Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

You’re Paying for Sports Stadiums You Don’t Even Go To , write Jessica Luther and Kavitha A. Davidson in an excerpt from their new book  Loving Sports When They Don’t Love You Back: Dilemmas of the Modern Fan , published 8/31/20 on Literary Hub: Welcome to your shiny new stadium, which may or may not have been necessary to build but almost certainly was built unnecessarily with local tax dollars. This is the world of stadium subsidies, where suckers pay for billionaire owners to construct new dollhouses for their plaything sports teams so that they can pocket revenues from increased ticket prices, more luxury suites, high-end food options, and $15 beers. It’s a world where the ever-loyal fan overlooks a grand compromise made in exchange for the local team simply staying put.  One of the greatest American hustles is how a populace taught that we’re built on the ideals of freedom, democracy, and capitalism manages to willingly forego those ideals in the name of sport...

No wonder major sports leagues are itching to return to play, with the NBA contemplating games in a single location, and Major League Baseball considering games in empty stadiums. After all, ESPN reported 5/1/20 that the suspension of pro sports represented losses of at least $12 billion, and that sum would double if pro and college football don't launch in the fall. That ESPN-commissioned analysis included assumptions that may not hold true, such as MLB welcoming fans back to a truncated season and the NBA and NHL moving directly to fan-free playoffs. One reason team owners are itching to re-start: the losses won't be covered by insurance. The revenue loss ripples down through team travel, youth sports, venue employees, and local tax collections. It remains unclear whether the public-spirited (and savvy) decisions by team/venue owners to pay workers for months will continue, given the expected lack of future game-day attendance and spending by visitors. A new fram...

Nearly 3 of 4 Americans Say They Won’t Attend Games Without Coronavirus Vaccine Developed , stated a 4/9/20 press release from the Seton Hall Sports Poll: Asked what they would do if the leagues resumed play before the development of a vaccine, 72 percent of Americans said they would not attend games, with 12 percent saying they would if social distancing could be maintained. Only 13 percent said they would feel safe attending as in the past. Among sports fans the number drops to a still significant 61 percent. Note that late 2021 is the announced target for an approved vaccine, science marches on. Previously, Zeke Emanuel, a key advisor on #COVID19 issues, also suggested that larger gatherings would return until "fall 2021 at the earliest." In the interim, note that it wouldn't be easy to maintain social distancing both in competition and in sports facilities, which typically have lines for concessions and for bathrooms. Even selling every other seat leaves peopl...

It's astounding, isn't it? The Brooklyn Nets didn't come too close to making Forbes's list of The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2014 , in which #50, AC Milan, was valued at $856 million.  (At the time, the Nets were valued at $780 million, more than doubling in two years.) But they're now in the top half of the magazine's latest list,  The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2015 , valued at $1.5 billion  ( since January ). That's not because the Nets started selling that many more tickets. In fact, some season ticket prices most recently went down . Nor is it that the Nets stand to have a strong season, given that they're represented in the Forbes slideshow by the non-star Jarrett Jack and pundits at Sports Illustrated predict they'll be the league's fifth-worst steam. New TV deal makes the difference But, as Forbes reports, pro sports team owners are making big money from new media deals:  The NBA ink...

When the Brooklyn Nets beat the New York Knicks last month in their first game, Jay-Z's boast generated more than 10,000 re-tweets: The city is under new management. — Mr. Carter (@S_C_) November 27, 2012 Borough President Marty Markowitz crowed: Brooklyn Nets are "Kings" of NYC...How sweet it is! — Marty Markowitz (@MartyMarkowitz) November 27, 2012 The Nets had a great November but a lousy December, losing twice to their crosstown rival (whom Markowitz likes to call the "Manhattan Knicks"). Neither Jay-Z nor Markowitz, fair-weather supporters apparently, have seen fit to tweet about that. Listening to Yormark Nets/arena CEO Brett Yormark, however, has had to ride the storm. Start believing brooklyn. You have a team to be proud of. Congrats. More to come. — Brett Yormark (@brettyormark) November 27, 2012 When the Knicks beat the Nets twice, and the team slide continued, Yormark's been optimistic and defensive (and addressing "Nets fans...

Musician/designer/activist Scott M.X. Turner, he of the website/group Fans for Fair Play and the one-man band RebelMart , has moved from Brooklyn to Seattle , but he still keeps in touch with his daily Mimeograph Machine, a newsletter/broadside. (Sign up at rebelmartmx[at]gmail[dot]com.) Below, with his permission, is Volume 1, Number 25, from 12/28/11, expressing some of the dismay regarding big-time sports that's going around . RebelMart's Mimeograph Machine, on Sports VOL. 1, NUMBER 25 Sports... Fun. Despicable. Macho. Colorful. Epic. Eccentric. Racist. Capitalist. Good exercise. Sexist. Drunken. Homophobic. Adrenalizing. Musical. Classist. Memorable. Bonding. Violent. Lucrative. Divisive. Seductive. Life-affirming. Deadly. I find it hard to explain to people why I like sports. It used to be because I ran with lots of political activists who deplored sports. They're right to. But they're wrong to toss it out with the bathwater. ...