A tangle of money and politics surrounds the shock sale of the Lakers, and it looks bad for fans who thought their team was safe from Wall Street-style ownership.

• Mark Walter bought the Lakers only nine months ago and is already flipping them to Disney's Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner — an almost unheard-of quick sale.
• Walter is under a deepening federal investigation for allegedly hiding a business relationship and overstating revenue by billions, raising the possibility that a Trump pardon looms in the background.
• Days before the sale news, Walter visited the White House and gave Trump a Dodgers World Series ring — something other team owners say they've never seen happen.
• Prices have gotten so high — the Lakers were valued at over $12 billion — that no single person can afford a team anymore, so private equity and Gulf money like Abu Dhabi's wealth fund are moving in.
• The whole business runs on TV rights deals, since live sports is the last thing that still pulls huge audiences, and owners now focused only on profit may squeeze fans harder.

Outlook: Expect more sports teams to fall into the hands of private equity and sovereign wealth funds, with fans increasingly priced out and treated as a revenue source.