NBA Open to Saudi and UAE Wealth Funds Investing in More Basketball Teams - Bloomberg
The National Basketball Association is open to potential investments from Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, according to a senior league official.
Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said he could see a path for sovereign wealth funds from Abu Dhabi and Riyadh to take minority passive ownership in teams. That would potentially follow the Qatar Investment Authority, which struck a deal in June to take a 5% stake in the parent company of the Washington Wizards.
“There’s been no specific discussions at the league level about that but if that were to happen with a club, the team would have to bring that to us and we’d have to go through our process and extensive background checks — like we would with any investor,” Tatum said in Abu Dhabi, where the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first of two preseason games in the city.
“There’s no lack of interest from institutional investors,” he said, declining to comment on potential talks between team owners and prospective buyers.
Booming valuations of basketball teams have made it difficult for the world’s richest to buy franchises on their own, creating an opening for investment funds. Meanwhile, Gulf states are aggressively deploying their oil wealth in the world of sport to diversify their economies beyond hydrocarbons.
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