This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It cost Larry H. Miller about $22 million to buy the Utah Jazz in the mid-1980s — about $8 million to buy into the team in 1985, and then another $14 million to buy out his partner a year later, preventing a sale that would have moved the franchise to Minnesota.
You don't have to possess the same business acumen Miller had to know it turned out to be a good investment.
The Jazz are valued at $830 million — up 62 percent from a year ago — according to the latest Forbes Magazine valuation of NBA franchises.
From the Magazine's report: "What do you get when you combine a massive new $24 billion television contract, a nearly six-year bull market in equities creating tremendous wealth, and cheap credit? You get a massive rise in sports franchise values, with the NBA serving as ground zero for the current boom. The average NBA team is now worth $1.1 billion, 74% more than last year. It is the biggest one-year gain since Forbes began valuing teams in the four major U.S. sports leagues in 1998."
An astonishing 11 teams are valued at over $1 billion, according to Forbes, led by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Jazz are 20th on the list of 30 franchises.
As one economist told The Salt Lake Tribune after the Clippers sold for $2 billion last summer, "You almost have to be a crash test dummy to not make money running a basketball team right now because the terms are so favorable."
-Aaron Falk
Twitter: @tribjazz