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The Brooklyn Nets are currently in the middle of an offseason in which the team has already made a lot of changes in the hopes of long-term improvement. Continuing with the theme of trying to improve with change, Brooklyn is making a chance to its ownership group after some previous reporting.
Per Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico, the Nets’ parent company, BSE Global (currently controlled by owners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai), is selling 15% of the ownership stake to billionaire Julia Koch and her family. By agreeing to purchase 15% ownership in BSE Global, Koch and her family also have stake in the WNBA’s New York Liberty, and Barclays Center, the arena that the Nets and the Liberty play their home games in.
“The parent of the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty and Barclays Center was assigned a post-money enterprise value of about $6 billion in an upcoming stake sale, according an email sent Tuesday to NBA owners, among the highest valuations ever for a U.S. sports team in a transaction,” Soshnick and Novy-Williams wrote.
Soshnick and Novy-Williams also wrote that the NBA’s advisory finance committee has already reviewed the transaction and has recommended that the purchase by approved by the other league governors. In a previous report by Soshnick and Novy-Williams in February, Koch was initially trying to purchase 10% of BSE Global so it’s interesting that she was able to get a bigger percentage.
Here’s what Joe Tsai had to say to BSE employees following the news of the purchase by Koch:
“I want to emphasize that both our families are committed to making the necessary investments in our franchises to build a sustainable winning culture. As well as in the people and physical infrastructure to bring the best of sports and entertainment to our fans and audiences.”
Soshnick and Novy-Williams also noted that “in addition to rights to the venue and the two main basketball teams, BSE Global’s portfolio also includes the Nets’ G-League affiliate, their NBA 2K League team, their Brooklyn training facility and an outdoor skating rink operated in partnership with IMG.”