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Nets New Owner to Be a Russian?

Now that the Nets owner Bruce Ratner has secured all the approvals necessary to build his proposed new Barclays Arena in Brooklyn, the final search for the needed $700 million to fund construction is underway. In addition, or as part and parcel of the arena funding depending on which story you believe, he is negotiating a sale of a substantial and controlling (or managing) interest in the team itself. The leading candidate to provide the $700 million in construction funding, according to the Star-Ledger is Russian oligarch Mikhail Prohkorov, who would wind up with a managing interest in the Nets ownership for a dollar as part of the deal. Prokhorov is number 40 on the Forbes top 50 wealthy people in the world and is a metals mogul with close ties to the Kremlin.

According to the New York Times, whose story was not quite as detailed, the Nets are talking to Prokhorov about a sale of the team and are searching for planning to sell tax exempt bonds to fund construction. Of course, they could still do that if Prokhorov was the buyer.

In any event, it looks as if David Stern and the other owners are going to have to face the question of foreign ownership, something which hasn't been on the agenda at owners' meetings before now. It would make sense for the NBA to be the first major American sport with substantial foreign ownership, as it is the most globally focused league, and one of the two (with the NHL) with the most non-North American players. There is no reason not to accept foreign ownership, it will just make the vetting process a little tougher.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on September 18, 2009 (boomark / email).