'09
By Joseph Dobrian Photograph by Roy Gumpel
Slowly and uncertainly, the development of Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards seems to be progressing. And with it, the New Jersey Nets’ planned move from the Izod Center into the new 18,000-seat Barclay’s Center is still scheduled for 2011.
“We are committed to bringing the Nets to Brooklyn and building an arena and residential community that will make the people of Brooklyn and the entire city proud,” says Bruce Ratner, chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies and principal owner of Nets Sports and Entertainment, LLC. “There’s a tremendous amount of excitement about the Nets coming to Brooklyn. For the first time since the Dodgers left in 1957, Brooklyn will have a major professional sports team to call its own. Our goal will be to provide our fans with a great experience in what will be the best arena in the world.”
Most observers predict that if Nets’ president and CEO Brett Yormark can repeat in Brooklyn the marketing success he’s had in New Jersey, the borough could enjoy a level of regional prestige that it hasn’t seen in more than half a century. Many local businesses hope that Atlantic Yards will bring in more upscale residents as well as make the borough a magnet for fun-seekers throughout the Tri-State area.
Atlantic Yards has attracted plenty of opposition, however. Some feel that the project will damage the neighborhood’s homey, small-business atmosphere, while others object on principal to the use of eminent domain to assemble the land for development.
But last June, Atlantic Yards cleared two major hurdles: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted to change the payment schedule for Forest City Ratner Companies to purchase the Vanderbilt Rail Yard, the proposed site of the project, and the Empire State Development Corporation board adopted a modified general project plan for the development.
New York’s Court of Appeals has agreed to hear an appeal of a lower court’s sustaining the state’s use of eminent domain on behalf of the developers, but most observers predict that the original verdict will be upheld. Meanwhile, all systems are apparently “go” at Forest City Ratner.
In the meantime, however, the Nets are still being courted ardently by the City of Newark, just in case the plans for Barclays Center fall through. Mayor Cory Booker is keeping close watch on developments in Brooklyn while reminding Yormark that Newark has a new, first-class basketball arena in move-in condition. Last March, the Nets announced plans to play two preseason games at Newark’s Prudential Center next fall, turning the flames of speculation up a little higher. However, at press time, the Nets are still slated for Brooklyn two years hence.
Weak performers on-court for the past several years, the Nets have nevertheless been drawing large audiences at East Rutherford’s Izod Center, and their off-court presence in the past five years has been noticeably stronger than when they reached the NBA Playoffs finals in 2001 and 2002. The franchise has become a prominent player in the regional economy, and Yormark says the franchise has only begun to market itself.
“There has never been a time in the history of the franchise when the basketball business was really working on all cylinders,” he says. “In its early years it was often a weak team, and when the Nets reached the NBA finals, in ’01 and ’02, we were still not a robust team off-court. We didn’t have the marketing infrastructure in place to take full advantage of the team’s on-court success. Now, after several off-years, the team is showing signs of improvement—it’s about a .500 team now—and has terrific marketing. I wish I had been there, with the marketing team I’ve got now, at the beginning of the decade.”
Yormark says he often thinks about “what if,” which is why he’s continued to market the Nets to New Jersey even though the move to Brooklyn is in progress. The strategy, he says, is to give the fans full value, never letting them feel short-changed whether the team wins or loses. The Nets’ marketing motto is, after all, “Nets basketball: more than a game.”
When Yormark and his team took over the Nets, they “rebranded and overhauled the entire experience,” he says.
“The fans come to the Izod Center for the product—the game—but they leave having seen much more,” he says. “We have various dance teams; a senior dance team; Sly, our mascot; and a mini-mascot. We want to be an entertainment source for all segments of our market. We’ve put in new LED signage, delivering continuous content to the fans; we’ve created various lounges, improved the food and beverage service, and upgraded the seats.”
The LED signage has a dual function, Yormark explains. It’s a way of passing basic information to the casual fans, and getting them acclimated to the team. To the hard-core fans, the signage delivers detailed statistics, constantly updated.
Pingbacks:
No Pingbacks for this post yet...
