Moody Eye View

As for the ongoing finances for the team, a dozen sponsors announced on Monday they had ended or suspended sponsorship deals. But it’s not clear how many have actually stopped making payments to the team. Sports marketing consultant Marc Ganis said it’s unlikely that sponsor contracts would allow them to cancel due to comments made by Sterling or similar controversies. Even if the Clippers take a revenue hit, the team is well positioned to stay profitable. The team already turns a healthy profit on relatively low revenue, according to sports business experts. The Clippers brought in $128 million in annual revenue in the most recent year, according to the most recent estimates by Forbes. That places the team’s revenue near the bottom among the NBA’s 30 teams. But the Clippers still turned a $15 million profit, Forbes estimates. “This is a team that historically had low revenue and low attendance, and made money in spite of that,” said Ganis.

Sponsors continue to make payments, Clippers low hanging fruit for potential new owners.