COVID-19: LA Clippers owner predicts team losses to reach 8-digits

Los Angeles Clippers team owner, Steve Ballmer, predicts that the NBA suspension and the possibility of ending the 2019-2020 season as is, will result in "8-digit" losses for the team.

The NBA relies on broadcast rights and ticket sales as its primary source of income. Supplementary income such as trademark rights and endorsement deals are given primarily to the league and the players, respectively.

According to MSN sports, Ballmer discussed the issue with Bloomberg and told them that the team is not worried about the financial losses, but is more concerned about the plight of vendors and employees due to the game stoppage.

Ballmer, through a foundation owned by him and his wife, donated US$25 million to several organizations to help combat the coronavirus and the effects of the pandemic.

Ballmer is a former CEO of tech giant Microsoft. He replaced chairman and owner Bill Gates in 2000, and eventually retired in 2014. He bought the Los Angeles Clippers for 2 billion dollars months after he retired from Microsoft.

In his statement, Ballmer said that "We're deep-pocketed. We're trying to take care of your smaller vendors. ... I've been very fortunate in life. I want to make sure we help take care of not only our own employees but the population we can."

His current net worth is 51.9 billion US dollars.

Unlike Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, Ballmer is not a co-founder of Microsoft. He was hired by Bill Gates as the 30th employee as a business manager to handle its day-to-day operations. Ballmer and Gates were friends and dorm mates at Harvard University before Gates dropped out. Ballmer eventually graduated with a degree in applied mathematics and economics at Harvard. He dropped out of Stanford Graduate School when he was invited by Gates to join Microsoft in 1980.

Ballmer crunched the numbers and said that 8-digit losses are something they [The Los Angeles Clippers] have to live with, but what is essential in these trying times is to support the people who truly need it the most in these trying times.