When the Dodgers decided to head to Los Angeles in 1957, Brooklyn was left without teams in the American major leagues. Three years later, the legendary Ebbets Field was demolished and any trace of the glorious past was buried. It was not until 2012 when the Nets put an end to this sports drought, moving their headquarters from New Jersey to the beginning of the endless Atlantic Avenue, which connects Brooklyn with Queens. There stands the imposing Barclays Center, the great entertainment lung of the neighborhood, which still has some touches of Frank Gehry, despite the fact that the Canadian architect abandoned the project in its beginnings.
The Nets did not choose their new headquarters by chance. Brooklyn is not just one of the five great neighborhoods of New York. With more than 2.6 million inhabitants it could be a city in itself and, above all, as happens in so many other parts of the world, it boasts of having its own identity and enhances it. Diversity, commitment, hard work or passion are some of the signs that define what they call Brooklyn Grit, something like their way of being. And the Nets make their flag out of it.
The HSS Center, training center for the Brooklyn Nets
Official data puts the number of different nationalities that live in the neighborhood at 150 and the actions of the franchise, with 94 million fans around the world, also focus on this plurality. “We are the team that has played the most games outside the United States and we were the first franchise with an international marketing department,” boasts Andrew Karson, executive vice president of marketing at BSE Global, the company that owns the Nets. With Asian countries still with restrictions after the pandemic, the United Kingdom is today its main market. But the arrival of Jordi Fernández places Spain in the focus in the franchise’s offices. “It is a unique opportunity to address Spanish fans but it is still too early to know what effects his signing may have,” clarifies Karson.
Barlcays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets
The Nets’ efforts are also focused at the local level and hence their action program in Brooklyn schools, which in the last year and a half has reached almost 40,000 students.
At the Barclays Center, where the recent WNBA champions NY Liberty also play, there is room for everyone. The construction of new suites and VIP areas, such as the spectacular Crown Club, with prices starting at $5,000 per night, does not prevent tickets from being maintained at $40 for each game. The plurality of cultures that reigns in Brooklyn also draws a plurality of pockets.
The Manhattan skyline, view from the HSS Center in Brooklyn
The center of operations is located a few miles south of the neighborhood, touching the East River, home to the HSS Center, the Nets’ spectacular training center and headquarters. It is an ideal place to work, with all kinds of amenities and enviable views of Manhattan. It is the heart of Brooklyn.
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