Brother, can you spare a franchise?

Diatribe #6 - November 20, 2003
Crumbling Fortunes, And A Price To Pay
Got a spare $250 million or so? If so, then you can still enter the "Buy the Nets and make a change" sweepstakes currently underway by YankeeNets, Inc.

That is, if the group can agree that the team should be sold.

You picture mega-millionaires, sitting around a conference table in some swanky Park Avenue law firm, trying to decide whether to sell the entire team to an outside buyer, have some of the group sell out to others in the group and divest themselves of this money-losing albatross, or keep the damned thing and try to work out an arena deal in Newark, or the Meadowlands, or even Paramus if that's what it's gonna take.

Let the auction begin.

The latest news out in the last few days says that basically the Nets organization is going to lose about $42 million over the next two years, and will run out of money in January unless the team is sold, or other arrangements are worked out. Any hope for a Newark arena deal, and the sweet suite deals that come with the territory, are certainly gone like yesterday's Michael Jackson news (what do you mean, he's under a cloud of suspicion again?). And any hope of increased attendance at the CAA is gone, with the team just about at rock bottom of the NBA's 29 teams in attendance.

The whole premise - put a bunch of sports organizations together (Yankees, Nets, Devils), create a television network that can run year-round on the backs of those franchises, and watch the money flow in, especially since the centerpiece is the damned Yankees, the most profitable team on the planet (now I don't actually know that, and I'll probably get around to researching it, but it's gotta be top 5 at least, right?). Only, thanks to the Nets and Devils, that hasn't happened.

And who's going to pay for this, in the end? You and I, of course. The loyal fans who have supported the team in good and (mostly) bad since they came over from Long Island about a hundred years ago. Now, Long Island and Brooklyn want the Nets, and they just might succeed.

Can the team stay in New Jersey? Realistically, there hasn't been much of a franchise heritage to keep fans coming back until recently. Of course, with the entrance of Rod Thorn and Jason Kidd (and Byron Scott, right?), the once flailing franchise made two straight trips to the NBA Finals, so there is plenty to cheer about. And plenty of reasons to attend a Nets game, especially considering the state of the Knicks these days. Not only can they stay - the MUST stay in New Jersey (that's why the Kushner - Corzine bid for the team is so important right now).

All that doesn't seem to matter, though. It's the lack of public transportation that keeps the fans from coming, the story goes. Or, it's the high price of tickets, food, souvenirs, etc. that keeps the low-to-middle income fan (the fan base, frankly) from coming out. There seems to be less support from corporations as well, but then again, everyone wants to be at the Garden, and there is a shortage of suites at the Continental anyway, remember? What else could it be?

I wish I could answer. Ticket prices are high, but face it - we have some serious income floating around these parts (I am not one of them, but I certainly see them. My five minute journey to work up Route 17 in the morning looks like a BMW or Lexus dealer...), so it's not the money. Or is it? The true fan base no longer can afford a ticket, at least not regularly. The cheap seats are $35. Mix in the $10 parking fee, the $10 ring for what amounts to a hot dog and a soda, and a cheap $20 piece of Nets paraphenalia and you've got a $75 night.

Transportation? I thought New Jersians loved to drive in their cars, and were in fact famous for not taking public transportation and avoiding carpooling. It has to hurt walk-up sales, true, but don't tell me you can't get there (unless of course we consider the perpetually clogged roads of Northern NJ...always makes a 7:30 start time a bit of a risk if you work until 5PM). Public rail service, which is part of the Xanadu plan, would certainly help in this area.

I could factor in the parking lot nazi's that make you park over at Giants Stadium and take the sucker's walk over the bridge (the Continental Death March, as it were) even when there is plenty of parking near the arena and the place isn't close to a sellout, but I digress.

The corporations? Can't answer to that one, but unless the franchise is carried by the average fan anyway, it would be a sterile atmosphere anyway, so who needs 'em?

None of these is a reason to move the team out of New Jersey, by the way. And all of these things (with the exception of public transportation, I suppose) will be just as big a problem in Brooklyn or Long Island.

I don't know.

What I do know, however, is this. Whomever becomes the new owner is going to have to pay for the financing of the team, plus invest more money into new schemes, the potential arena redevelopment (as part of Xanadu, which I am suddenly in favor of if it means the arena gets renovated and the team stays in New Jersey), and anything else to make this team draw at the gate (anyone want to study at the feet of Mark Cuban? Wacky dude, but he gets that the game is about fun, and not necessarily just on the court). And who's going to pay for that?

Why, I'll be you and me.

Let's hope there are lots of others as well, desperate for some entertainment that only the Nets can provide.

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