CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The fan) – The Haslam Sports Group, led by Jimmy and Dee Haslam, may be expanding their portfolio soon.
The group, which has owned and operated the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League since October 2012, has had recent discussions with the ownership group of the Milwaukee Bucks about purchasing a stake in the NBA franchise a source with knowledge of the conversations tells 92.3 The Fan.
The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
The Haslam Sports Group’s interest in the Bucks was first reported Friday afternoon by The Athletic.
According to the publication, Marc Lasry’s 25% stake in the Bucks is up for sale, which is the portion of the team the Haslam Sports Group is pursuing.
New Suns owner Mat Ishbia reportedly had interest in the share of the Bucks until he pursued and secured controlling ownership of the Phoenix Suns.
This is not the first time the Haslam Sports Group has been tied to interest in ownership stake in an NBA franchise. In 2020 they explored buying the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Since the Haslam Sports Group purchased the Browns from the Lerner Family Trust for nearly $1 billion in 2012, the value of the franchise has nearly tripled despite a lack of sustained success on the field. The Browns ended an 18-year playoff drought and advanced to the divisional round of the AFC playoffs in 2020.
The Haslam Sports Group also owns a significant stake in the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, which they acquired in 2019. The team won the MLS Cup in 2020.
Jimmy Haslam is the chairman of the board of Pilot Flying J, which the Haslam family agreed to sell to Warren Buffett in 2017.
Buffett originally purchased a 39% stake in the company as part of a multi billion dollar deal and Buffett is scheduled to acquire an 80% controlling interest as part of that agreement this year giving the Haslams plenty of liquidity to expand their sports portfolio.