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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

A co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks has reached an agreement to sell his share of the National Basketball Association team, but the sale isn’t final —and $3.5 billion isn’t the selling price.

Here’s what we know based on news reports, given that the NBA has not approved the sale:

ESPN and The Athletic reported on Feb. 27, 2023, and other media confirmed, that Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry reached an agreement to sell his share to Jimmy Haslam and the Haslam Sports Group. The group owns the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League and the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer.

The news reports said the agreement calls for the sale under a $3.5 billion “valuation” of the Bucks. In other words, the franchise’s total value.

Lasry owns roughly 25% of the Bucks. Twenty-five percent of $3.5 billion would be $875 million.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marc Lasry agrees to sell his stake of the Milwaukee Bucks to Haslams

ESPN: Lasry agrees to sell his stake in Bucks to Haslams

The Athletic: Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry agrees to sell his team stake to Browns owner Jimmy Haslam: Sources

Wisconsin Public Radio: AP sources: Haslams agree to purchase Lasry’s stake in Bucks

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Tom Kertscher joined as a Wisconsin Watch fact checker in January 2023 and contributes to our collaboration with the The Gigafact Project to fight misinformation online. Kertscher is a former longtime newspaper reporter, including at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who has worked as a self-employed journalist since 2019. His gigs include contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and sports freelancer for The Associated Press.