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November 3, 2008
No Red Dawn for Ratner
New York Magazine, Intelligencer
By Will Leitch
Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner was banking on the fact that the NJ Nets would actually make money if the team moved to a new arena in Brooklyn. After multiple setbacks, can the developer just sell the team?
After Ratner denied a Daily News report last week that he was considering selling the team, NBA commissioner David Stern confirmed “Russian oligarchs” had come a-calling, jokingly pointing out that the offer, along with a separate one from a Dubai group, was made “when oil was $140 a barrel.”
Even if the Russians aren’t coming, the clock seems to have run out. Stuck with an asset that’s reportedly losing him $30 million a year, Ratner has been backed into a corner. Thanks to Ratner’s boosterism, the Nets have decidedly less value without the Atlantic Yards project. He has an asset he can’t sell and doesn’t have an asset he can.
Posted by lumi at November 3, 2008 5:24 AM