Russian oligarchs consistently turn off the support of domestic sports and at the same time invest in sports abroad. So, the curtailment of the project of the football club "Anji" by Suleiman Kerimov became quite shocking for the fans. And Roman Abramovich gave $ 1.5 billion to Chelsea, and ten times less to Russian clubs. Mikhail Prokhorov goes against the general trend, but - only in that he goes to the "cash". Russian clubs will not get anything from him.

Co-founder and deputy chairman of the board of directors of Alibaba Group Joe Cai agreed to buy 49% in the club of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Brooklyn Nets from Mikhail Prokhorov, the American sports channel ESPN and Bloomberg agency reported referring to their sources. Information on the upcoming transaction "Vedomosti" was confirmed by a source close to the group "Onexim" Prokhorov. The representative of the businessman did not comment on this.

The Brooklyn Nets home stadium - Barclays Center arena is not included in the deal, is being added by ESPN and Bloomberg. The team for the deal is valued at $ 2.3 billion. The Prokhorov Club is valued highly, the US media writes: the recently Houston billionaire and TV host Tilman Fertitta bought the Houston Rockets basketball club for $ 2.2 billion along with the arena. In this case, Brooklyn Nets first operating profit of $ 15.7 million received only in 2016, wrote Forbes. Before that, the club's losses reached $ 90 million a year. The businessman did not keep his promise to make the team the champion of the NBA: after the regular season in the 2016/17 season Brooklyn Nets scored only 20 wins in 82 games. This is the worst figure in the NBA and the third consecutive failed team season, according to ABC News.

By 2021, Tsai, whose fortune exceeds $ 9 billion, can bring his share in the club to a control, the source said Bloomberg. Prokhorov at the same time will save a 20% package. According to ESPN, Prokhorov will remain the head and operational manager of the team for another four years, and Tsai will not interfere with operational management until control is obtained.

Prokhorov acquired 80% of Brooklyn Nets from New York (formerly New Jersey Nets) and 45% of their new, then-built arena from American developer Bruce Ratner at the end of 2009. The purchase cost the Russian billionaire $ 223 million. Five years later, he bought from Retner the remaining 20% ​​of the club. "Prokhorov really caught fire with a basketball project," recalled his acquaintance in August of this year. True, he said, for the team itself, the Russian businessman paid a symbolic $ 1, the rest of the money was a fee for entering the development project of Ratner. The Atlantic Yards project (later renamed Pacific Park Brooklyn), which provides for the construction in the center of New York not only the huge arena of Barclays Center, but also 16 high-rise residential and administrative buildings. The project cost is estimated at $ 4.9 billion. In addition to Barclays Center, Prokhorov managed to become an investor in three more sports and entertainment facilities: 85% of the project for the reconstruction of the NYCB Live's arena in Long Island, one of the most famous former nightclubs in Manhattan - Webster Hall and the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn. As a result, Prokhorov turned out to be one of the largest players in the American sports and entertainment market, Pollstar said.

US assets of Mikhail Prokhorov

Instead of the lost club CSKA Prokhorov after the "divorce" with Potanin in late 2009 acquired from American developer Bruce Ratner 80% in the American basketball team Brooklyn Nets from New York (the former New Jersey Nets). For Europe, the purchase of football clubs by Arab sheikhs or billionaires from other countries has not been news for a long time, and for the US Prokhorov deal was a revelation. Until then, only the Americans owned clubs NBA.

Instead of the lost club CSKA Prokhorov after the "divorce" with Potanin in late 2009 acquired from American developer Bruce Ratner 80% in the American basketball team Brooklyn Nets from New York (the former New Jersey Nets). For Europe, the purchase of football clubs by Arab sheikhs or billionaires from other countries has not been news for a long time, and for the US Prokhorov deal was a revelation. Until then, only the Americans owned clubs NBA.

Together with the basketball club, Prokhorov also got an important development project - 45% in the Barclays Center arena under construction in Brooklyn, New York. The construction cost about $ 950 million. The home ground for the Brooklyn Nets basketball club and hockey New York Islanders has become one of the largest concert venues in the US.

The second arena of Mikhail Prokhorov in New York - Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (NYCB Live) - opened the doors after the renovation in April 2017. It became a home ground for the "younger" basketball team - Long Island Nets. NYCB Live is only slightly inferior in size and capacity of Barclays Center.

Paramount Theater was opened in Brooklyn in New York in 1928, but after it was acquired by the Long Island University in 1962, the building was turned into a playground for students. In 2015, Mikhail Prokhorov and his partner Bruce Ratner received the building for rent for 49 years. They promise that after a renovation costing $ 50 million, Paramount will again become a place for entertainment. There will be concerts, boxing fights and other entertainment.

The largest nightclub in New York, Webster Hall is located in Manhattan. In a year the club sells more than 200 thousand tickets for concerts. Since 2017, the renovation of Webster Hall was taken up by Mikhail Prokhorov in partnership with AEG - one of the largest promoters in the world. Webster Hall has always been in the top 5 of the world's best ticket sales clubs, notes the industry edition Pollstar.

The best arenas

According to Pollstar, in the first half of 2017 Barclays Center took 9th place in the world rating of arenas by the number of tickets sold for concerts. Opening on April 5, 2017 arena NYCB Live's for three months managed to enter the top hundred in the world. And the club Webster Hall has always been a top-5 of the world's best ticket sales clubs.