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October 7, 2008
Economic Downturn Isn’t Slowing Luxury Box Sales
The NY Times
By Katie Thomas and Richard Sandomir
With the economy in crisis and Wall Street in turmoil, will local sports teams be forced to place vacancy signs on the scores of luxury suites being built in their new stadiums?
Don’t expect a stampede for the bleachers just yet, several team executives and industry observers said recently. They noted that the concentration of corporate headquarters in New York — combined with the marquee appeal of locations like Yankee Stadium — meant that demand for luxury suites was not likely to fade anytime soon. At some of the new stadiums, the suites are already sold out.
At the bottom of the pack, Bruce Ratner spokesperson Barry Baum tries to put on a happy face, despite the fact that they can't officially break ground until they in fact own the land needed to build the arena.
Teams whose stadiums are further from completion face more uncertainty, [editor and publisher of Revenues from Sports Venues Jim] Grinstead said. In particular, he said the Nets’ project faced competition from arenas like Madison Square Garden. “That’s where the sales challenge is,” he said.
But Barry Baum, a Ratner spokesman, said that about 30 percent of the 128 planned suites were leased. Once ground is broken for the arena next year, “we expect to have a flurry of interest,” Baum said.
NoLandGrab: The original version of this Times story read "once ground is broken for the arena later this year...." That is widely seen as an impossibility, given lawsuits facing the Atlantic Yards project.
Sour Times for Suites; Ratner Flack Misses Atlantic Yards Memo
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn politely catches Baum in a fib:
Just last week Bruce Ratner told The Times and The Sun that he can't break ground for at least another six months, which would decidely not be "later this year."
And if Baum is fibbin' about the groundbreaking, why should anyone believe him about unverifiable sales figures?
As for that 30 percent and holding number. In May The Times reported that the Nets marketing guru Brett Yormark claimed 20 percent had been leased. Now they say it's 30 percent? Forgive us if we are not the only ones who think that's as believable as Baum saying they are "breaking ground" later this year.
Posted by lumi at October 7, 2008 6:37 AM