Alibaba co-founder Joseph Tsai set to buy the Brooklyn Nets from Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov for a record $2.35 BILLION
- Brooklyn Nets minority Joseph Tsai is reportedly close to purchasing the team from Mikhail Prokhorov outright for a record total of $2.35 billion
- Tsai previously purchased 49 percent of the team for $1 billion last year
- Once completed, the $2.35 billion transaction would be the most expensive in the history of pro sports, beating a pair of recent $2.2 billion franchise sales
- The agreement was expected as Tsai reportedly had the option to purchase the rest of the franchise outright before the 2021-22 season
- A basketball fanatic who also owns a WNBA team, Tsai is worth about $10 billion
- The sale comes at a good time for the Nets, who have struggled to turn a profit since before they moved across the Hudson River from New Jersey in 2012
- Ticket sales have soared since the Nets added Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant
Joseph Tsai (pictured right), the Brooklyn Nets minority owner and co-founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, has agreed to purchase the remaining 51 percent of the NBA franchise from majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov for $1.35 billion
Joseph Tsai, the Brooklyn Nets minority owner and co-founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is finalizing a deal to buy the remaining 51 percent of the NBA franchise from majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov for $1.35 billion.
The New York Post is reporting that a deal is expected to be completed by the end of the week.
A source familiar with the negotiations confirmed the impending sale to the Daily Mail. A team spokesperson declined to comment.
Tsai previously purchased 49 percent of the team for $1 billion last year. And by kicking in another $1.35 billion, the native of Taiwan would pay the highest price ever for a sports franchise – more than last year’s $2.2 billion sale of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and the $2.2 billion purchase of the NBA’s Houston Rockets in 2017.
The agreement has been expected as Tsai had the option to purchase the rest of the franchise outright before the 2021-22 season.
Prokhorov bought his controlling stake of the Nets in 2009 for less than $400 million.
Tsai, a basketball fanatic who also owns the WNBA’s New York Liberty, is worth close to $10 billion, according to Forbes.
Previously the Post reported that Tsai was attempting to purchase the Nets’ arena, Barclays Center, in an effort to expedite the sale of the team. The NBA prefers that its owners also control their home arenas.
However, the sale of the team does not include the arena, but that does not preclude such a transaction from taking place in the future.
In 2009, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov bought the Nets for less than $400 million
Despite making the playoffs last season for the first time since 2015, the franchise still finished last in the NBA in home attendance. The Nets have struggled to turn a profit since before they moved to Brooklyn from New Jersey in 2012
The sale comes at a good time for the Nets, who have struggled to turn a profit since before they moved across the Hudson River from New Jersey in 2012.
Despite making the playoffs last season for the first time since 2015, the franchise still finished last in the NBA in home attendance.
However, that is already changing after the team added All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant as free agents last month on a pair of four-year deals totaling $305 million.
Previously Tsai reportedly attempted to purchase the Nets’ arena, Barclays Center, in an effort to expedite the sale of the team. The NBA prefers that its owners also control their home arenas. However, the sale of the team does not include the arena, but that does not preclude such a transaction from taking place in the future
Even though Durant is expected to miss the upcoming season after tearing his Achilles while playing for the Golden State Warriors in June’s NBA Finals, the Nets have still set a number of ticket marks since his signing.
June 30, immediately following the announcement of the agreements, the Nets had their single-largest day of ticket sales in franchise history, according to a spokesperson.
Sales staff received nearly 1,000 inbound calls on that day alone, and within a week, the Nets had already exceeded its ticket revenue for all of the 2018-19 season.
Tsai, who is of Chinese descent, is a member of NBA China and could also help the league make further inroads within the country. Sources told the Post that Tsai speaks very positively about China and its controversial government.
Nets swingman Caris LeVert (right) sits alongside the team’s newest addition, Kyrie Irving