The Liberty said before last season they had lost money every year since their inceptionNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Alibaba co-Founder Joe Tsai, who owns 49% of the Nets, is "close to a deal" to buy the WNBA Liberty, according to a source cited by Doug Feinberg of the AP. A source said that the deal "could be done within a week." Liberty Owner James Dolan "put the team up for sale" in November '17. There had been "several potential buyers and a few had gotten close to purchasing the team over the past 14 months, but all the deals fell through for various reasons." The team said before last season it had "lost money every year since its inception and cumulative losses exceed $100 million." The franchise "played most of its home games" in '18 at the Westchester County Center, which "saved the team a lot of money." The WNBA already has released its schedule for '19, and the Liberty are "set to play in suburban Westchester again." With dates locked in, it could be "difficult to move games to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center if that’s what the new ownership group wanted" (AP, 1/9).
