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Nets Confirm Move to Brooklyn

The global economic crisis has sent shockwaves through the sports world as sponsorships have dried up and ticket sales have slowed. Nowhere has this impact been felt more keenly than metropolitan New York, which this month debuts two new baseball stadiums and where a new football stadium and basketball arena are being constructed. That's a lot of building for any area, much less for the highest price real estate and construction market in the country. The credit crunch has spawned rumors that the move of the New Jersey Nets to their new home in Brooklyn will be aborted as the new Barclay's Center will be a victim of lack of financing.

Nets CEO Brett Yormack reiterated in a recent interview with Bloomberg that the Nets are still committed to the move to Brooklyn and that it will occur in the 2011-2012 season. The Nets have sold 20% of the sponsorships and eight of fourteen founding partnerships, with a ninth to be announced soon.

There is a final piece of legislation to clear concerning the environmental impact of the proposed development and once that is cleared the project is ready to be built. ?The table has been set,? Yormark said. ?We feel very confident about the financing. We feel very confident about just the project in general, and once we get through this final piece of litigation, we?ll be in the accelerated mode to break ground and get ready to open.?

The entire interview with Yormack is below in case you're interested. It runs about 25 minutes and covers the whole spectrum of operating a NBA franchise. The move to Brooklyn is about 16 minutes in.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on March 16, 2009 (boomark / email).