Brett Yormark, 2012: "But one of the things that we committed to was to have over 2000 seats priced at $15 and under" (can you count the untruths?)
Nets/Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark is getting some nice publicity--first a Times exclusive, then coverage in the Post, Patch, and more--for his $75,000 donation for a renovated kids gym in Fort Greene.
Meanwhile, the man who once claimed he'd never heard of P.T. Barnum has raised Nets ticket prices on the cheap seats from $15 to $25, presaging approximately $20,000 more in revenue per game. No press release, so no coverage. (No, American journalism is not in its glory days, as Steven Waldman wrote last week in CJR, and press releases supply ever more content.)
Yormark on the "commitment
Let's look back on the "exclusive" interview Yormark had 3/16/12 on the Fox Business Channel, when he promised cheap seats for Brooklynites.
"Just a brand new building does not a winning team make," a host asked Yormark. "What else are you going to offer when basketball tickets are getting extraordinarily expensive for a family of four?"
"First of all, the Barclays Center is bigger than just basketball," Yormark responded. "We'll do 225 events annually: concerts, boxing, college sports, family sports, and, of course the Brooklyn Nets."
"But one of the things that we committed to was to have over 2000 seats priced at $15 and under," he continued. "Anyone that wants to experience the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center will have the wherewithal to do so. That's a commitment that ownership made years ago, and are holding to."
They didn't have over 2000 seats at $15. And they didn't have any under $15, unless you count the fraction of giveaways.
And that commitment lasted exactly one year.
The press release
Note this line: "the first key project presented by the Yormark Family Foundation." I suspect the word key was used to differentiate it from the ticket giveaway last October aimed to fill seats at the first arena boxing event.
Meanwhile, the man who once claimed he'd never heard of P.T. Barnum has raised Nets ticket prices on the cheap seats from $15 to $25, presaging approximately $20,000 more in revenue per game. No press release, so no coverage. (No, American journalism is not in its glory days, as Steven Waldman wrote last week in CJR, and press releases supply ever more content.)
Yormark on the "commitment
Let's look back on the "exclusive" interview Yormark had 3/16/12 on the Fox Business Channel, when he promised cheap seats for Brooklynites.
"Just a brand new building does not a winning team make," a host asked Yormark. "What else are you going to offer when basketball tickets are getting extraordinarily expensive for a family of four?"
"First of all, the Barclays Center is bigger than just basketball," Yormark responded. "We'll do 225 events annually: concerts, boxing, college sports, family sports, and, of course the Brooklyn Nets."
"But one of the things that we committed to was to have over 2000 seats priced at $15 and under," he continued. "Anyone that wants to experience the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center will have the wherewithal to do so. That's a commitment that ownership made years ago, and are holding to."
They didn't have over 2000 seats at $15. And they didn't have any under $15, unless you count the fraction of giveaways.
And that commitment lasted exactly one year.
The press release
Note this line: "the first key project presented by the Yormark Family Foundation." I suspect the word key was used to differentiate it from the ticket giveaway last October aimed to fill seats at the first arena boxing event.
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