When fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers saw Mark Walter sell the Los Angeles Lakers, many wondered if or when the next domino would fall.
Walter has been the Dodgers’ chairman since 2012, when his Guggenheim Baseball Management consortium purchased the team out of bankruptcy. Could the Dodgers be next?
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The answer, Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten said Friday: not now and not ever.
“We’ve started our planning for next year, which is trickier than usual because we’re not sure what the rules are for next year,” Kasten said, referring to the expiring Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and the players’ union, “but I just wanted this to be clear because this question keeps coming up. I understand the questions. I do. But the Lakers thing was … just one of those one-of-a-kind things. It really has nothing to do with what’s happening with us, or the other teams (Walter owns).”
Kasten said Walter will not sell the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which he founded in 2023, or any of his motorsports holdings.
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Walter’s business dealings are of particular interest to baseball fans who have seen the Dodgers breathlessly outspend rivals en route to back-to-back World Series titles.
The Dodgers racked up more in competitive balance taxes last year ($168.4 million, according to the Associated Press) than several teams spent on their entire 2025 payrolls. In the 2025-26 offseason, they signed outfielder Kyle Tucker and closer Edwin Díaz, two of the premier free agents in their class, to record deals.
Asked whether the Dodgers’ business operations would change in light of a federal investigation into Walter’s business dealings, Kasten said, “none of the rest of our plans have been modified at all.”
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“Knowing what (the team) can support in terms of revenues and expenses, the Dodgers aren’t going anywhere,” Kasten said. “I feel that very strongly, and Mark feels it stronger than I do.”
Asked about reported loans involving Dodgers Tickets LLC and American Media Productions, two Dodgers-adjacent shell companies associated with Walter, Kasten said, “I know nothing involving the Dodgers are under investigation.”
In addition to his sale of the Lakers, Walter reportedly attempted to let Charter Communications cash out of its SportsNet LA contract, and is trying to sell his share in English Premier League team Chelsea FC.
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