Russian tycoons forsake western sports teams as Chinese snap them up

11:39 • 21.08.19
Economy

Another year, and another Russian billionaire relinquishes ownership of a professional sports club.

The latest to do so is Mikhail Prokhorov, who’s selling his stake in the Brooklyn Nets and its arena for a record $3.5 billion to Joe Tsai, the Taiwan-born executive vice chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Bloomberg reports.

Last August, Alisher Usmanov sold his 30% stake in Arsenal soccer club for 602.4 million pounds ($730 million), ending a dispute with Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke over management of the London Premier League team.

The “wave of Russians” that invested in Western sports in the 2000s has given way to wealthy Chinese, said Dmitry Navosha, founder of website sports.ru. “The concept of sports as global entertainment is evident to them as incomes of NBA clubs and top-tier soccer leagues are growing largely due to Asian fans.”

Chinese investors have taken stakes in European soccer teams including England’s Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton; Italy’s A.C. Milan and Inter Milan; Spain’s Atletico Madrid; and Slavia Prague in the Czech Republic.

Some of those ownership changes were short-lived. Billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group Co. agreed to sell its 17% stake in Atletico Madrid last year amid increased scrutiny of what the Chinese government called “irrational investments” that resulted in capital outflows, and Tony Xia, chairman of the Recon Group, has given up control of Aston Villa.

Usmanov was the second Russian billionaire to pull back from an investment in the Premier League. Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich shelved a major redevelopment of its stadium, blaming an unfavorable investment climate. The decisions come amid worsening Russia-U.K. relations, with Britain accusing Russia of poisoning a former spy and his daughter in Salisbury, England.

 
 

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