Tsai Completes Acquisition Of Barclays Center, Brooklyn Nets; Names David Levy CEO

Courtesy BSE Global – David Levy

With the acquisition of Barclays Center and the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets by Joe Tsai completed, media and sports executive David Levy was named Chief Executive Officer of the team and venue, Tsai announced today (Sept. 18). He succeeds Brett Yormark, who departed BSE Global when the sale was announced.

The deal was completed through J Tsai Sports, of which Levy also becomes president. J Tsai Sports is a sports investment and holding company controlled by Tsai, best known as a co-founder of China’s Alibaba. Levy also joins the Tsai family office as a venture partner, with coverage of sports, media and entertainment investments globally, according to the announcement.

“With full ownership of the Nets and Barclays Center, we will continue to bring our exciting brand of basketball to our fans,” said Tsai. “We’ve made a strong commitment to Brooklyn and it will be a privilege to present the best of Barclays Center with its great entertainment to our community.”

Levy, with more than 30 years under his belt working with the NBA, will oversee business, revenue, strategy and operations for the team and arena as CEO.

“David brings a unique combination of sports and media know-how, strategic thinking and operating skills to our sports and entertainment business. He is an entrepreneur at heart with the experience of managing and scaling organizations, and I really look forward to working with him,” said Tsai in a statement.

“I am excited and honored to join the Nets organization and look forward to working alongside Joe and the talented forward-thinking executives and team members across the entire organization,” Levy added. “Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson have done a terrific job instilling a winning culture and I am looking forward to supporting them as we build a sustainable foundation of success on and off the court. I am excited for our fans and can’t wait to get started.”

Levy also spent 32 years at Turner Broadcasting, the last six years as president. In that role, Levy had oversight of the company’s portfolio of brands and businesses including TNT, TBS, Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and truTV.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to capture the growth of sports globally,” Levy says of his new role. “J Tsai Sports is in a unique position to leverage our global resources and a strong portfolio of sports, entertainment and technology holdings to create value for our existing franchises as well as invest in new ventures for growth.”