Move To Newark Will Not Work for New Jersey Nets

The Nets tried to attract fans forever it seems. It turned out to be a lost cause.

Even as a championship contender, they failed to win people over.

The YankeeNets group grew frustrated about not making a profit earlier in the last decade. George Steinbrenner bailed on the group by selling his share of the team, and Lewis Katz followed suit by selling the franchise to Bruce Ratner.

Ratner talked about moving the team to Brooklyn when he considered buying the team.

When the league approved his purchase of the team, the marriage ended between the Nets and the few fans in Jersey.

Under Ratner's stewardship, fans stopped going the games altogether along with watching it on television. It looked like the franchise was drawing only 500 fans at best even though paid attendance indicated they drew 1,000.

Ratner lost money, so he traded his best players. He sold his team to Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov few months ago, once he realized it's hard to run a NBA franchise.

The Nets experimented with playing their games at the Prudential Center couple of times this preseason. It was a resounding success.

This gave them an idea about playing regular season games at the three-year old arena in an attempt to get fans to see them. They needed to find ways to promote the product while they prepared to play in New York.

The Nets had to serve their lease for couple of more years at the Izod Center, but it wasn't going to be a problem. The Seattle Supersonics demonstrated that by breaking their lease at Key Arena, and it allowed them to move to Oklahoma City.

It shouldn't be surprising the state of New Jersey brokered a deal that allowed the Nets to get away with what they did. It's disgusting, but that's how sports operate.

Nets CEO Brett Yomark talked about how the organization is looking forward to building a fanbase from NYC along with Morris and Union County. He did not mention Bergen County since he knew that was a lost cause.

It's hard to believe the Nets will draw well at the Prudential Center.

For one thing, the Devils continue to have empty seats on most nights in that sparkling new arena.

Second of all, it's hard to believe people will drive to Newark from Morris and Union County.

Maybe New Yorkers can go to Newark with mass transportation, but considering how expensive a train ride is today, Yomark should not get his hopes up about them coming there.

It would have made more sense to play their games at the Nassau Coliseum. The team is better served starting their New York fanbase in Long Island rather than Newark.

Long Islanders would represent the crowd in Brooklyn when the team moves there. They should start now rather than later.

The team could flourish over there, rather than in Newark.

Here's the deal with New Jersey.

The fans don't want to be insulted or be treated like suckers. It showed when the team did all they could to accommodate the fans to come to the game by offering discounts to games along with goofy promotions.

If that move did not work, a temporary arena is not going to work.

It's hard to believe why the Nets marketing people can't grasp that. Two exhibition games in Newark mean nothing.

Even in those games, it was noticeable to see the red seats that were not filled with bodies. It's not going to change when they play their home games now.

If the Nets were really serious about building a fanbase, they would go to Seattle.

New York City has no room for another basketball team.

Most New Yorkers love the Knicks. That will never change. Even if the Nets had success in Brooklyn, they would not draw well.

New Yorkers associate themselves with the Knicks. It's hard for them to change affiliations even when the team stunk for the past seven years.

Folks could have rooted for the Nets then, but that was not appealing to them.

Why is it going to change few years from now?

At least Seattleites would embrace this orphaned franchise after losing the Sonics. They would appreciate bad basketball for a few years.

The Nets can even attract free agents if they played in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle is a great place for athletes to play and live. Many NBA players have talked about how they enjoy going there to play and visit.

It's surprising why Prokhorov doesn't get it. He allegedly is a smart guy, so one would think he would figure this one out.

The Nets will try to make this work at Newark and when they move to Brooklyn, but this is going to end up as a failure.

They will appreciate the attendance at the Izod Center over the years when all is said and done.