Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Well, Nets principal owner Mikhail Prokhorov came to Brooklyn Tuesday to look at the under-construction Barclays Center arena and pretty much conquered the fawning sports press, with one notable exception. (Prokhorov with Bruce Ratner, in photo from the Nets' web site. ) Here are some of the headlines, which hint at the low level of actual news: Owner Says the Nets and New Arena Remain Hard-Hat Zones , New York Times Nets owner Prokhorov starts courting Deron , New York Post Mikhail Prokhorov ready for "throwdown’ over Deron Williams , New York Daily News Nets owner Prokhorov jokes about "crushing" Mark Cuban over Deron Williams , The Record Prokhorov speaks in Brooklyn , NJ Nets Nation NETS: 6 Months Out, Prokhorov Tours Barclays Center Site , Nets site Nets’ Brooklyn Dream Is A Reality , NBA.com Mikhail Prokhorov dishes on D-Will , ESPN New York (with video) Prokhorov challenges Cuban to duel, weighs in on Dwight, D-Will . CBS Sp...

The CBS newsmagazine show 60 Minutes is surely capable of tough investigation; in 2003, it ran a tough piece on eminent domain abuse around the country, even mentioning an episode in which the New York Times "teamed up with a major real estate developer" to get New York State to use eminent domain for a new Times headquarters. That very same "major real estate developer," Forest City Ratner, has achieved similar success in getting the state to declare the Atlantic Yards site blighted, but that's not the story 60 Minutes wanted this time. It sought a "get" --an exclusive interview with expected Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and, in the segment broadcast tonight, The Russian Is Coming , correspondent Steve Kroft lobbed softball questions at the billionaire, partied with him (as in screenshot at right), and generally couldn't suppress a grin from his face. Prokhorov maintained his own lighthearted mien, playfully parrying questions, and even claiming ...

In a breakfast with the mayor and a press conference with reporters, new Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov continued his American debut yesterday, with raves from sports reporters impressed by his demeanor and one-liners and unmindful of, oh, things like eminent domain or charges of sanctions-busting in Zimbabwe. And, as the video from ESPN below shows, Prokhorov has even been schooled to utter a Ratnerian mantra, though surely he will be advised to amend "affordable houses and jobs" to "affordable hous ing and jobs." The Bloomberg breakfast The breakfast with Mayor Mike Bloomberg, development partner Bruce Ratner, and entertainment force (and fractional Nets owner) Jay-Z was a photo op only, so the New York Times invited readers to contribute captions. Most captions capitalized on the incongruity of the mayor meeting the hip-hop mogul--a photo including Prokhorov (as in the New York Daily News ) surely would've generated different cultural quips--but a ...

With Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine, there's been a new focus on the notion of "sportswashing"--of nations and individuals using sports success, and team ownership, to burnish their questionable reputations. I haven't used the phrase previously, but in 2010 coverage of the unwisely generous coverage of (then) new Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, I noted that "money cleanses."  In retrospect, that New York Times Magazine cover line, An Oligarch of Our Own , and that 60 Minutes profile, The Russian Is Coming , look even more questionable. A contrasting view from journalist Matt Taibbi at the time: "They privatized the jewels of Soviet industry into the hands of a few gangsters, basically... And then, ten, 15 years later, I come back to America and find out that one of them has become owner of the New Jersey Nets." And while Prokhorov has been mentioned up in recent coverage, there are several other examples, notably soccer team owner...

Is Russian billionaire (and Nets majority owner) Mikhail Prokhorov's ( NBA-sanctioned ) foray into politics a Kremlin-sanctioned play? Amid all the coverage, that's a minority view, but it's one taken by some respected opposition figure and backed by some circumstantial evidence.   The New York Daily News, in an editorial yesterday, saluted Prokhorov: The unthinkable appears to be happening to Vladimir Putin: A formidable figure will challenge the Russian strongman in that country’s 2012 presidential election. Raise a glass of Stoli to adopted New York billionaire and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov for having the guts even to say that he’ll try to dethrone the ruthless would-be leader-for-life. What if he's a fake? But Newsweek/Daily Beast correspondent Anna Nemtsova asked on 12/12/11, Is Russia’s Mikhail Prokhorov a Fake Challenger for Vladimir Putin? : On Monday they finally clashed. Prokhorov, who owns the New Jersey Nets, announced that he would run for presi...

In February, the TrueHoop media property, known for incisive coverage of NBA basketball, was revived as a newsletter (mostly subscription-only, but here's a link for a free month ) and, wouldn't you know, founder Henry Abbott delivered an eight-part series on Mikhail Prokhorov, principal owner of the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center operating company. And that series concerns only Prokhorov's background, not his post-purchase performance. No smoking gun, but... Abbott doesn't find any smoking guns, but he does synthesize an enormous amount, and leaves us with the lingering sense that much about Prokhorov is "tricky," tough to truly suss out, but shrouded with questions and whiffs of impropriety. And that means that the NBA didn't do a serious job vetting the new owner with the deep pockets. That's a significant achievement for a sports publication. At the very least, the series reminds us how both the sports and mainstream press mostly em...

Forbes Sports Money writer Mike Ozanian writes, in  What Went Wrong With The Sale Of The Brooklyn Nets , that rumors of extravagant prices for the Nets have now been dampened by the severing of the relationship between majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov and investment bank Evercore. And Ozanian reports that the bank, not Prokhorov, walked away. He writes: The main problem is that Prokhorov has not committed to selling a majority of the Nets and no one is apparently crazy enough to pay big money for a minority stake in a money-losing team. Such a deal would mean the new investor would have no say in how the Nets are run but would likely have to make cash payments to make up for the team’s red ink. As one banker who traded candor for anonymity put it, “No one knew what the deal was.” Apparently Evercore grew frustrated spending time and effort dealing with Prokhorov’s fishing expedition for a minority investor. Note that Bruce Ratner and Forest City Enterprises, which own ...

Depending on what you read, the Brooklyn Nets's valuation has risen thanks to a new TV deal, Mikhail Prokhorov is struggling to sell the team, and a refinancing means better terms for the team and possibly the arena. In  Team valuations reflect hot market , Sports Business Journal reported 10/27/14 that the Atlanta Hawks should sell for $750 million, which suggests the Brooklyn Nets would be worth much more. As one SBJ source noted, "you are not just buying that team but buying a one-thirtieth interest in the NBA, which has proved to be a very solid and sustainable investment, and it’s obviously a league poised for global growth.” Not only did the NBA nearly triple the value of its TV deal, the Nets will be able to renegotiate their local deal for far more. (Currently, the $25 million a year is dwarfed by the $35 million a year deal signed in the backwater market of Sacramento.) Still, Bruce Ratner has had trouble selling his 20% of the Nets, aiming for a price based ...

Now that Nets principal owner Mikhail Prokhorov has visited Brooklyn, with a press conference last week  at the Barclays Center site, let's take a look at Julia Ioffe's recent New Yorker piece,  The Master and Mikhail: Are Putin and Prokhorov running for President against or with each other? . The main message was that the billionaire may have appeared to be a Kremlin stooge when he entered politics, but he had moved past that--at least somewhat--in his run against Vladimir Putin. But the two passages most interesting to me regarded Prokhorov's business success. The first “Can you please tell me, is it possible to earn a billion honestly?” an elderly man asked, echoing the sentiment, common in Russia, that the oligarchs earned their fortunes through deceit and government connections. “I think you can,” Prokhorov replied, his face radiating self-regard. “At the very least, I haven’t broken any laws.” (Emphases added) Not breaking the law is not the same as behaving...

Updated below with response from the Times's Sports editor and my response. New York Times sports reporter Howard Beck, in an article headlined Russian Billionaire Is White Knight for the Nets , buffs expected Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov: But we will soon begin to see what one hypercompetitive individual with a bottomless bank account can do for a team. The 44-year-old Prokhorov, the second-richest man in Russia, is expected to assume control of the woebegone Nets within the next few weeks . It may be the most anticipated ownership change in N.B.A. history. Prokhorov is relatively young, wealthy, charming, tall, athletic and adventurous, a modern-day renaissance man with an air of cold war mystique. He could pass for a Bond villain, or a double agent in a Tom Clancy novel. The NetsDaily blog has dubbed him “the Most Interesting Man in the World,” after the suave fellow in the beer commercials. Beck, with the assistance of two Times reporters, quoted the following so...