Prokhorov Appears To Be Getting Great Deal In Nets Acquisition

Forbes Editor Indicates Prokhorov's Investment Just One-Third What Team, Arena Are Worth

Forbes National Editor Mike Ozanian indicated that prospective Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov's $200M investment for 80% of the franchise and 45% of the proposed Barclays Center is "just one-third of what the team and arena are worth," according to Belson & Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. Prokhorov's supposed investment also is "far less than the total cost" of $360M that Nets Owner Bruce Ratner paid for the team in '04, and "few teams in recent years have been sold at such a steep discount." Ozanian said, "On the macro level, the NBA has a few teams in trouble. The more time went on, the more Ratner was dealing from weakness." Belson & Sandomir noted while Ratner "may have sold low and perhaps out of desperation, his deal could turn out to be good news for other owners trying to sell teams." Prokhorov's acquisition of the Nets could "pave the way for more foreign owners to buy American sports teams, driving up the value of teams" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/26).

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN: SI.com's Alexander Wolff wrote NBA Commissioner David Stern has "re-planted the league's flag in the world's largest country" by "admitting Russia's richest man to the ranks of NBA owners." Stern has "always had a knack for co-opting any threat on the NBA's horizon," and now he has "taken the richest man in Russia and stashed him on his very own Board of Governors." Stern has Prokhorov "safely in the fold" of the NBA (SI.com, 9/25). In Boston, Gary Washburn noted Stern "wants the NBA's presence to expand beyond the States, and the league has already implemented programs in China and Africa." Jazz F Andrei Kirilenko is the league's only Russian-born player, and the NBA would "love to attract more Russian talent." Prokhorov's involvement with the league "could create a pipeline for Russian players, some of whom play for the Prokhorov-owned CSKA Moscow, to reach the NBA, much like the Japanese have a pipeline in baseball." Washburn noted Stern also "loves the idea of adding another multimillionaire to the NBA war chest." The league is "suffering financially," and Stern has indicated that "more than half the teams" are losing money (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/27). Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban said the move is a "natural extension of what David Stern’s dream has always been: to be an international sport. ... I think it’ll be great for the league just to have a different viewpoint" ("Mike & Mike in the Morning," ESPN2, 9/28). 

AN OFFER THEY CAN'T REFUSE: ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan noted the "legitimacy of the money behind this deal is the No. 1 question the 29 other owners will have, and NBA bylaws require that only three-quarters of the owners approve the sale." The more "frugal of the league's owners will be especially welcoming to any prospective owner who would try to spend his way to the top and pay the luxury tax, since that money is divided among the non-taxpaying owners." Meanwhile, Sheridan noted the league's 30 owners have "shied away from expansion in recent years." But the "prospect of having another deep-pocketed" investor sometime in the future who could "come in and pay something in the neighborhood of $500[M] for an expansion franchise in Las Vegas, for example, would be difficult to turn down" (ESPN.com, 9/26).

NBA's Investigation Of Prokhorov (r) Will Be Conducted By Stern's Own Legal Team

ANY QUESTIONS? In Newark, Dave D'Alessandro noted there are "incidents and business practices in Prokhorov's past that need to be examined." The NBA's investigation of Prokhorov will be conducted by Stern's "own legal team, but given the league's desperate need for investors with deep pockets who can also expand their fan base into new markets, cynics would suggest that Prokhorov will get the feather-duster treatment." Former President Carter administration official John Helmer, who has run a new service in Russia since '89, said, "The question arises, at least from here in Moscow: Does the NBA commissioner think it's his duty to do what it considered due diligence? And in the United States -- particularly in New York State -- you have to believe that an oligarch is open to investigation." D'Alessandro noted the U.S. government will "likely conduct an elaborate search through the byzantine maze of Prokhorov's wealth and power for something that might create doubt about his suitability to own a professional sports team." But former CSKA and NBA player David Vanterpool said, "There are no obstacles this guy can't overcome. He wouldn't be involved in this if he didn't already know how it's going to turn out" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 9/27). On Long Island, Neil Best wrote if "such a man were on the verge of purchasing the Yankees or Giants or even Knicks, there would be much hand-wringing over what an overseas oligarch might mean for a beloved, traditional franchise." But the Nets are "such an afterthought that this can only be viewed as a good thing for the NBA" (NEWSDAY, 9/27).