In FY 2022, Barclays Center hosted 137 ticketed events. Concerts lagged. Brooklyn Nets filled seats; NY Liberty not yet.

As I wrote yesterday, the Barclays Center had another subpar year, in part because the market for live events has declined, and costs are rising.

Let's drill down a little. As detailed below, publicly circulated calendars indicated 137 ticketed events over the fiscal year ending in June 2022, There would have been somewhat more, but several concert tours were either canceled or postponed.

Note that the tally doesn't include private events, such as nine graduation ceremonies, which surely raise some limited revenue.

Below past benchmarks

Keep in mind that, as I wrote in November 2019, in response to comments by then-arena/Nets CEO David Levy that the arena would be active 285 days per year, the arena had actually averaged 180 to 200 events annually for the three years after opening in September 2012, and that had increased to over 240 events once the New York Islanders moved in.

After that, however, the Isles began to cut their schedule at Barclays and, as I calculated in November 2019, there had been just 146 ticketed events in the previous 12 months. (That period was neither a calendar year nor fiscal year.)

Of course, since then the arena has struggled because of COVID.

Nets fill seats, Liberty do not

According to ESPN, the Brooklyn Nets, for 41 regular-season home games, averaged 17,354, or 97.9% of capacity. That's a solid percentage, though keep in mind that attendance figures represent tickets distributed, not gate count, and some percentage are distributed free.

By contrast, the WNBA's New York Liberty, which play 18 regular-season home games, averaged 1,757 in 2021, near the bottom of the league, and 5,327 in 2022, a significant improvement but still below the midpoint of the league. (The Liberty season is split between the two fiscal years.)

“I think we should at least fill the lower bowl with a view of getting — I feel like we should get 6,000 to 8,000," Joe Tsai, who owns the teams and the arena operating company, told NetsDaily 10/30/21. "I hope we can get to that level and we can build on that, and hopefully have like 12,000 at some point. Maybe not next season, but in the future."

The FY 2022 ticketed events:

• July 2021: 3
• August 2021: 5
• September 2021: 4
• October 2021: 14
• November 2021: 23
• December 2021: 12
• January 2022: 17
• February 2022: 7
• March 2022: 24
• April 2022: 10 (8 listed + 2 Nets playoff games)
• May 2022: 7
• June 2022: 11