Ideas
Dodgers value rose after fan investment
Magic bought the Dodgers at $2.2B when critics said they overpaid; Forbes values them around $8B now. He attributes value creation to investing a couple hundred million in the fan experience and stadium, putting a great product on the field, and star players like Ohtani, which drove record revenues and championships.
Commanders value rises with new stadium
The Commanders, bought two years ago, are now valued around $6B and closing in on $8B, with a new stadium expected to push value higher. Magic says the next step is improving the product around QB Jayden Daniels, adding weapons, improving defense, and investing in player development to grow the team.
Sports team valuations keep skyrocketing
Sports teams are a long-term asset class with very high and rising valuations because Americans will never stop watching sports, live content remains critical for streaming and TV partners, and leagues are benefiting from new media contracts and investor demand.
Starbucks has strong unit economics
Magic invested in 125 Starbucks stores and learned customer service from Howard Schultz. He highlights the strong unit economics: the cup cost less than 10-15 cents at the time, ingredients added up, and margins were incredible.
Boring businesses compound consistently
Magic prefers unsexy, boring businesses that people do not know or care about because they consistently make money and grow, unlike hot trend companies that can fail. He says that is where he wants to invest.
Skydio led in autonomous drones
Skydio was Magic's first Silicon Valley investment, a Series A when the product was still a prototype. He believed autonomous drones would become a major market across sports, entertainment, fire, police, and defense globally, and the early bet gave him a Silicon Valley track record.
AI enables one-person billion-dollar companies
Chris says AI tools and prompt engineering are enabling founders to build with far smaller teams and at 10x speed; a16z's thesis is that one person could build a billion-dollar business with today's tools.
Blockchain will keep growing
Chris states a16z is a big believer in the future of blockchain technologies, viewing crypto/blockchain as part of the technology wave that will keep pushing business innovation forward.
AI is early and improving
Technology keeps growing, and Magic says AI is still early: it has already blown people's minds but will only get better. Investors are reallocating money into AI, and he advises getting in early.
Alchemy fills pharmacy gaps profitably
Magic invested in Alchemy Health because it is building pharmacies in underserved places where big chains are closing stores but demand remains, especially in rural America and inner cities.
Sparks benefit from WNBA growth
Magic bought the Sparks for a few million and tolerated losses because he believed the WNBA would eventually turn; the team is now worth about $300M and growing, helped by women's college basketball's fanbase moving into the WNBA and new TV contracts.
Women's sports leagues are skyrocketing
The WNBA and NWSL are seeing surging investor interest, new team additions in new markets, better TV contracts, and rising valuations; Magic says the growth has exceeded expectations and the leagues are still growing.
LAFC gains from US soccer growth
Soccer in America is growing like the WNBA, with LAFC now valued over $1B after winning championships; the NWSL is also skyrocketing and benefiting from new TV contracts.
This a16z video, published February 11, 2026,
features Magic Johnson, Chris Lyons
discussing Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Commanders, Sports team ownership, SBUX, Boring businesses, SKYDIO, AI-SECTOR, BLOCKCHAIN, Alchemy Health, Los Angeles Sparks, WNBA, NWSL, LAFC.
13 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers:
Magic Johnson,
Chris Lyons
· Tickers:
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Washington Commanders,
Sports team ownership,
SBUX,
Boring businesses,
SKYDIO,
AI-SECTOR,
BLOCKCHAIN,
Alchemy Health,
Los Angeles Sparks,
WNBA,
NWSL,
LAFC
