Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

The Barclays Center, in required reports to bondholders, recently disclosed a modest drop in ticket sales and suite and sponsor installments in the first half of FY 2026, compared with the previous year. Cash receipts for Q1 of FY 2026 were $7.2 million for suite and sponsor installments, and $51.4 million for ticket sales.  That compares to $5.4 million and $40.3 million in the previous fiscal year . Cash receipts for Q2 of FY 2026 were $10.8 million for suite and sponsor installments, and $41 million for ticket sales.  That compares to $10 million and $57.4 million in the previous fiscal year. Overall, that's a net decrease of $2.7 million. That said, it's risky to extrapolate, because the arena has opened new clubs and premium seating options, revenue for which may show up in subsequent quarters. Net operating income down Over the first half of FY 2026, the arena reported $67.8 million in revenue and $55.8 million in expenses, leaving nearly $12 million in net operating inc...

Unrivaled Leans In to NBA Arenas After Making Millions in Philly , Front Office Sports reported Feb. 13, noting that "the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league is moving its March 2 semifinals games from Miami to Brooklyn" and the Barclays Center. The article notes that Unrivaled's stint in Philadelphia--not yet a WNBA city--had more than three months of lead time for event marketing, while now there's just over two weeks. So expect a lot of marketing. Tickets start at $55.10, with fees but before taxes. (The New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart plays for the Mist, while the Liberty's Natasha Cloud plays for the Phantom.) Front Office Sports noted that more than 10,000 seats were sold in 24 hours.  While most games are played at a tiny arena in Florida--Unrivaled relies on TV rights and sponsorships--organizers now aim to have more road games in larger spaces. Unrivaled was set up, in part, as an alternative to WNBA players going abroad for better off-se...

The Brooklyn Nets and associated businesses are "only" worth $6 billion ( link ), according to CNBC's new list of NBA valuations, "only" a 7.1% increase over last year's $5.6 billion . That mean's they're ranked tenth in the league, rather than eighth last year. Still,  they're only a notch behind the  Philadelphia 76ers , worth an estimated $6.1 billion, and the  Miami Heat , valued at $6.05 billion. "The average value of an NBA team is now $5.52 billion, 18% more than a year ago," CNBC's Mike Ozanian writes . He cited  the impact of the new NBA TV deal, the role of private equity, teams being sold over multiple years, and new arena for the Los Angeles Clippers. For the Nets, he cited revenue of $409 million, EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of $80 million, and 13% debt as a percentage of value. The calculation, as always, is a bit of an art, relying on both revenues, including if the team o...

The political publication City & State New York recently published its annual  The 2026 Brooklyn Power 100 , with the subheadline, "The political hierarchy of Kings County." Last July--less than a year ago--the publication ranked Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai #43, which I thought was too low. After all, they'd sold a slice of holding company BSE Global to the Koch family at at high valuation, and sold a slice of the New York Liberty to several investors at another high valuation. More importantly, and also unmentioned, the Tsais had begun to build a Brooklyn "ecosystem" of media and entertainment. So I still think their ranking is low, especially since the associated philanthropic enterprise, the Social Justice Fund, has won them many allies, even if its spending claims aren't documented . Indeed, though I hadn't noticed it at the time, BSE Global bought a City & State advertisement (see below) saluting the honorees, with trademarks for its holding...

 A "No-Brainer": Cirrus Crows About Leveraging $200M of Discounted Debt to Control Atlantic Yards ( link ) The Real Deal asks: can Cirrus's union-built, workforce housing model work? Answer: maybe. Still, the speculator seems to have achieved a coup in Brooklyn.

Has the Tsais' Social Justice Fund Really Invested $25M "In Brooklyn" Since 2020? ( link ) The owners of the Brooklyn Nets made big promises in 2020. Their summary lists significant efforts--but big gaps. Tax breaks & investment gains are far larger.

Feb. 4: see update below A few days before each month, the Barclays Center circulates a monthly calendar of events to neighbors, including when doors open, and when the event begins and ends. The calendar includes ticketed and non-ticketed events, though the arena no longer identifies the latter. Curiously enough, they haven't yet circulated a calendar for February. (I asked yesterday, but haven't heard back.) So let me offer a provisional calendar, limited to ticketed events, drawn from the arena's website : six Brooklyn Nets games, eight circus shows, three Disney on Ice shows, and four single events: Harlem Globetrotters, a comedy show, a concert, and a worship ministry concert event. So, a total of 21 events, thanks in part to multiple Disney and circus shows on the same day. Screenshot from Barclays Center  website   The official February 2026 Community Notice was finally distributed, at least four days late and it offers no new information beyond the timing of the sho...