The Oklahoma City Thunder reached the NBA Finals after one of the most dominant regular seasons in NBA history. Their 68 wins tied for the fifth-most in league history, and they broke a half-century-old record by outscoring opponents by 12.9 points per game—all with the league’s youngest roster, setting themselves up to compete for titles over at least the next five years.
Ownership has reaped a 10x return on its 2006 purchase. Yet for years, investors didn’t bite on a chance to buy as much as a fifth of the team.
The shares, held by the estate of fracking baron Aubrey McClendon, were ultimately purchased by the current ownership group, according to three people familiar with the transaction.
McClendon was part of Clay Bennett’s group that paid $350 million for Seattle SuperSonics in 2006 and co-founder of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy. “We didn’t buy the team to keep it in Seattle,” McClendon told an Oklahoma City newspaper in 2007. “We hoped to come here.”
Commissioner David Stern fined McClendon $250,000 for the comment, as Bennett’s group was expected to make a good-faith effort to stay in Seattle.
Forbes called McClendon “America’s most reckless billionaire” for the chances he took in his business career, and he stepped down as Chesapeake CEO in 2013 after scrutiny over significant corporate governance issues with personal dealings. In 2016, McClendon died in a single-car crash in Oklahoma City, one day after a federal grand jury indicted him for bid rigging.
McClendon owned roughly 20% of the Thunder when he died and had used the franchise as collateral for loans before his death. The team was valued at $950 million at the time by Forbes, and the stake was arguably McClendon’s most valuable asset. Creditors had a strong interest in how the LP stake was sold. They feared it would be sold at a discount to his wife, Kathleen, based on a probate court hearing.
Investors kicked the tires on the Thunder stake, and in 2019, the estate enlisted boutique investment bank Inner Circle Sports to run a formal sale process.
Large LP stakes can be a tricky sell. They require a big check, but typically come with no decision-making authority and few other perks, as was the case with the McClendon stake. An added complication: Oklahoma City is the NBA’s third-smallest market, ahead of only Memphis and New Orleans. And before last season, the club had not been past the first round of the playoffs since 2016; it posted the league’s fourth-worst record in both 2020-21 and 2021-22.
The Thunder’s current ownership, which includes seven people led by Bennett, ultimately bought the stake several years ago, though it’s unclear when exactly the shares were purchased. A Thunder spokesperson declined to comment on the transaction details.
The move proved fortuitous, as NBA franchise values have soared, with the biggest percentage gains at the bottom of the financial table, thanks to the league’s new 11-year, $77 billion TV contract. The deal has an outsized benefit to teams with lower revenues.
It is expected to boost the annual payout to teams by 33% to $137 million in Year 1, according to three NBA team executives. It then jumps 13.5%, followed by annual 7% increases. The per-team payout in the final season of the contract: $297 million. It was $103 million this past season.
In late 2020, the Utah Jazz sold for $1.66 billion, and the Timberwolves were valued at $1.55 billion seven months later in the multiyear transaction that allowed Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez to take control. The NBA get-in price was $3.06 billion in Sportico’s 2024 NBA team valuations. The Thunder were valued at $3.55 billion, 24th in the league.
The Thunder are set up for success on and off the court. They have all of their players under contract for next season, including recently crowned MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The roster will get expensive as stars reach their next deals. Next month, SGA is eligible for a four-year, $293.4 million extension, or $380 million over five years if he waits until next summer to sign.
The Thunder will get help from the city in paying for these new deals. In December 2023, 71% of voters chose to extend the existing one-cent MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects) sales tax, which will fund $850 million of a new $900 million arena for the team set to open in 2028. Thunder ownership will cover the balance.
The city highlighted three goals for the arena project, including to benefit city residents and meet NBA specifications. The final one: “Maximize team revenues, ensuring the sustainability of major league professional sports in Oklahoma City.”