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Millers sell the Jazz

I see what you're saying. One the one hand he could make billions of dollars. On the other... he played Junior Jazz.
I mean the Knicks are worth like 5B and they have MSG and the biggest market in the US... So moving the Jazz to Vegas makes them worth 3-4B? Seattle maybe if he gets a nice arena in the deal but that is not easy task and there will be teams that would be in line to move before us... The NBA is into creating value to the league as a whole. Moving a team like the Grizzlies to Seattle creates way more value than moving our team there. Homeboy can't just move... it has to be approved by the NBA.

When you have made Billions already extra billions has lower utility. Becoming a villain in your home town doesn't help your legacy... once you get to a certain point legacy matters more than every penny...

So yeah the fact that he played Junior Jazz and is a legit fan of the team ****ing matters. Ballmer will end up spending a ton in luxury tax over the next few years... why? He could win a couple extra games a year or save a few hundred million... obvi he will choose the $$$$ lolz.
 
He ALREADY made billions of dollars. That's the point. The only possible downside that I think can be seen by anybody is that he isn't likely to buy RSL now. But he owns the Bees now too.
Rich guys care what people think of them... burning bridges to be the red headed stepchild to the Seahawks seems like a strange status move when you've already made more money than you will likely ever spend.
 
Always kind of just seemed like Gail and kids just never had their heart into this like Larry did. Nothing wrong with that, but they had to be ultra careful who they sold to if they were going to do it. If they sold the team and they moved them to another state their bottom line of other businesses no doubt would've suffered. I sure as hell wouldn't spend a dime at any LHM facility. Looks like things should remain safe with Ryan though.
Ding, ding, ding...

The trust was a tax shelter and when that didn't work they sold. Spot on about the Miller's. They weren't into the Jazz and with Gobert and Mitchell contracts coming due, the value of the Jazz was just going to fall. This is a good thing.

And worst case scenario? They move the Jazz to Seattle and I can get season tickets. Win/win for me.
 
Rich guys care what people think of them... burning bridges to be the red headed stepchild to the Seahawks seems like a strange status move when you've already made more money than you will likely ever spend.
I'm not sure this is right...they care about money. That is how they get rich. And they care that they are ranked 1,647 on Forbes wealthiest people list. And if moving to Seattle can jump him to 956...he will think about it. I'm not sure he'd do it, but he'd think about it.
 
When you have made Billions already extra billions has lower utility...

Are you saying that once a person becomes a billionaire, they become LESS interested in making more? LOL. Look no further than the Millers. Three years ago they put the team into some eternal trust. Now, as soon as their other businesses are threatened by the pandemic, they quickly ripped that up and sold the team for cash.
 
Las Vegas Jazz, Seattle Jazz, and St. Louis Jazz are things that come to mind. We'll see in a few years. But every new owner is "committed to keeping their team in the current market". Until it comes time for new digs.

Five years tops.
Las Vegas has yet to be determined as a legit market in any way, and St. Louis smacks me as an absolute non-starter and dud. There is no smoke coming from there and I’ve never even heard it mentioned until today. Might as well add Kansas City to the list since they’ve had a basketball team in living memory. Why not Pittsburgh? Birmingham?

The next move in the NBA is a team headed to Seattle. And if it’s the Jazz that’s fine with me, but I think we’re actually quite safe here.
 
So wait, the whole trust thing is meaningless and/or pointless then? I don't get the whole thing now.

Here is reality (I went over this when the trust happened):
When Gail dies, the Jazz changes ownership. At that point, a big tax bill is due, like hundreds of millions of dollars. The trust had NOTHING to do with staying in Utah,it was just marketed that way. The trust was 100 PERCENT about trying to avoid that tax bill. Because when that tax bill hit, the Millers would be forced to sell as they don't have that cash.

So, when the trust didn't work out, they sell now, when value is the highest (before Gobert and Mitchell's contracts are signed), pay the tax now and enjoy their profits.
 
Are you saying that once a person becomes a billionaire, they become LESS interested in making more? LOL. Look no further than the Millers. Three years ago they put the team into some eternal trust. Now, as soon as their other businesses are threatened by the pandemic, they quickly ripped that up and sold the team for cash.

This is such a negative world. Why in the world can't we just trust our new owner to be an avid Jazz fan without having to jump down negative rabbit holes that he's going to sell the team?
 
Are you saying that once a person becomes a billionaire, they become LESS interested in making more? LOL. Look no further than the Millers. Three years ago they put the team into some eternal trust. Now, as soon as their other businesses are threatened by the pandemic, they quickly ripped that up and sold the team for cash.
Yes they sold the team to help preserve their wealth which was being threatened.

what exactly does Ryan want right now that he can’t buy? Does having an extra 2B help him get that? Does he even clear that much or is he just worth more on paper or when he sells the team.

I get that these guys want to build more wealth but they are likely not going to cheat lie and burn bridges to get more if they already have a lot.

Could he move the team? Sure... he lives here... he grew up here... his wife has a big dance studio here... so yeah I don’t think he interested in tearing all that up to make an extra billion on his balance sheet.

Y’all are just assuming he can get some posh arena deal done in Seattle with no problem at all. It’d be a lot of hard work and he’d end up owning a team in a market he doesn’t live in.
 
Ding, ding, ding...

The trust was a tax shelter and when that didn't work they sold. Spot on about the Miller's. They weren't into the Jazz and with Gobert and Mitchell contracts coming due, the value of the Jazz was just going to fall. This is a good thing.

And worst case scenario? They move the Jazz to Seattle and I can get season tickets. Win/win for me.
Gail wasn't gonna live forever so I think they had an opportunity to get a good local owner and the pandemic had created some financial incentive to do a deal now. Its all those events coming together.. It sounds like he was interested in buying other franchises but held off... he wasn't likely to wait forever.

I think franchise values are more tied to tv rights, arena deals, and attendance than who is on the books for what... that **** can change in an instant. Unless you have Lebron I'm not sure the player personnel stuff matters all that much.
 
Yes they sold the team to help preserve their wealth which was being threatened.

what exactly does Ryan want right now that he can’t buy? Does having an extra 2B help him get that? Does he even clear that much or is he just worth more on paper or when he sells the team.

I get that these guys want to build more wealth but they are likely not going to cheat lie and burn bridges to get more if they already have a lot.

Could he move the team? Sure... he lives here... he grew up here... his wife has a big dance studio here... so yeah I don’t think he interested in tearing all that up to make an extra billion on his balance sheet.

Y’all are just assuming he can get some posh arena deal done in Seattle with no problem at all. It’d be a lot of hard work and he’d end up owning a team in a market he doesn’t live in.
You’re making a lot of salient points that I mostly agree with, but I think you are pretty dramatically underestimating the baseline or average greed of any billionaire. To amass such wealth in the first place looks like clinical hoarding to me, it’s just that the wealthy dodge any such characterization because of their standing.
 
Las Vegas has yet to be determined as a legit market in any way, and St. Louis smacks me as an absolute non-starter and dud. There is no smoke coming from there and I’ve never even heard it mentioned until today. Might as well add Kansas City to the list since they’ve had a basketball team in living memory. Why not Pittsburgh? Birmingham?

The next move in the NBA is a team headed to Seattle. And if it’s the Jazz that’s fine with me, but I think we’re actually quite safe here.
The NBA would be a lot better off moving the Grizzlies, Pistons, Hornets, Twolves to Seattle. Again they want to create more value for the league overall and those franchises are attracting less $$$$ than SLC (a growing market).

Honestly... if they need a new arena then Utah should get that **** done. Millers have been pretty generous to the state with how they have done business. I think the market would support it.
 
You’re making a lot of salient points that I mostly agree with, but I think you are pretty dramatically underestimating the baseline or average greed of any billionaire. To amass such wealth in the first place looks like clinical hoarding to me, it’s just that the wealthy dodge any such characterization because of their standing.
Yes and no... I think there are many megawealthy folks that give a ton of money away and are quite generous. I think part of the reason to amass wealth is ego... ego and status can be acquired a lot of ways. Ryan can be the toast of the town and hang out with the team and is now a lot more "famous" than he was before.

If you were purely looking at dollars and cents buying a sports franchise at current values is not the easiest way to make a bunch of extra money. There would be lots of other investments with higher potential/yield and you may not have to tie up as much of your wealth to invest in them.

I realize values have gone up like crazy the last 20 years, but that growth is likely not sustainable and has some real threats... so it likely goes up in value but I'm sure there are better opportunities to make money right now.
 
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