Well, that got out of hand fast: Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov has officially purchased the New Jersey Nets. Speculation about Prokhorov has been building over the past week, despite Nets officials denying the team was up for sale. But Prokhorov and incumbent owner Bruce Ratner announced the deal today.According to a Nets press release, Prokhorov's investment vehicle Onexim will take an 80% stake in the Nets, a 45% stake in the Barclays Center (the Nets' unbuilt Brooklyn home) and an option for a 20% stake in Ratner's Atlantic Yards development. Prokorov will pay $200 million to get into the league, and it has been reported that he will put $700 million toward the construction of Barclays.
Prokhorov is said to be the wealthiest man in Russia. He made his fortune like all good Russian ingenues: natural resources. Nickel was his mineral of choice, and Forbes has reported Prokhorov is worth $9.5 billion. Among NBA owners, only Portland's Paul Allen ($16 billion) is richer.
The Nets' release marks the first quarter of 2010 as a tentative date for the closing of the deal. Twenty-two of the other 29 NBA owners must approve the sale before it can be consummated. An NBA official says the vote could take place as soon as the league's October meeting.
Ratner hopes to break ground on Barclays this December. The Nets hope to open the 2011-12 season in Brooklyn.
Be sure to follow FanHouse for more on the Prokhorov purchase.
Comments (Page 1 of 3)
who gives a rats rear bout pro basketball....move the whole nba to moscow for all i care.....and take new york city with you................
LMAO NOW THAT IS TRUE THE KNICKS SHOULD NOT EVEN EXIST ANYMORE AND IM FRON NYC LMAO
Couldn't agree more KRBoatman.
Yea, right!! He got his money like all Russian mafia types do - extortion, murder, etc., etc. Now he gets to launder it in the good ol' U S of A. This country has become such a dumping grounds -- below cheap labor; garbage from China; abuse from "Allies"; and the Russian Mafia now cleaning their blood money.
KR, Good to see a moron was the first to comment. If you don't care so much, why are you reading the story and bothering to comment on it? Oh, and great idea to get rid of the greatest city not only in this country, but in the world. Why do I have a feeling the next time someone named "The Unabomber" is arrested somewhere in the backwoods of middle America -- where people seem to be fine with fathers marrying their daughters -- his last name will be Boatman? Hmmmm
excellent idea ...
it amazes me that people pay so much to attend that stuff ... but it is only a tiny number of people who actually go ... tv is the big part ...
Nets are now the NYETS. They are the most affordable sporting tickets in the metropolitan area. Go NYETS
Wait till he sees their work ethic! ha! He won't be a billionaire for long.I am with krboatman.Take the NBA to Moscow and take New York with you.You can also take California. Hell he could have probably bought California and it would have came with their Basketball Stadium because Arnold was trying to sell it a couple weeks ago anyway.He got screwed.
This is just the start, America is for sale and the russians are buying.
Another piece of America sold....................
Great! When they misbehave he'll send them to Siberia. Please buy a team in the NFL & MLBB.
Come on Prokhorov, pay a little more and buy the whole NBA. Then, move it to Russia and live happily ever after. Just think, you'd have all the TV dollars! You could even change the name to the RBA! Then, everyone around here could throw a party to celebrate the exit of all these overpaid and spoiled atheletes who think they run the world. I am into sports and don't know a soul who watches the NBA!
Just more of the same old stuff. No wonder we're the most hated country on the planet. What other country sends their children overseas to fight wars and then allows these overseas countries to buy us out.
Bob bob bob the dummy its the Brooklyn Nets not the NYETS whatevewr that is
maybe he will take the team to russia hope so but they probably don't allow felons in russia
I would never watch or buy stuff of that team again. Why make them rich, What have they ever done for us?
exactly all they do is play ball wow, but doctors get paid less that pisses me off doctors saves lives, nba players do what, play ball, wow..
Curious what happens to the money he pays to "buy into the league"? Is that for the NBA general fund for the leagues operation? A legit answer would be appreciated.
The legit answer has been recently published. The Russian bought out the American existing owner, so the money goes to the seller, which he`ll use, at least in part, to build an arena in Kings county New York. He doesn`t own a team anymore, so the The Russian may not move HIS team to Brooklyn to the new arena. Once the arena is built, the former owner may try to buy a new team, or an expansion team. When buying an expansion team, the fee is paid the entire association, and the money split equally between the owners, but while an expansion into the half dozen top 30 markets growing by double figures might be good for the association, the owners don`t have to care about that, they are billionaires, they do what they feel like, whether it benefits anyone or not. Of course, a half dozen more teams would put the nba in 36 markets, but the nba is already in some of the 3- to 36 sized markets. The most notable of them, Las Vegas, the nba is avoiding having a team in, so when they visit Vegas to gamble, what happens in Vegas will stay in Vegas.
Now if you buy a ticket, or even watch on the nets on t.v., you're supporting a owner from a country who's former leader said (referring to the U.S.) "we will bury you".