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Michael Jordan agreed last week to buy the Bobcats from founding owner Robert Johnson. But how much money did MJ fork over for the franchise? Michael Ozanian, the national editor for Forbes, reported on his blog today that the sale valued the franchise at $175 million. Johnson and his initial partners paid some $300 million for the expansion club seven years ago, and have reportedly lost money every season. As such, that's quite a hit.Whether Ozanian's reporting is accurate remains to be seen. The league told Sports Business Daily earlier this week that the sale values the franchise at $275-290 million, which is far closer to what Johnson initially paid. (The league confirmed this figure to FanHouse Thursday.) But in the comments to his post, Ozanian rejects the NBA's figure, saying it doesn't take franchise debt into account.
You may remember that just two months ago, in the early throes of the Gilbert Arenas-Javaris Crittenton saga, Ozanian wrote that "the league is full of thugs," a blatantly unfair and inaccurate statement. The tone of this Bobcats report is similar -- the headline screams that this reported sale price is "embarrassing" to the NBA.
If the report is indeed accurate and eventually accepted as fact, expect that number -- $175 million -- to come up during collective bargaining. While owners accurately report year-to-year losses, the assumption that teams increase in value over time has always went unchallenged. Johnson's financial pain changes that.
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