Nets Poised to Cash In on Brooklyn, the Brand?
Newsday checks in on why the Atlantic Yards arena, no matter what it looks like, would be such a boon for the Nets in terms of revenue: “The ‘Brooklyn’ brand is expected to be an instant merchandising success. The change in address alone will increase the value of the franchise—Forbes ranks the Nets 26th in…
Newsday checks in on why the Atlantic Yards arena, no matter what it looks like, would be such a boon for the Nets in terms of revenue: “The ‘Brooklyn’ brand is expected to be an instant merchandising success. The change in address alone will increase the value of the franchise—Forbes ranks the Nets 26th in value ($295 million) in the 30-team NBA; the Knicks ($613 million) are No. 1—but Forbes senior editor Kurt Badenhausen says the move into a more viable arena will be the biggest asset. ‘They will control all of the revenues at the arena,’ Badenhausen said. ‘Right now, they share a significant amount of the revenues at the Izod Center with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.'” The story says that if the team actually does move to Brooklyn, it would both tap into Dodgers nostalgia and create a money-making rivalry between the Nets and the Knicks on par with the one that exists between the Mets and the Yanks. Still, as the story notes, “though the Nets already have a 20-year, $400-million naming-rights deal with Barclays, and 28 to 30 percent of suites have been sold before the shovel hits the ground in the fall – they will need to generate a great deal of revenue just to be able to pay off the ambitious project and still remain viable at the same time.”
Nets Expected to Thrive With ‘Brooklyn’ Brand [Newsday]
Logo from rllayman.
MM – yes, some people drive to Yankee Stadium, Citifield, and MSG, even though all are near public transit. But a ton of people also take trains. Go to the Shea Stadium subway stop on a game day (Or the Yankee stadium A or metro north stops)and it’s as busy as grand central station during rush hour. The point is that if you put an arena on top of multiple transit lines and make it difficult to park, SOME people will still drive, but a heck of a lot more people will take the path of least resistance and take transit. If you put the stadium off someplace not convenient to transit the EVERYONE will drive. There’s a big difference between 5,000 people driving into your neighborhood looking to park and 20,000 people doing the same thing. There have been multiple studies which have proven this beyond a shadow of a doubt. The most conclusive was about the new arean in DC (called the MCI center at the time, don’t know what it’s called now) which is also located an several transit lines. After it was open for a couple of seasons, they found that far more people were taking transit to games than even their most agrresive predictions. ANd that’s in DC which has a much less robust transit system and much stronger car culture than NYC – the american capital for transit.
Does anyone really believe people who drive everywhere, anyway, are going to suddenly take the subway or the LIRR to a Nets game at AY because it sits on a transit hub? These are the same people who drive to Knicks games, to Yankee Stadium and Shea (can’t remember what it’s called now), etc, etc. All of them are near public transportation, too. This is a testosterone driven sports culture, and the driving of cars to these events is going to happen, no matter where it is, for both practical and impractical reasons. People will be parked as far away as Crown Heights and Park Slope. Lucky us all around.
We’ve already lined Ratner’s pockets. When our property taxes go up next year, we should
be sure to remind ourselves how grateful we are.
The team will be embraced by the people who will never be able to afford the games but will line Ratner’s pockets with all the franchised merchandise.
The team will be embraced by the people who will never be able t afford the games but will line Ratner’s pockets with all the franchised merchandise.
I found out the other day Ratner has a whole floor in the NYT building devoted to selling luxury boxes, with mockups and everything.
I think that Flatbush and Atlantic is the perfect location for the arena…assuming you actually want people to go to games utilizing mass transit as opposed to driving. Coney Island would be a great location if you wanted people to drive to games. Every single trainline in New York City is either located at Atlantic (along with the LIRR) or is in close proximity. I think that the key will be seriously dissuading people from driving. For example, I DO strongly agree with the sentiment that allowing the empty AY lots to serve as surface parking would be a complete disaster. That cannot be allowed to happen.
Bob Marvin – Your comment is so far off base that it has single handedly demolished all of the respect I had built up for you based on your previous comments, which are generally thoughtful and informative.
The primary concern in placing an arena, where 20,000 people gather hundreds of times a year, should be proximity to transit lines. THere is no better transit hub in Brooklyn (and only a couple better in the whole country) than on top of the Atlantic Ave subway stop and LIRR terminal. Coney island would be a traffic (and therefore environmental) nightmare.
And I say this as someone who is pretty ambivalent about the project, and someone who lives nearby and will have to deal with the inconvenience of having 20,000 drunk basekteball fans and concert goers walking by my front door.
“I’ll be dreeeeeeaming…dreeeeeeaminnng…” – Vanessa Williams
***Bid half off peak comps***