Sportico: Brooklyn Nets (+ arena company) now worth $3.61B. The China market helps. (That includes Webull, though Nets downplayed it.)

Last week Sportico--the upstart online publication that competes with Forbes on team valuations (and hired their former lead reporter)--said the Brooklyn Nets are now worth $3.61 billion, up from $3.4 billion. 

That's the team plus the arena operating company, surely. Forbes in October said the combo was worth $3.2 billion, about what Joe Tsai paid.

.@Sportico's latest @NBA valuations are out. Here's how they've changed in that past year, a strange one with a lot of appreciation. Top four remain same:

-@nyknicks -- $6.12 billion
- @warriors -- $6.05 billion
- @Lakers -- $5.63 billion
- @BrooklynNets -- $3.61 billion pic.twitter.com/HN5CzVGyBS

— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) December 16, 2021

Kurt Badenhausen's main article, Knicks, Warriors Top $6 Billion in Sportico’s NBA Valuations, notes:

The NBA’s financial matrix changed after the collective bargaining agreement signed in late 2011 and the TV deals that kicked off with the 2016-17 season. The $24 billion media contract with ESPN and TNT at a 200% annual increase marked a “catch-up deal,” according to media consultant Ed Desser, as the two previous renewals had terrible timing, shortly after Sept. 11 and then during the late 2000s mortgage crisis. Franchise values and profits have surged ever since.

Rising valuations have heightened the challenge for limited partners to find buyers wealthy enough and willing to buy stakes in teams controlled by someone else. In early 2021, the NBA unveiled its solution: Private equity and other types of institutional investors may own up to 20% equity in a single franchise, and a team can have up to 30% of its equity held by investment funds.

So such funds are buying into teams like the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, and San Antonio Spurs, not for any intangible benefit but because they see returns. From the article:

“Sports provide a stable, recession-resistant asset class for long-term investors,” said Marc Ganis, co-founder of Sportscorp, in a phone interview. “Valuations have continued to increase over a 30-year period because the underlying assets of intellectual property—broadcast rights, merchandising, sponsorships, social media and internet—make the potential audience far larger and far broader geographically.” An added benefit: Sports offer a high degree of non-correlation with other assets, like stocks and bonds.

Screenshot from Sportico

Also: the NBA is expected to expand, with two more teams. 

As shown in the screenshot at right, Sportico values the arena company and team-related businesses at $950 million. (It's not clear what Forbes thought.) 

Notably, the Nets are only expected to be sixth in the league in projected revenue.

And China

Surely Tsai saw what Ganis cited too, too, including the advent of sports betting and the international market, especially in China. From the article:

In addition to the Bibigo investment in the Lakers, a Chinese electronic trading platform, Webull Financial, signed a sponsorship pact with the Brooklyn Nets worth $30 million a year, while Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten extended its $20 million-a-year patch deal with the Warriors at an increase.

(Emphasis added)

Hmm. I don't remember seeing reference to Webull's roots in China in the Nets' 9/27/21 press release, BROOKLYN NETS AND NEW YORK LIBERTY FORM GLOBAL MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH WEBULL:

BROOKLYN – The Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty have entered into a global multi-year agreement with Webull, an independent, self-directed broker dealer focused on zero-commission online trading and in-depth market data. As part of Webull’s first-ever sports partnership, the company will have international marketing rights to promote its alliance not only in the New York market, but also outside the U.S. through expansive marketing, advertising, and digital activations. Webull Corporation, Webull’s parent company, will leverage the international rights to expand their global reach.

Additionally, Webull will become the official jersey patch partner for the Brooklyn Nets beginning with the 2021-22 NBA season... 

Webull, with its U.S. headquarters in New York City, is an easy-to-use, zero-commission brokerage and market data platform that is available to investors of all experience levels... The company continues to expand its global reach with offices in six international cities and by serving its customers with market data from 31 countries.

Yes, the press release indicated an international presence, but was vague. 

The 9/27/21 coverage by CNBC, Brooklyn Nets land $30 million per year jersey deal with brokerage platform Webull called it "New York-based brokerage platform Webull," but noted "Webull is an online trading platform headquartered in New York and owned by Chinese holding company Fumi Technology."

NetsDaily noted at the time:

Wang Anquan, its founder, once worked for Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant of which Joe Tsai is executive vice chairman. However, a source tells NetsDaily that Tsai was not instrumental in bringing on WeBull