The Johnson group that includes the former Lakers star Magic Johnson and baseball executive Stan Kasten, who is the former president of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals, agreed to buy the Major League Baseball team Tuesday night for $2 billion. The team was bought from Frank McCourt and marked a major sports franchise event.
The group beat out the bidding for the MLB team against two other groups, one including Steve Cohen, a limited partner of the New York Mets, who was actually expected to win the team bidding because he “could write the biggest check”, said ESPN MLB insider, Buster Olney.
The size of the bid really came as a surprise, as this buyout is “about 2 and half times the largest sale price in the history of Major League Baseball”, Olney told ESPN.
Despite any expectations, the Dodgers Franchise is said to be excited about the new ownership and Magic Johnson expressed his excitement as well in a statement to media: "I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise and intend to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section in our wonderful community of Los Angeles," Johnson said.
The transition of the new ownership is said to take place immediately and talks of adding some other players have been in the works as well.
Johnson, 52, played for the Los Angles Lakers for 13 seasons and went on to win five championships with them. He is also a thee-time MVP award winner in his Hall of Fame career.
