The Phoenix Suns & Mercury appear to have found new ownership after reports surfaced Tuesday that billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia would be purchasing the teams.
Ishbia is a former Michigan State basketball player, who is well known amongst NBA circles and the league’s head office. While he will still need to undergo a background check and receive approval from the league’s other owners, insiders claim that it appears to be a done deal.
In addition to the purchase of the Suns franchise, Ishbia will also assume control over the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury as well. In total, the purchase will be finalized for north of $4B, setting a new NBA/WNBA sales record.
Prior to the Phoenix sale, the previous high water marks in terms of NBA sales were the Brooklyn Nets ($2.35B in 2019), Houston Rockets ($2.2B in 2017) and Los Angeles Clippers ($2B in 2014).
With the sale, disgraced former owner Robert Sarver’s 17 year tenure as owner of the Suns & Mercury comes to a close. Sarver had been under investigation for allegations of racism and misogyny over the last several years.
Following the conclusion of the investigation, Sarver announced on September 21st that he would be putting the franchises up for sale. The 61-year old was fined $10M by the league and was in the midst of serving a 1 year suspension from any basketball related activities.
While Sarver only technically owns one third of the Suns franchise on paper, he also possesses a clause whereby he can trigger a sale of the team in full as the managing partner.
Meanwhile, Ishbia finally lands a professional sports franchise that he’s been seeking for several years now. The Michigan native had previously been linked to several NFL and NBA franchises, but was seen taking tours of the Suns & Mercury facilities in recent weeks.
Ishbia has an estimated net worth of $5.1B according to a recent study by Forbes magazine.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Josh Knowles. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.