Ratio Valuation Of The Clippers

Steve Ballmer's $2 billion bid for the Los Angeles Clippers shocked many people. Leaked court documents show why. Ballmer's bid was 12.1 times revenues (Price/sales ratio). For the last 25 NBA teams that were sold, only four have sold at a ratio above 4.0, and none had a ratio above 5.0. Similarly, the $2 billion bid price implies an EBITDA multiple of 12.1 times, while the league average has been 6.0 to 6.4 times EBITDA. All in all, it appears that Ballmer is willing to pay a high price for the Clippers, at least relative to revenue and EBITDA.