The Milwaukee Bucks have made many noticeable, tangible upgrades over the past decade to increase their value. The Deer District is turning out to be a cool, urban, hip, fun place to take in sports and other events. The Bucks have added a training facility downtown along with offices on N. Second Street. The Fiserv forum is a major upgrade over the Bradley Center, even though I’ll always fondly remember that upper-deck. The Cousins training center on the city’s south side is no longer used by the Bucks.
Having a solid ownership group and capable front office executives helps. So does having Giannis.
The Bucks are with 2.3 Billion Dollars according to Forbes Magazine. The average NBA franchise is worth 2.86 billion dollars and the Golden State Warriors are worth over 7 Billion Dollars. Continuing on with the top three, the Knicks are second, valued at 6.1 billion dollars and the Lakers (5.9 billion), the Bulls (4.1 billion) and Celtics (4 billion) round out the top five.
The Bucks rank 15th on the list, putting them smack in the middle of NBA valuations. The Wizards rank slightly ahead of Milwaukee. (Remember, this is monetary value, not franchise success.) Considering the initial investment was only around $550 million, and that was not that long ago, the Bucks and their owners are doing quite well.
The Fiserv Forum Impact
Built for approximately $800 million dollars, the “beer keg” on Vel Phillips Avenue really contributes to the Bucks strong valuation. For owners, owing the stadium really helps increase the value of the team.
According to Urban Milwaukee and author Bruce Murphy, riffing off a Forbes.com list, the Milwaukee Bucks were originally sold for $550 million, which was discounted down to $450 million as former Senator and Owner Herb Kohl agreed to kick in $100 million for a new stadium. That helped ensure the Bucks would need to stay.
Today, there still is some consternation regarding the funding of the Fiserv as $800 million bucks isn’t cheap. Much of that bill was subsidized by taxpayers. With an ownership group with a high net worth, debate exists as to whether or not those subsidies were needed.
What’s Next?
Values of professional teams and prices continue to increase. There simply is a finite number of teams and a limited supply of professional sports teams to buy. As a result, an increased pressure moves on the market for available teams. Today, rumors abound that the Washington Commanders are for sale. Their price could be a cool 7 Billion dollars. While that is a different league, even a team like the Brewers has been estimated to be worth around 1.28 Billion dollars. Trying to find a good valuation of a franchise like the Wisconsin Herd can be tricky, but it is certainly fair to say it is worth millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars.
Sports is big business.
And as far as the Green Bay Packers go, that group is ran as a non-profit. Also, over 520,000 stockholders contribute to the most unique ownership group in sports.
