"It can be dead in there": in The Athletic's NBA survey, Barclays Center is among arenas with the worst crowds (hockey gets a bigger dis)
The Athletic’s NBA Arena Rankings: Some buildings are always a spectacle, on 7/8/20 mostly ignored the Barclays Center in the survey of its writers.
Despite the team's epic failures and mismanagement, Madison Square Garden won best arena, given the noise and ambiance. Staples Center, home to both the Los Angeles Lakers and (for now) Los Angeles Clippers) also got votes.
Interestingly enough, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, home to the Indiana Pacers, won kudos for a loud crowd and "the unique look compared to any other arena in the NBA (outside of maybe Barclays Center in Brooklyn)." Exactly: the Barclays Center's something of a copy, but, unlike in Indianapolis, the tight crowd doesn't add as much to the game.
Barclays didn't get mention as either among the best--or worst--arenas. But it did get a mention.
Not the best crowd
TD Garden, home to the Boston Celtics, won best crowd, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder's Chesapeake Energy Arena and the Portland Trail Blazers' Moda Center. (One reader comment: "American BS. No mention of the Toronto crowd at all. Not saying that we should have won, but at least recognise that there's a proud franchise north of the border that earned respect.")
As to the worst crowd, the Smoothie King Arena, home to the New Orleans Pelicans, got the nod, followed the Minnesota Timberwolves' Target Center and then Barclays:
Best at feeding the media?
The rather self-indulgent question, "Which arena/team is the best at feeding the media?" woin Little Caesars Arena in Detroit the top nod, followed by TD Garden and Staples Center.
If the food at Barclays is as good as some say--and I've barely tried it, because I'm cheap, and what I sampled was middling--that should be easy for the arena operators to remedy.
What about hockey?
A somewhat similar but more systematic 7/8/20 Athletic article NHL arena rankings: Grading every team’s rink from best to worst, ranked the Barclays Center next to last (sorry, Ottawa), one notch below the New York Islanders' other--and, until plans were upended--and seemingly primary home, the Nassau Coliseum.
Despite the team's epic failures and mismanagement, Madison Square Garden won best arena, given the noise and ambiance. Staples Center, home to both the Los Angeles Lakers and (for now) Los Angeles Clippers) also got votes.
Interestingly enough, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, home to the Indiana Pacers, won kudos for a loud crowd and "the unique look compared to any other arena in the NBA (outside of maybe Barclays Center in Brooklyn)." Exactly: the Barclays Center's something of a copy, but, unlike in Indianapolis, the tight crowd doesn't add as much to the game.
Barclays didn't get mention as either among the best--or worst--arenas. But it did get a mention.
Not the best crowd
TD Garden, home to the Boston Celtics, won best crowd, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder's Chesapeake Energy Arena and the Portland Trail Blazers' Moda Center. (One reader comment: "American BS. No mention of the Toronto crowd at all. Not saying that we should have won, but at least recognise that there's a proud franchise north of the border that earned respect.")
As to the worst crowd, the Smoothie King Arena, home to the New Orleans Pelicans, got the nod, followed the Minnesota Timberwolves' Target Center and then Barclays:
It will be interesting to see what the energy is like in this building when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are playing together on the Nets. But up until this point, this has mostly felt like a basketball game being played in a mausoleum. The lighting is cool and the action on the court looks great. But the crowd just simply isn’t there most nights and they aren’t very loud when they are.Indeed, the expectation was that the buzz, and fan intensity, would multiple once Durant and Irving are playing together. For now, it looks like the next season will be played without many fans, if any.
“I love the building, and I love that they have theater lighting, but they’re building a fan base from scratch. It can be dead in there, but the franchise is trying though. Nets, Mets, Jets will all be second-fiddle to the blue-blood NYC franchises.”
Best at feeding the media?
The rather self-indulgent question, "Which arena/team is the best at feeding the media?" woin Little Caesars Arena in Detroit the top nod, followed by TD Garden and Staples Center.
If the food at Barclays is as good as some say--and I've barely tried it, because I'm cheap, and what I sampled was middling--that should be easy for the arena operators to remedy.
What about hockey?
A somewhat similar but more systematic 7/8/20 Athletic article NHL arena rankings: Grading every team’s rink from best to worst, ranked the Barclays Center next to last (sorry, Ottawa), one notch below the New York Islanders' other--and, until plans were upended--and seemingly primary home, the Nassau Coliseum.
Interestingly, the Coliseum scored below Barclays in Location and Quality of facility, but well above it in Atmosphere and Press box. (That shows how much hockey in Brooklyn was an afterthought, given that the press box is apparently super-cold.)
Here's a quote from contributor Scott Powers:
As my good friend and native New Yorker Larry Marasco jokes, ’66 percent of Barclays works for hockey every time.’ Barclays Center could have been well designed for hockey, but that boat sailed as the construction delays got longer and longer. Instead, Barclays became a cookie-cutter basketball arena and hockey was an afterthought, which is apparent to anyone who has ever been to a game there.
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