Mikhail Prokhorov was at Barclays Center Tuesday night for the big overtime win vs. the Clippers. Like the rest of us, he suffered through the up’s and down’s.
But his presence —and that of several other Nets board members— may be as much as his continuing foray into the sports and entertainment business.
In a press release announcing a new position for Fred Mangione, the Nets chief operating officer, Prokhorov’s Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment hinted strongly at a new businesses for the parent company which already controls the Nets and their D-League affiliate; Barclays Center; Nassau Coliseum and the Paramount Theater, in cooperation with LIU. BS&E also manages business affairs for the Islanders.
According to the press release...
Mangione will work with [Brett} Yormark on long-term strategic business planning across all BSE divisions, including teams, venues, content development, and new projects, as well as target growth and acquisition opportunities, some of which will be announced soon. Mangione will also serve as a liaison between Yormark and the company’s current businesses. (Emphasis added.)
Prokhorov has shifting his investments from Moscow and commodities to New York and sports/entertainment over the last year. According to Bloomberg News, he now or will soon have more businesses on this side of the Atlantic. He also has enormous cash reserves.
While there was some suggestion last year that he could sell the Nets, there’s no indication now that Prokhorov is interested in selling anything more than a minority stake. And there’s also no indication anything is close on that front.
What kind of “acquisition opportunity” might Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment be interested in? Think small, think entertainment more than sports. Sports Business Journal reported this week that Yormark had engineered a partnership that will market naming rights for other sports venues.
Also, BS&E is still struggling with the Islanders move to Barclays and will soon re-open Nassau Coliseum and Paramount, both major undertakings. Still, the pursuit of other acquisitions once again suggests Prokhorov will be sticking around for the foreseeable future.