Stern: Ratner Group Lost "Several Hundred Million" Selling Nets
by Net Income on Feb 15, 2011 3:12 PM EST
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PrintIn defending his and owners' hardline in labor talks, David Stern told Bloomberg News that the Nets old ownership group, headed by Bruce Ratner, took a serious hit when they sold the franchise to Mikhail Prokhorov.
While discussing the NBA negotiations --and the owners' hardline, Woodruff asked, "Is it a contradiction to say that the current model does not work, and yet, franchises are being bought for huge sums by billionaires like Mikhail Prokhorov who just bought the Nets?"
"Stop there," said Stern, interrupting. "He just did [buy the Nets], and the previous ownership lost several hundred million dollars on that transaction".
While Ratner, his partners and parent group, Forest City Enterprises, did lose more than $200 million, Prokhorov assumed 80% of team debt as part of his purchase. He also agreed to eat up to $60 million in losses while the team is still in New Jersey, bringing the price tag for the team and part ownership of Barclays Center to nearly a half billion dollars.
- David Stern Interview (Video) - Judy Woodruff - Bloomberg Television
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Technically
if they ran up debt, and the new owner assumed the debt, then they may not have lost anything.
I believe Stern is exagerating things to make his point.
And if all the owners were billionaires like Proky, using the NBA as a tool to increase their exposure..
then there really would be no problem.
It's called a loss leader
Ratner was willing to lose money on the Nets in order to make money on Atlantic Yards.
his failure was not in basketball
It was in his area real estate, he failed to get the stadium built
by SunilP on Feb 15, 2011 6:49 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
You mean Ratner on that
It was Ratner that abused the law to get his project through. Keep in mind that he is using a process known as eminent domain, which is supposed to be used for public projects only, not private projects. Also, he is getting the taxpayers to foot the bill rather than paying for it all by himself. The opposition has every right to sue especially since they were forced to sell and saying no wasn’t an option. The plans were hardly realistic, and I doubt that they would take ten years, and Oder debunked all of those timeframes in seeing that it will take more than that. If this plan is stopped and the Nets don’t go to Brooklyn, it will show that the system really does work for the people rather than the few. Then again, it’s easy to be blinded by the facts when you are not the one that lives in the wrecking ball. Of course, we will know never the truth because Ratner will never show that, and I doubt any of you know that either, so don’t act as if you were given access to everything when you probably weren’t.
by Tal Barzilai on Feb 16, 2011 9:20 PM EST up reply actions
I can't stand all of these owners
They play fans for fools and we buy into it. I don’t care who gets paid just keep playing.
exactly
but the fans will of course blame the players
the owners dont share there revenue equally so you have this its an owner vs owner issue not a player vs player issue if every team put there money in a pool and spread it equally then there wouldnt be this problem
by mightymosdefinition on Feb 15, 2011 7:24 PM EST up reply actions
i dont understand the fan hate for owners
I don’t see why anyone would invest in something if the return on it is not better than other investments available.
Guys here who hate it when they realize stubhub has tkts for lower than they purchased for should know it is the same for a owner.
The recent forbes article paints a very bad situation for Nba, I think less than 5 teams are making profit
by SunilP on Feb 15, 2011 6:56 PM EST via mobile reply actions
the traditional means of making money on a sports team
was to sustain losses but make big bucks when the next billionaire bought your team.
that is no longer the model across the board and the time it takes to make a profit on a sale is longer.
i hate the team owners
because they blame the players for the poor decisions there front office who they hire make
its like the orlando owner being upset at rashard lewis contract or the 76ers owner getting mad at the elton brand contract
a player can ask for a billion dollars it doesnt mean u have to give them that
by mightymosdefinition on Feb 15, 2011 7:28 PM EST up reply actions
Speaking of Russians and Sports (Illustrated) can we change the subject to something more pleasant:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/risque_MdjrtTrOMV7FSj3Rjc0qgI
Can someone post this photo here without being banned?
From Forest City Enterprises' 2Q earnings:
http://ir.forestcity.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=88464&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1468699
Second quarter results were impacted by several transactional items, the largest of which was the gain of $31.4 million, pre-tax, related to the disposition of a partial interest in the Nets basketball team. During the quarter, entities controlled by Mikhail Prokhorov purchased an 80 percent interest in the Nets, generating a gain on disposition.
by ispartan on Feb 15, 2011 8:57 PM EST via mobile reply actions
I understand stern’s point but cry me a river
Official Member of the "Travis OutLOL Society". 5 years, 35 Million Dollars worth of lulz.
"Proky puffing out his chest after 3 months of groveling does little to make us not look stupid. Both teams look ridiculous."- JohnfromLongIsland, speaking on the embarrassing actions of the Nets Front Office.
by MrDollarBills on Feb 16, 2011 6:21 AM EST via mobile reply actions
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