俄罗斯富商投资NBA网队

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He is tall enough to be a basketball player and professes a passion for the game. But it's Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's cash that landed him on center core. Prokhorov, considered Russia's richest man, reached a deal with the New Jersey Nets. It's expected he'll take over the struggling team and help finance a new arena. Plans for that arena have been in the works since 2004. That's when the team's current owner announced the Nets would move to Brooklyn. But since then, the move has hit serious roadblocks. Financial advisor Rob Tilliss worked on that 2004 acquisition.

How significant is this deal?

It's a significant development, I think, in U.S. professional sports, because it's the first time you've had a major foreign investor come to take control of a major professional sports team. We've seen this trend more frequently in Europe though in years past.

A Russian oligarch made big headlines when he took over Britain's Chelsea soccer team. Here in the U.S., Prokhorov's 200 million-dollar foreign aid into basketball could seize the same kind of attention. But it's also seen as significant from a financial standpoint for the National Basketball Association.

This is a huge deal for the NBA. Revenues last year for the NBA were up only two percent. This year, potentially, they could be down. The NBA is really hurting financially.

The Cleveland Cavaliers for one are getting a boost from a Chinese investor who took a minority stake in the team earlier this year. And those who work in sports marketing say expect more overseas investments in U.S. teams.

If the vision of the NBA is to become a truly global league, then they are going to need the involvement of international business community.

NBA commissioner David Stern says interest in basketball is growing globally, saying, "…we are especially encouraged by Mr. Prokhorov's commitment to the Nets and the opportunity it presents to continue the growth of basketball in Russia." But in Russia, Prokhorov is facing criticism from some law makers questioning why he isn't investing the money there.

But Prokhorov says that part of his interest in acquiring the Nets is to develop basketball back in Russia. Now the deal still needs to be examined by the NBA and get a final approval by its board of governors.

Mary Snow, cnn, New York.

Vocabulary:

1.       in the works: in process of preparation, development, or completion