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Basketball Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson preparing to purchase stake in Las Vegas Raiders

Few athletes around the world have the draw of a superstar like former Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Fame great Magic Johnson. Sure, he rose to fame thanks to bringing a flashy game as the point guard of the Showtime Lakers era, winning five NBA Championships from 1980-1988, but Earvin Johnson has been retired since the 1996 season. How is it that Johnson has remained in the limelight, seemingly ever since?

One major reason is due to the 12-time NBA All-Star’s business acumen, where Johnson has reportedly built a net worth of over $600 million since his retirement. Now, according to Liz Hoffman of Semafor, Johnson is nearing an agreement to purchase an undisclosed stake in the Las Vegas Raiders NFL franchise.

While Mark Davis and his mother, Carol, are the primary owners of the Raiders, holding a 47% ownership stake, there’s room for other investors. But Johnson’s stake isn’t expected to be minor.

As Hoffman shares, the price Johnson is prepared to pay could “set a new record for sports deals.” Yet, Johnson’s portion is still expected to be considered a minority share of the bigger pie, keeping the Davis family as majority owners of the Raiders. The exact price Johnson is willing to pay hasn’t been made public.

Johnson has put together a group of investors in recent times and is currently being vetted by the Raiders. Negotiations could still break down, meaning nothing is guaranteed at this stage.

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Magic Johnson’s interest in Raiders is nothing new

Aside from owning partial stakes in groups such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, to even food franchises such as Burger King and Starbucks, Magic Johnson has always seemingly been passionate about pursuing a stake in the Raiders as well.

Before the Raiders moved to Las Vegas, Johnson had reportedly kicked around the idea of getting involved in trying to relocate the then-Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles by offering to invest in a potential new stadium, but those talks never got far.

Either way, the NFL would have to approve of Johnson investing in the Raiders, but that likely wouldn’t be much of an issue, being that Johnson has successfully negotiated several other high-profile contracts.

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