Mark Walter’s Dodgers purchase under new scrutiny after Pablo Torre report

An insurance company affiliated with Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter’s Guggenheim Partners loaned $350 million to a Walter-controlled LLC that owned SportsNet Los Angeles in 2014, one of several instances of apparent self-dealing detailed in an episode of the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast.

The podcast reported that several figures involved in the purchase of the Dodgers – including basketball legend and minority Dodgers owner Magic Johnson – and the engineering of their massive cable rights deal later landed influential and potentially lucrative positions at Guggenheim or with its affiliated holdings.

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USA TODAY Sports has reached out to Guggenheim for comment.

EquiTrust, which was a Guggenheim Partners-owned insurance company, did not disclose that the $350 million loan was made to an affiliated partner, according to Hunterbrook Media, which shared its findings with Torre. Walter, the longtime CEO of Guggenheim Partners, is already the subject of multiple federal investigations into more than $21 billion in loans not disclosed to state insurance regulators that were made by two Delaware insurers Walter owns.

The 2014 loan, to Walter’s American Media Productions, LLC, came at a time the Dodgers’ $8.35 billion local TV contract with Time Warner was taking effect, a deal that guaranteed the Dodgers more than $330 million in annual revenue for their media rights. At the time, the Dodgers’ burgeoning SportsNet LA was blacked out on multiple cable and satellite providers in the Los Angeles area due to the high carriage fee for the station.

It was by far the largest deal for a sports franchise’s local TV rights and gained greater value when the club was granted the ability to shield a larger portion of it than is typical from revenue-sharing pools when Major League Baseball approved Walter’s $2.15 billion purchase of the franchise in 2012.

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A lucrative TV deal, a position at Guggenheim

While the TV deal has served as a crucial piece in funding the Dodgers’ aggressive spending the past six years – including the heavily-deferred, $700 million contract given Shohei Ohtani before the 2024 season – it is facing renewed scrutiny due to Walter’s more recent dealings.

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Puck Media reported last month that Walter recently approached Charter Communications – which merged with Time Warner – offering to let the cable network out of the deal in exchange for a lump-sum payment. When Charter refused, Puck reported, Walter then executed the $12.5 billion sale of the Los Angeles Lakers, 11 months after purchasing the storied basketball franchise for $10 billion.

The notion that Walter’s 2012 purchase of the Dodgers might have been propped up by Walter’s use of funds generated through life insurance policies from his affiliated companies prompted The Walter Group to issue an Aug. 26 statement refuting that notion.

“The allegation that the Los Angeles Dodgers were acquired or have been funded improperly is false and not supported by facts,” TWG said in a statement. “The Dodgers transaction was subject to significant scrutiny and complied with all rules and regulations that govern the purchase of Major League Baseball teams.”

While it’s been nearly 15 years since Walter purchased the team, and more than a decade since the $8.35 billion cable deal with Time Warner was struck, threads between the Dodgers, Time Warner and Guggenheim endure.

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The architect of the TV deal, David Rone, the former president of Time Warner Cable Networks and Time Warner Cable Sports, left Time Warner in 2015. In 2016, Rone was named senior managing director and company head of strategy for Guggenheim. Rone was eventually named co-president of Guggenheim Investments and remains a senior executive at Guggenheim Partners.

And then there’s Johnson.

Magic Johnson: Former EquiTrust controlling shareholder

The Dodgers-Guggenheim marriage also brought Johnson, the five-time NBA champion and Lakers legend, into the fold. Johnson was an early addition to the group headed by Walter aiming to buy the Dodgers, bidding in a group of finalists that included current Rams and future Angels owner Stan Kroenke.

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Johnson’s L.A. bona fides likely added more value to the bid than his vanity stake in the franchise. Less than two years after Walter won control of the Dodgers, Pablo Torre Finds out reported, Johnson became controlling shareholder of EquiTrust in January 2014.

Johnson eventually hired Eric Holoman, his longtime friend and business partner with Magic Johnson Enterprises, as managing partner of EquiTrust. Hunterbrook Media, citing SEC documents, reported that EquiTrust eventually invested more than $100 million in Johnson and Holoman’s JLC Infrastructure Fund.

Like the loan to Walter’s media LLC, the filings indicate the investment between the two entities is listed as “unaffiliated.” Federal laws include disclosure regulations for affiliated persons and entities.