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September 7, 2012
Brooklyn Nets have the sizzle, but will the steak follow?
NewJerseyNewsroom.com
by Joe Favorito
Last week the Brooklyn Nets started their countdown clock to the long-discussed opening of Americas newest showplace, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Not a day goes by without another announcement of a concert, high school hoops extravaganza, new billboard going up, community visit, concert or “innovation” as the organization continues to scream “Look at Me” to anyone who will listen or not.
...There is probably no organization on the planet which has tried as hard to find ways to place itself in the media than the Nets and the Barclays Center in the past 18 months. From the added exposure coming from Kris Humphries’ ill-fated and short lived Kardashian experience, to the constant push of brand partners and the man who is pulling the pieces together from a sales side (Brett Yormark), everyone has at least a casual knowledge of where the Nets will be. Every day there is a reason to at least be intrigued by the goings-on in Brooklyn, whether you like NBA basketball or not.
...Some questions, however, remain unanswered. Will the team play well enough to have fans show up night in and night out for games against subpar opponents? Will the arena be a technological innovation along the lines of Kansas City’s Livestrong Park, which has emerged as the most tech-savvy of all new facilities to date? Will die-hard Knicks fans who have to traverse Penn Station on their daily commutes be drawn consistently to an aggressive vibe in Brooklyn? What happens when the sizzle comes off the new arena in a years time?
Old habits are tough to break, and that’s when the real selling will come in, on the rainy days when there are few “firsts” left in the Nets bag of tricks.
Posted by eric at September 7, 2012 11:09 AM