Lakers Majority Owner Mark Walter Discussion

And he can really sing too!

 

From rags to riches. Welcome to the Lakers.

 

Another (Dodgers ) hire. From Ocho on LG:

Another Dodger exec joins the FO.
Quote:
The Los Angeles Lakers have named Michael Spetner as Chief Strategy & Growth Officer.

In this newly created role, Spetner will be responsible for leading the organization's long-term business strategy, driving value and identifying emerging opportunities for international growth.

"As we look to redefine what's possible across the sports landscape for fans and partners, we will build on the Lakers legacy and orient toward the future to consider what's next," said Los Angeles Lakers President of Business Operations Lon Rosen. "Michael's leadership will help us optimize our business to ensure long-term value."

Spetner spent the last decade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, most recently as the Vice President of Business Strategy & Analytics. He played a pivotal role in driving the Dodgers' commercial opportunities, implementing new business models for rightsholders and modernizing the fan ecosystem, combining in-arena experiences with digital communities.
At the Dodgers, Spetner emphasized international engagement, leading the Dodgers' efforts to launch a Japan-based fan club and creating an immersive museum-style exhibition in Tokyo to celebrate the team's history and global appeal.

Spetner is a graduate of Macalaster College and resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons.


I wondered early on after Mark's purchase of the team if Rui's presence on the team "might" have additional monetary value beyond his basketball talents due to the red highlighted experience and additional money generated with gear sales and such, above, for the Dodgers. Plus JJ seems to still like Rui a lot.

 

we're so gonna sushi stand rui this summer.

 

Yep and he's not going anywhere now

 

I was thinking the same thing after watching Chicago play that really small Japanese dude, who is actually very strong for his size and made a clean three.

 

New hire, new position

 

Here's more about him




Walter has made a couple of these hirings so far to maximize the team's value and his ROI. It's kind of odd how poorly this was done under Jeanie when it's your only source of income I would've expected more. It takes money to make money though and you can't run a 4 person front office and get this done. Pete (LFR) previously talked about how the league passed the Lakers by in this area, that Harris relied a lot on brand name and Lakers exceptionalism doing the heavy lifting and the Lakers are the Lakers approach which worked decades ago. That's not enough anymore though.

 

Why I keep saying Rui is the team’s ONE current connection to fan intensive Japanese market that the Dodgers are loaded with on their roster.

 

This. This is why I have always hated the "poor family run business" crap. They were so terribly run, business wise. They were worth billions and one of the biggest brands in the world, but cheaped our on so many things - including things that would have increased revenue and profit! And this showed on court as well. The stupid things like letting Caruso go were the direct result of a stupid cheap business philosophy that actually cost them money and hurt their objectives. So glad we have better ownership now.

 

yeah, it was absolutely infuriating watching gs and the clips just lap us in basketball spending before the second apron stuff happened, and that was on top of all the ancillary stuff unaffected by salary cap concerns (e.g., training and medical staff, assistant coaches, scouting, etc.).

 

Yeah. This was a big part of why I've been so critical of the organization over the last few years. We relied on the brand and honestly, dumb luck and it was definitely maddening to watch.