Tilman Fertitta Buys Houston Rockets in Blockbuster Deal

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 8:30AM EST · Published Sep 5, 12:25PM EDT

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Tilman Fertitta Buys Houston Rockets in Blockbuster Deal — © Thinkstock

As we have said before, baseball may be America’s favorite pastime, but basketball brings home the bacon. This game is known for its high-flying dunks and amazing feats of athleticism. But at the end of the day, this is still a business.

After being on the market for nearly two months, the Houston Rockets have found a buyer for the franchise, a billion-dollar buyer in fact. It was announced Tuesday morning that Tilman Fertitta would be acquiring the Rockets for an unprecedented $2.2 billion.

The Los Angeles Clippers most recently sold for $2.0 billion in 2014, the largest price tag for an NBA franchise at the time. The Rockets have now taken the top spot.

Forbes had valued the Rockets franchise at $1.65 billion in February, putting it around the eighth most valuable franchise in the NBA. The Forbes list of the top 50 most valuable sports franchises ended around $1.75 billion, so the Rockets didn’t make the cut. However, Forbes noted that there were about 36 other franchises that were valued upward of $1 billion.

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Previously, Fertitta had made an offer to buy the Rockets back in the early 1990s for $81 million, but the team went to — now former owner — Leslie Alexander for $85 million at that time. This came just before the Rockets won their back-to-back championships.

Fertitta owns the Golden Nuggets Casinos and Landry’s restaurant group, which includes Bubba Gump Shrimp, Rainforest Café and Morton’s Steakhouse, among others.

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Fertitta, a native of Galveston and life-long resident of the Houston area, commented:

I am truly honored to have been chosen as the next owner of the Houston Rockets. This is a life-long dream come true. Leslie Alexander has been one of the best owners in all of sports, and I thank him immensely for this opportunity. He has the heart of a champion. Lastly, out of respect for the NBA’s approval process, I can say no more other than I am overwhelmed with emotion to have this opportunity in my beloved city of Houston.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.