Report: Nets co-owner Bruce Ratner selling share of Barclays Center

Brooklyn Nets co-owner Bruce Ratner is selling his majority share of the Barclays Center. The arena could be valued as high as $750 million, meaning Ratner's 55 percent stake would be worth more than $400 million.

Brooklyn Nets co-owner Bruce Ratner is selling his majority share of the Barclays Center, Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal reports.

Kaplan reports the arena could be valued as high as $750 million, meaning Ratner's 55 percent stake would be worth more than $400 million. Ratner reportedly tried to sell his 20 percent stake in the Nets for $200 million earlier this season.

Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov reportedly has right of first refusal to buy Ratner's stake. New York Islanders owners Jonathan Ledecky and Scott Malkin, whose team will move to the arena next season, are also likely candidates, according to Kaplan.

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The news follows a report earlier this month that the owners of the Nets were discussing combining assets with the Los Angeles Dodgers' ownership group. Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Dodgers, said the group is not seeking a deal for ownership with the Nets, via ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

“I have no intention of selling the Dodgers.  As for the Nets, I have not seen their numbers.  They are a terrific franchise.  I would be happy to look at their information and any proposal anyone wanted to make to me – as I would with any proposal."  He also added, “We are not working on anything related to this.” 

Because of the team's high payroll and the league's luxury tax system, the team reportedly lost $144 million last season, though the arena remains profitable.

The Nets open the regular season on Oct. 29 against the Boston Celtics.

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[H/T Nets Daily]

- Paul Palladino