not disclosed. A league source told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, however, that Fertitta agreed to purchase the team from Leslie Alexander for $2.2 billion, a record sale price for an NBA franchise.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20588...22-billion

Steve Ballmer once said he wouldn't move the Clippers out of Los Angeles because they wouldn't be worth $2 billion in any other market -- apparently that is not the case. Looks like they'd be worth at least that much in, say, the largest media market (by far) that has neither an NBA nor an NHL franchise. Seattle.

Also perhaps relevant: Now that two franchises have sold for $2 billion or more, what would be the fee for an NBA expansion franchise?

The sale of the Rockets for 2 billion doesn't make sense save for the fact that there was a buyer who was willing to pay the asking price. The product is scarce but it is in a pretty generic location. Maybe have Paul and the Beard justify the premium.

(09-06-2017 05:57 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  The sale of the Rockets for 2 billion doesn't make sense save for the fact that there was a buyer who was willing to pay the asking price. The product is scarce but it is in a pretty generic location. Maybe have Paul and the Beard justify the premium.

Van is right.

Sent from my SM-N910C using CSNbbs mobile app

Is it a generic location? The Houston market is about the size of the Bay Area, or Boston, or DC media markets. It's not Memphis or New Orleans -- it's about 4 times the size of either of those NBA markets, and it's about 50% larger than the Denver or Miami markets.

So are the Grizzlies or Pelicans going to sell for $2 billion? Almost certainly not. But a well-run franchise with a strong season ticket base, and a relatively new arena with a very favorable lease, in a market with almost 2.5 million households, is worth a helluva lot more than the Grizzlies or Pelicans.

How the hell are the Rockets worth that kind of chedda?

And the NBA didn't even get a better media deal this time around and had to ratchet down their salary cap....

(09-06-2017 11:01 AM)Wedge Wrote:  Is it a generic location? The Houston market is about the size of the Bay Area, or Boston, or DC media markets. It's not Memphis or New Orleans -- it's about 4 times the size of either of those NBA markets, and it's about 50% larger than the Denver or Miami markets.

So are the Grizzlies or Pelicans going to sell for $2 billion? Almost certainly not. But a well-run franchise with a strong season ticket base, and a relatively new arena with a very favorable lease, in a market with almost 2.5 million households, is worth a helluva lot more than the Grizzlies or Pelicans.

Houston is not 50% larger than Miami.

That said, Houston benefited from the Yao era and has a huge Chinese presence. That's why it has a bigger market than usual.

Possible chance this opens up Houston for a potential NHL franchise. Previous Rockets owner had clause in stadium lease that gave him first option for NHL team, no other owner could get a team and use the Toyota Center.

Not sure how that clause transfers but if any potential owner is now free to use it, the arena makes a great selling point for an expansion or relocating franchise.

Houston has some history with hockey, the Aeros drew fairly decent crowds for not being an NHL team.