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April 13, 2008
Collapse of sub-.500 Nets means no lucrative post-season revenue stream
The past month has not been kind to Bruce Ratner.
On March 21st, Ratner admitted to The New York Times that he'd been unable to find an anchor tenant for "Miss Brooklyn," the signature skyscraper of his planned Atlantic Yards mega-development, and he conceded that the evaporating bond market would make it tough to secure financing for the housing portion of the project.
And now, with the New Jersey Nets' loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday night, Ratner bade farewell to any potential post-season revenue.
For the money-losing Nets, income from playoff games would have helped the bottom line immensely. But the only playoff games the 33-47 Nets (they managed to win a meaningless game against the Milwaukee Bucks last night) will experience are the ones they'll be watching on TV.
Their failure to reach the post-season this year culminates a steepening downward spiral that commenced when Ratner acquired the two-time defending Eastern Conference Champs early in 2004. The team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals that season, but failed to advance past the second round in 2005, 2006 or 2007. Some may perhaps see a parallel in his Atlantic Yards project, which was announced as a "done deal" in December, 2003, but has gradually gotten more and more undone.
The Nets' increasing futility under Ratner's ownership betrays the truth about his acquisition of the team — the deal was all about real estate and had nothing to do with any new-found interest in pro basketball.
Ratner's hiring of Brett Yormark to run the Nets only confirmed that. The team CEO focuses his time on marketing efforts and sponsorship deals, while what the Nets really need is to put a better team on the floor. For all Yormark's alleged marketing wizardry, more than 20% of the seats at Nets games go unused, and even some of the occupied seats are likely deeply discounted or given away. It's probably safe to say that Nets fans would rather have a solid low-post scorer than Wrigley's as official sponsor of the off-season — an off-season that will be longer this year than it has been since 2001. Rather than touring Europe this week to recruit sponsors, Yormark might want to spend some time scouting talent.
Posted by eric at April 13, 2008 10:51 AM