TV Fuels LA Clippers $2B Price Tag

Steve Ballmer

Shelly Sterling announced late Thursday night that she has signed an agreement to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer for $2 billion.

A source close to the situation told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne that Sterling and Ballmer signed the final papers of the sale shortly before midnight Thursday at the offices of her Los Angeles-based attorneys. Sterling announced that she was acting under her authority as the sole trustee of the Sterling family trust, which owns the Clippers.

"I am delighted that we are selling the team to Steve, who will be a terrific owner," Sterling said in a statement. "We have worked for 33 years to build the Clippers into a premiere NBA franchise. I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success."

Forbes cites 10 Reasons fueling deal.  Among them:

• The NBA is poised to sign new national TV pacts that are expected to at least double the annual average of $930 million from  current partners ESPN/ABC and TNT. The NBA is one of the last major TV sports packages that is not already locked up beyond 2020. Bidding is expected to be fierce for one of the remaining DVR-proof properties on TV.
• The Los Angeles Lakers displayed what is possible on the local TV level with their Time Warner Cable TWC +0.54% deal signed in 2011. The pact is expected to generate $5 billion over 25 years for the purple and gold. Los Angeles’ baseball teams inked $8.5 billion (Dodgers) and $3 billion (Angels) deals in recent years.
• The Clippers’ current TV deal with Fox Prime Ticket is worth roughly $20 million a year and expires after the 2015-16 season. Experts think the team could get $60-75 million under a new deal.