LOS ANGELES HAS ALL THE LOOKS OF A GOLDEN AGE IN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT.
The Dodgers just made the World Series, there are two NBA teams scrapping their ways to new competitive footings, the Sparks are a cornerstone of the WNBA, a decades-long NFL drought has ended with the arrival of two football franchises, two professional soccer teams now call the city home, the Kings remain a force to be reckoned with in the NHL, the Olympics are on their way, and UCLA and USC continue to be part of the national conversation in basketball and football. Add the advent of e-sports – Riot Games’ League of Legends world championships have packed stadiums from Staples Center to the Birds Nest in Beijing – and every base appears to be covered.
What stands out in all this activity is the strikingly close-knit group of owners who have played a role in reviving the L.A. sports scene.
There’s some cross-pollination, too.
Peter Guber and Magic Johnson, who are part owners of the Dodgers, also have stakes in Team Liquid, an e-sports franchise. They have been joined by Riot Games co-founders Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck in the ownership group behind the newly minted Los Angeles Football Club. Jeanie Buss, chief executive and controlling owner of the Lakers, threw a dinner for Chargers owner Dean Spanos the day after he announced his team would relocate from San Diego. Dan Beckerman, who as chief executive of AEG oversees the Kings, the Galaxy, Staples Center and Stub Hub Center, also counts the Chargers, Clippers and Lakers as tenants. Stan Kroenke owns an e-sports franchise in the Overwatch League. Steve Ballmer is at work on plans to move his Clippers next to the $2.6 billion stadium Kroenke is building for the Rams in Inglewood. Casey Wasserman, meanwhile, has ties to the sports world that extend beyond his Wasserman Media Group thanks to his role in landing the 2028 Olympic Games.
The Business Journal sat down with these leading sports figures of the Los Angeles landscape to talk about the dynamism of the market, the drivers behind this resurgence and the opportunities yet to come.
Edited excerpts of the Q&As follow – and all of that sets the table for our annual Book of Lists, the leading source of data for the community of business in Los Angeles.
Presenting the Sports Titans
STAN KROENKE
JEANIE BUSS
DEAN SPANOS
STEVE BALLMER
MAGIC JOHNSON
PETER GUBER
BRANDON BECK and MARC MERRILL
DAN BECKERMAN
CASEY WASSERMAN
