Barclays Center seeks guides (for $30!) to deliver one-hour tour that "brings to life the history, culture, & behind-the-scenes magic of this iconic venue."

The Brooklyn "ecosystem"--media, entertainment, culture--pursued by Barclays Center parent BSE Global continues to expand, as the arena is now recruiting tour guides to "deliver an immersive, 60-minute tour that brings to life the history, culture, and behind-the-scenes magic of this iconic venue."

Advertisements in Backstage and Playbill recruit underemployed actors with "the ability to captivate audiences of 20-35 people." (Also see the listing from venue operating company ASM Global.) As stated in Playbill:

This is a public-facing, live performance role requiring strong memorization, audience engagement, and professional presentation skills. Actors will be responsible for delivering a structured, scripted 60-minute tour to a variety of audiences, providing an exciting and informative experience while maintaining factual accuracy.

The hiring starts with a submitted self-tape audition, then a Zoom interview, then an in-person mock tour. Backstage adds details:

• Focus Areas: Brooklyn history, Barclays Center construction, iconic sports and entertainment moments
• Key Locations: Locker rooms, VIP suites, team areas, behind-the-scenes access
• Audience: Tourists, sports fans, students, and culture enthusiasts

Presumably this will be cross-marketed with GetYourGuide, the travel and tour platform that last year started sponsoring the Brooklyn Nets' uniform patch.

License not needed

Compensation is $30/hour, which is peanuts for 1) a tour that could have 20-35 people (with no indication of tips) and 2) a gig that may be a one-off each day. Bonus: employee discounts to some local businesses, plus "your very own Brooklyn swag, unique to The Brooklyn Way."

Note: they don't request a tour guide license, which is "required to guide or direct people to any place or point of public interest or to describe, explain, or lecture about any place or point of public interest," according to the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs.

Then again, in-house tour guides often aren't licensed, because, well, they recite a provided script, not showing the expertise licensing requires. For example, last year MSG Entertainment similarly sought actors, not licensed guides, for tours of Radio City Music Hall, which paid $24/hour, but at least promised three or four tours a day.

Most licensed tour guides, who deliver less scripted tours, won't work for those rates.

What they won't talk about

Sure, the arena's been lauded by architecture critics and it occupies a key public crossroads, but somehow I suspect the tours will omit such facts as:

• the foregone property taxes at the site are now $123.6 million
• arena construction is paid off via PILOTs, payments in lieu of taxes
• the arena was part of a larger project claimed to reduce the impacts of gentrification, but the realities are way behind the promises
• the green roof is less an eco-friendly addition than a belated retrofit to tamp down escaping bass
• the big winners of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park are the billionaires who operate the arena, not the public at large.

Plug/PSA: I offer a tour concerning the larger Atlantic Yards project, including the arena, once or twice a year as a freebie, and am periodically hired by groups, usually classes.