Nets sold in record for U.S. franchise
NEW YORK — Joseph Tsai has agreed to purchase the remaining 51% of the Brooklyn Nets from Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, according to a joint statement released Friday.
The purchase will be a record sale for a U.S. sports franchise.
Terms were not disclosed, but those familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that Tsai is paying about $2.35 billion for the Nets and nearly $1 billion in a separate transaction for Barclays Center. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreements are not complete.
Brett Yormark, the CEO of BSE Global, which manages the Nets and its arena, will oversee the transition before leaving for a new role.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of September and is subject to approval by the NBA’s Board of Governors.
When completed, it will surpass the previous record sale price of $2.2 billion that Tilman Fertitta paid for the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and the record sale price of $2.2 billion that David Tepper spent for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
Tsai, a 55-year-old billionaire, is executive vice chairman of the Alibaba Group,
the Chinese e-commerce giant. He also owns the WNBA’s New York Liberty.
Prokhorov, a Russian national who made his fortune in nickel mining, spent just $223 million in 2009 — and agreed to assume certain debts — to purchase 80% of the Nets and 45% of the Barclays Center operating rights, from Bruce C. Ratner. Six years later, Prokhorov bought Ratner out of both entities at a much higher valuation.
Prokhorov became the NBA’s first non-North American owner and oversaw the Nets’ move from New Jersey to Brooklyn two years later. He spent big in the first couple years after the move in a quest to chase a championship, but the team soon became one of the worst in the NBA before rallying to return to the playoffs last season.
He boasted of trying to win a championship within five years of his ownership, rapidly going through players and coaches in the first few years in Brooklyn. But he spent less time around the team in recent years while focusing on his interests in Russia — which at one point included a campaign for president of the Russian Federation — and remained in the background after hiring Sean Marks as the team’s general manager in 2016.
Tsai purchased 49% of the Nets from Prokhorov in April 2018. As part of the deal, Tsai had the option to buy the remaining 51% of the Nets in
2021. He pushed up the timeline for full ownership of the team after superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were signed in July.
A native of Taiwan, Tsai is positioned to take full control of the team by the time the Nets head to China to play two exhibition games against the Los Angeles Lakers in October. That comes at the start of a season of renewed excitement for the Nets, who just three seasons ago won an NBA-worst 20 games but are set to make a big move up the standings after landing two of the best players on the market when free agency opened.
Tsai sits on the board of directors of NBA China, helping the league expand its footprint in perhaps its most important overseas market. The NBA recently announced a five-year streaming deal in China with Tencent, worth a reported $300 million annually. The league also will play its first preseason games in India this year and is beginning a sustained push to expand into Africa.
Tsai has hinted that he could be nearing retirement. “Over time, I suspect that I will delegate those day-to-day responsibilities to people in the company [Alibaba],” he said earlier this year.
Tsai splits his time between China and the United States. He is a basketball junkie who watches the Nets on NBA League Pass while on the road. He attended high school, college and law school in the United States, and his wife, Clara, grew up in Kansas as a Kansas Jayhawks fan.