More from CNBC's Darren Rovell who predicted as early as 18 months ago that we'd see a spike in foreign ownership:
The biggest reason why foreign interests now will own more teams in the future is simply because there’s not enough rich Americans to buy the vast amount of sports teams that are available. Because of the decline of the primary business of most sports owners, more teams are for sale now, some quietly, than any time in recent history.
To get the price where some of these owners can accept it, they have to open it up to a worldwide pool. It’s why the Cavaliers will soon have a Chinese businessman owning a piece of their team and why it looks like the New Jersey Nets will finally become the Brooklyn Nets thanks in part to an upcoming investment by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov.
Fans haven’t liked the idea of out-of-town owners, so there might be some pushback if people from other countries begin swooping up teams. But for the current owners and the leagues –- especially in this economy -- it’s actually a good thing. For one, it makes the sport that much more international. Secondly, as I mentioned before, the trophy value is more. That means that a foreign owner is willing to pay more than other Americans because it is worth more to him, and his other business, to be called an owner in one of the major sports leagues.
The entire article is great, and diagnoses a trend that could have any number of implications for sports leagues and their players. Will more games be played in Europe, for instance? Or, perhaps the greatest fear for owners: Will American owners find themselves getting squeezed out of the league in favor of European or Asian businessmen with more capital?
At a certain point, especially in leagues without a salary cap, it becomes a matter of protecting competitive interest. It's not inconceivable, then, that a league might weed out a family ownership team of lesser finances (like, say, the Rooneys with the Steelers) in favor of a foreign billionaire who'll spend a bajillion dollars to give his team every advantage.
But that's all much further down the line, and involves hypotheticals that are more useful for fear-mongering than actual forecasts for the future of pro sports in this country. For now, Prokhorov is the first and only foreign NBA owner. And his involvement is going to bring a sneakily promising young team to the biggest city in America, and a borough that's been drastically improved over the last ten years. This is exciting news, and a welcome influx of good franchise karma at a time when multiple teams in the NBA are hemmorhaging money left and right.
Is it the sign of a coming trend? Possibly, but if this deal is any indication, that's good news for NBA fans.