Jimmy Haslam (right) purchased a 25% ownership stake in the Milwaukee Bucks a year ago. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
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There could be changes coming to the Milwaukee Bucks’ ownership group.
The team announced that it would make a “major ownership announcement” Thursday morning during a press conference at the team’s Downtown Milwaukee training facility.
Reports surfaced earlier this month that former Bucks star Junior Bridgeman was in the process of purchasing a stake in the team but neither he or Wes Edens, who currently serves as the team’s governor, was listed as attending the press conference.
The only member of the Bucks’ current ownership group scheduled to attend is Jimmy Haslam, who joined the group a year ago when he purchased Marc Lasry’s 25 percent stake in the team for a reported $800 million.
Forbes valued the Bucks franchise at $2.3 billion in 2023, a significant increase from the $550 millioon Edens, Lasry and Jamie Dinan paid for the franchise when they purchased it from the late Sen. Herb Kohl in April 2014.
Much of the increase can be attributed to the Bucks’ resurgance on the court, led by two-time Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, who led Milwaukee to its first World Championship in 50 years in 2021.
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Also adding to the increase: construction of a new arena and ancillary development surrounding the facility.
Kohl put $100 million of the sale towards construction of a new arena to replace the Bradley Center, an amount ownership matched with the remaining funding coming from the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County and State of Wisconsin,.
Construction of Fiserv Forum began in 2016 and the building opened in time for the 2018 season. Since then, the Bucks have developed numerous parcels surrounding the facility into the “Deer District,” with numerous bars, restaurants and an upscale hotel, The Trade, which opened in May 2023.
The team is still in the process of redeveloping the site of the former Bradley Center, which sits just south of their current arena, and is reportedly in the process of developing an office building on another vacant parcel surrounding the arena.