{"id":12804,"date":"2017-09-05T18:07:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T18:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/09\/05\/houston-rockets-set-to-get-a-new-owner-local-billionaire-tilman-fertitta\/"},"modified":"2017-09-05T18:07:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T18:07:00","slug":"houston-rockets-set-to-get-a-new-owner-local-billionaire-tilman-fertitta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/houston-rockets-set-to-get-a-new-owner-local-billionaire-tilman-fertitta\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Rockets Set To Get A New Owner: Local Billionaire Tilman Fertitta"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colin Dwyer<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Tilman Fertitta, seen here at a television premier last year in Universal City, Calif. A native Texan, Fertitta owns the Houston-based restaurant chain Landry’s, Inc. And now he is set to own the Houston Rockets, too.<\/p>\n

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Michael Boardman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Michael Boardman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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The Houston Rockets announced Tuesday the franchise has been sold to a local and longtime fan, Tilman Fertitta. The billionaire businessman, sole owner of the Landry’s restaurant empire and Golden Nugget Casinos and Hotels, now becomes sole owner of the Rockets as well \u2014 pending approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors.<\/p>\n

“I am truly honored to have been chosen as the next owner of the Houston Rockets,” Fertitta said in a statement<\/a> released Tuesday by the team. “This is a life-long dream come true.”<\/p>\n

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It is an honor to be a part of the @NBA<\/a>. I look forward to serving the city of #Houston<\/a> and continuing the success of @HoustonRockets<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/1RE6vbj8j1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tilman Fertitta (@TilmanJFertitta) September 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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The terms of the sale have not been released officially by the team, but ESPN <\/a>and USA Today<\/a>, citing unnamed sources, both report the sale broke an NBA record at $2.2 billion. The agreement tops the 2014 purchase price<\/a> of the LA Clippers \u2014 formerly the league’s most expensive \u2014 by roughly $200 million and significantly exceeds the team’s reported value, which according to Forbes<\/a> rests at $1.65 billion.<\/p>\n

CNBC columnist Eric Jackson notes<\/a> that, all told, Fertitta is “spending 71% of his net worth on the Rockets.”<\/p>\n

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Steve Ballmer spent 6% of his net worth on the Clippers.<\/p>\n

Tilman Fertitta is spending 71% of his net worth on the Rockets<\/p>\n

\u2014 Eric Jackson (@ericjackson) September 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Still, this purchase is also something of an act of devotion for the native of Galveston, Texas. Landry’s is headquartered in Houston, and as ESPN observes, Fertitta has had courtside seats to the Rockets for years. Indeed, he tried and failed to purchase the team the last time they were up for sale, losing out to Leslie Alexander, who bought the Rockets for $85 million in 1993.<\/p>\n