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March 2, 2010
Nets Will Offer Free Tax Preparation as a Game Promotion
The New York Times
by Ken Belson
With just six victories this season, the Nets are threatening to compile the worst record in N.B.A. history. But Nets executives are still trying to persuade fans to attend the team’s last 12 home games.
Their latest promotion will be unveiled Friday, when the Nets play the Orlando Magic. New Jersey residents 18 or older who attend the game will get a coupon that they can redeem at a Roni Deutch Tax Center to get their state income tax done free.
Representatives of Roni Deutch Tax Centers — there are nine in the New York area — will be at the game to answer tax-related questions.
Alas, the Nets will not be paying their fans’ tax bills, and a similar coupon can be downloaded from Roni Deutch’s Web site. Deutch charges $29 to prepare a state income tax return and $185 for a federal return.
NoLandGrab: Maybe it's us, but articles this puffy make us think the "partnership" between Bruce Ratner and The New York Times extends well beyond the construction of the newspaper's headquarters building. Case in point — this story carried the headline "Deathly Nets Seek Lift From Another Sure Thing: Taxes" in the print edition. Did someone request a less pejorative headline for the web version*?
* A reader suggests that the headline change could have more to do with the searchable nature of the internet, and that more-creative print headlines are often made more straightforward on the web. You be the judge. We should point out that The Times, when writing about the Nets, never alerts readers that the team's principal owner and the CEO of the company that built its headquarters building are one and the same.
Posted by eric at March 2, 2010 10:49 AM