Alibaba Exec Vice Chair Joe Tsai's deal to purchase a 49% minority stake in the Nets "represents a big profit" for Owner Mikhail Prokhorov, according to Ben Cohen of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Prokhorov paid $260M for 80% of the team, 45% of Barclays Center and the "right to purchase real estate around the Brooklyn site." The Nets could "become the sixth team to change hands" since '13 as franchise valuations across the league have "soared with the NBA booming in popularity" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/28). In N.Y., de la Merced & Drape noted the deal "highlights the continued draw that owning a sports team poses for billionaires -- and the climbing prices that prominent teams can command." A source said that Tsai is buying the Nets stake "with his own money, and he will carry on" in his role at Alibaba. It is "perhaps the most notable trophy acquisition yet" for Tsai. In August, Tsai bought the San Diego Seals expansion NLL team for a reported $5M (N.Y. TIMES, 10/28).
RISKY BUSINESS? CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin noted the value of pro sports teams in the U.S. have "grown at an average" of 20% over the last five years, but at "every inflection point it feels like they're about to go off a cliff the opposite direction given what's going on in the content world." Margate Capital Managing Partner & Chief Investment Officer Samantha Greenberg noted the valuations of NBA teams have "gone up 28% a year on average for the last five years." Greenberg: "You see the highest appreciation in the NBA because there's this growing global interest” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 10/30).
