Sportico: After 43% jump in 2024, value of Brooklyn Nets' parent BSE Global grew only 9%, now NBA's 6th most valuable. Owner Tsai key in NBA China ventures.

Most of us would be pretty happy with a 9% return on our investments. For Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, who own 85% of BSE Global (with the Koch family owning the rest), that figure shows they're lagging rival NBA franchises, as values ever rise.

NBA TEAM VALUES 2025: WARRIORS LEAD AT $11.33B, AVERAGE HITS $5.5B, Sportico recently reported, with the Brooklyn Nets and their parent company valued at $6.22 billion, up from $5.7 billion last year. 

Screenshot from Sportico

Don't cry for the Tsais. In 2023, Sportico valued the Nets and the parent company at $3.98 billion, which was only 13th in the 30-team league. Then came a 43% increase in 2024.

What changed last year? The emergence of an eager investor, the Koch family, vaulting the value to fourth in the league.

These numbers aren't definitive. Note that CNBC in February valued BSE Global at $5.6 billion, and Forbes' last year set a $4.8 billion value, with its 2025 valuation is expected soon.

Major factors

This year, Sportico notes "a trio of team sales this year in Boston, Los Angeles and Portland that spanned the sport’s economic tiers and drove values up across the board." 

Meanwhile, new media deals are kicking in. Those increasing franchise values will then influence the cost of a team as the league expands, with Seattle and Las Vegas most likely, as well as an expansion to Europe.

Back to China

From Sportico:

This month, the league returned to China after a six-year hiatus. The two games in Macao were a pivotal step in repairing the relationship with the NBA’s second-biggest market. The league also renewed its partnership with Alibaba to be the official cloud computing and AI partner of NBA China. Alibaba platforms have dedicated NBA areas for fans in China to engage with content or shop for merchandise. Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai owns the Brooklyn Nets.
In China, the league has four flagship stores, 45 NBA kids stores and more than 5,000 partner retail stores. The NBA is the most popular sports league in China with 425 million social media followers in China across league, team and player platforms.

That's why Tsai will remain an influential owner in the league.

Methodology

Sportico states:

 To derive the market value of the 30 NBA franchises, Sportico calculated each team’s revenue relying on publicly available information and financial records, as well as interviews with those knowledgeable of team finances, including sports bankers and attorneys who actively work on NBA transactions. In the interest of accuracy, we traded candor for anonymity. This information was vetted by multiple owners, along with team or parent company CEOs, presidents, chief financial officers, media relations personnel, industry experts and investors. Below are definitions of some major metrics:

The total value involves not just the NBA franchise but also the value of team-related businesses and real estate holdings, including associated WNBA teams. (Note that the Tsais this year sold a slice of the New York Liberty at a then-record valuation.)

Revenue includes league-shared revenue, such as national media deals, league sponsorship, licensed merchandises, and digital media ventures, cable TV, NBA China, and NBA Africa. Local revenue includes ticket sales; premium seating, sponsorships, and media.

Public assistance

So the "value of owning an arena company goosed by public largesse" is what's really on display, which is why, as I've argued, the arena operating company should pay for the right to a permanent plaza, as I wrote last year.

Also on display: as the eagerness of billionaires, who don't need to be chasing bargains, to invest in some high-profile scarce commodities, which bring a nice halo.