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November 22, 2010
Six Months Into "The Prokhorov Era", He and Nets Rebuilding...Patiently
NetsDaily
"Net Income" continues his love affair with Mikhail Prokhorov.
It's been six months (and nine losses in 13 games) since Mikhail Prokhorov bought the Nets from Bruce Ratner after what seemed to be an interminable wait.
Prokhorov has invested or committed about a half billion in the Nets, when the amounts he paid for pieces of the team and arena ($200 million), agreed to pay off in corporate debt ($175 million), accepted in future losses ($60 million) and invested in arena infrastructure ($77 million) are tallied up. Then, there's the $4 million he's committed to break the lease at the IZOD Center and the millions he's invested in basketball operations.
Most of that money, say team insiders, has long been transferred or spent.
Is he getting his moneys' worth? In terms of product on the court, no, not yet. In terms of positive publicity for his worldwide businesses, oh yes. It's inconceivable that "60 Minutes", the New York Times Sunday Magazine or Bloomberg TV would have spent so much time on him if he was still just the gold and aluminum baron of Siberia. As he has said, it's the best business card in the world.
So how goes "The Prokhorov Era" for Nets fans? Tighten the straps on your hard hat. Lots of work left to do.
...And while "The Rock" is a dramatic improvement over the Izod, the Nets rank 28th in raw attendance and 24th in percentage of seats filled...in spite of big discount deals with ticket re-sellers. Jay-Z has only been to one game. To make matters worse, the Knicks just had their most successful West Coast swing ever while the Nets had a frustrating, mediocre run in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. So much for the "Blueprint for Greatness".
Posted by eric at November 22, 2010 8:55 AM