Prokhorov: Nets to change name for 2012 Brooklyn move

[Gothamite]

I think the odds are nearly 100%. The borough name is infinitely more marketable than the bland nickname.

[dissimilis]

Not being from the NYC area it's hard for me to judge, but to New Jersey fans does the team moving to Brooklyn feel the same as if they moved to Seattle or something?

I'm from New Jersey and was a huge Nets fan, as soon as they said they were moving to Brooklyn I stopped. Very smart move to go to Brooklyn financially, but I only loved them because they were a New Jersey team.

[Gothamite]

I suspect that you're not alone. It will be hard for many fans to follow them across the Hudson.

[andrewharrington]

I think the odds are nearly 100%. The borough name is infinitely more marketable than the bland nickname.

That's the idea. I'd be shocked if 'Nets' appeared on the jerseys.

[Dexter Morgan]

I live very close to where the Nets called home for about 30 years. In fact I can see the IZOD Center (formerly known as Continental Airlines Arena) from my bedroom window. But I do not know anyone who consider themselves Nets fans. Even during the Jason Kidd years when they appeared in a few NBA Finals, I don't recall talking to a Nets fan. You can't say the same about the Devils, I know plenty of Devils fans.

[AndrewPF]

I think the odds are nearly 100%. The borough name is infinitely more marketable than the bland nickname.

That's the idea. I'd be shocked if 'Nets' appeared on the jerseys.

Even people who didn't care about the team would buy merchandise that said "Brooklyn". It would be a good move.

[Gothamite]

I live very close to where the Nets called home for about 30 years. In fact I can see the IZOD Center (formerly known as Continental Airlines Arena) from my bedroom window. But I do not know anyone who consider themselves Nets fans. Even during the Jason Kidd years when they appeared in a few NBA Finals, I don't recall talking to a Nets fan. You can't say the same about the Devils, I know plenty of Devils fans.

I went to one of those Finals games in New Jersey. Plenty of empty seats.

[The_Admiral]

The Knicks have a cool factor the Nets don't have and will never have. You could call them the Brooklyn Brooklyns Presented By Famous Rapper Jay-Z and it wouldn't make a dent. Liking the Knicks is really cool in ways that liking any other team isn't. It's just the right blend of legacy, big-city smugness, and failure-forged humility. Maybe they're the basketball Cubs and that's why I've always had a soft spot for 'em ("always" being "since like 2003 or so" because I wasn't really thinking about The Greater Abstract Meanings Of Sports when I was in middle school and just wanted the Bulls to win one more time).

[Gothamite]

I dunno, I'll take your word for it.

I'm a native, and I've never heard them spoken of in that way.

[The_Admiral]

I thought you were from Wauwatosa.

[Gothamite]

I thought you were from Wauwatosa.

I went to high school in Wauwatosa. But I was born in Manhattan, lived in Brooklyn Heights briefly and then in Hell's Kitchen, and spent most of my later childhood shuttling back and forth between Gotham and the Cream City before settling in the Milwaukee 'burbs.

I've heard it said that the question "Where are you from?" can only really be answered as "Where did you go to High School?" And if true, then I'm from Milwaukee. But truth be told, although my sports allegiances lean firmly towards the Badger State, I've always been a New Yorker. Even in the roughly half my life I've lived somewhere else.

And now I'm a Brooklynite again. And I understand why the Nets will want to downplay the nickname in favor of the borough as the cornerstone of their identity.

I don't get a particular sense of die-hard loyalty to the Knicks that you describe. Sure, they draw very well, but they're the only basketball game in town. I can see the Nets drawing off a significant percentage of their casual fans, especially if they can establish some sort of street-level identity.

If I were running their branding (and they didn't let me change the name), I'd actually put a net in the logo: a chain net.

Go for that street-basketball, public playground, kids-from-the-neighborhood feel.

That's how I'd brand the Brooklyn Nets.

[gyrocol]

I think the odds are nearly 100%. The borough name is infinitely more marketable than the bland nickname.

I think "Brooklyn" would be the name on the uniform regardless of what the nickname is. There's just nothing that matches it in terms of marketability.

For the record, the Knicks have been showing "NEW YORK" on their home uniforms for a long time too. Geographic indicators with cachet like New York and Brooklyn just aren't very common, so obviously they're going to exploit them.

The Knicks have a cool factor the Nets don't have and will never have. You could call them the Brooklyn Brooklyns Presented By Famous Rapper Jay-Z and it wouldn't make a dent. Liking the Knicks is really cool in ways that liking any other team isn't. It's just the right blend of legacy, big-city smugness, and failure-forged humility. Maybe they're the basketball Cubs and that's why I've always had a soft spot for 'em ("always" being "since like 2003 or so" because I wasn't really thinking about The Greater Abstract Meanings Of Sports when I was in middle school and just wanted the Bulls to win one more time).

I don't know what kind of friends you hang out with, but I've been living in NYC for 25 years, and maybe, just maybe that would have been true in the 90's. Nowadays they're basically treated as a joke by most people other than the extreme diehards. Just look at the average newspaper article written in the last ten years. They're basically the basketball version of the Mets in terms of how people see them IMO.

[The_Admiral]

I thought you were from Wauwatosa.

I went to high school in Wauwatosa. But I was born in Manhattan, lived in Brooklyn Heights briefly and then in Hell's Kitchen, and spent most of my later childhood shuttling back and forth between Gotham and the Cream City before settling in the Milwaukee 'burbs.

I've heard it said that the question "Where are you from?" can only really be answered as "Where did you go to High School?" And if true, then I'm from Milwaukee. But truth be told, although my sports allegiances lean firmly towards the Badger State, I've always been a New Yorker. Even in the roughly half my life I've lived somewhere else.

Oh. That's cool. I thought you grew up out here and moved to New York for work.

Chain nets for the Nets is a cool idea. I'm partial to my Subway concept, but that doesn't work if they're the Brooklynettes.

[Dexter Morgan]

The Knicks have a cool factor the Nets don't have and will never have. You could call them the Brooklyn Brooklyns Presented By Famous Rapper Jay-Z and it wouldn't make a dent. Liking the Knicks is really cool in ways that liking any other team isn't. It's just the right blend of legacy, big-city smugness, and failure-forged humility. Maybe they're the basketball Cubs and that's why I've always had a soft spot for 'em ("always" being "since like 2003 or so" because I wasn't really thinking about The Greater Abstract Meanings Of Sports when I was in middle school and just wanted the Bulls to win one more time).

That "cool factor" is playing in an arena in midtown Manhattan. Not in a parking lot in NJ swamps. The Nets moving to Brooklyn is a big deal for that franchise. They immediately become "cooler"

[Dexter Morgan]

I thought you were from Wauwatosa.

If I were running their branding (and they didn't let me change the name), I'd actually put a net in the logo: a chain net.

Go for that street-basketball, public playground, kids-from-the-neighborhood feel.

That's how I'd brand the Brooklyn Nets.

really like that idea

[Graysmith]

The Knicks have a cool factor? News to me. I never felt like New Yorkers loved the Knicks the way Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago love the Lakers, Heat and Bulls. Maybe they did when they were actually good, but not after a decade of being a second-rate team with no prospects.

Anyway, I think Brooklyn would've benefitted if they'd shed the Nets name. Not only because "Brooklyn Nets" sounds completely awkward ("Come watch the Brooklynettes at Radio City Music Hall!"), but also to attract more new fans (especially when they'll be losing most fans they had in NJ). Yes, they were the New York Nets originally, but that was so long ago that everyone associates the Nets name with New Jersey and that's not really a plus.

[Dexter Morgan]

The Knicks have a cool factor? News to me. I never felt like New Yorkers loved the Knicks the way Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago love the Lakers, Heat and Bulls. Maybe they did when they were actually good, but not after a decade of being a second-rate team with no prospects.

Anyway, I think Brooklyn would've benefitted if they'd shed the Nets name. Not only because "Brooklyn Nets" sounds completely awkward ("Come watch the Brooklynettes at Radio City Music Hall!"), but also to attract more new fans (especially when they'll be losing most fans they had in NJ). Yes, they were the New York Nets originally, but that was so long ago that everyone associates the Nets name with New Jersey and that's not really a plus.

Even though the Knicks have been the laughing stock of the NBA, they still fill up the Garden night in and night out. Both the Knicks and Rangers have a cool factor to them, which has everything to do with where they play.

[altosax29b]

The Knicks have a cool factor? News to me. I never felt like New Yorkers loved the Knicks the way Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago love the Lakers, Heat and Bulls. Maybe they did when they were actually good, but not after a decade of being a second-rate team with no prospects.

Anyway, I think Brooklyn would've benefitted if they'd shed the Nets name. Not only because "Brooklyn Nets" sounds completely awkward ("Come watch the Brooklynettes at Radio City Music Hall!"), but also to attract more new fans (especially when they'll be losing most fans they had in NJ). Yes, they were the New York Nets originally, but that was so long ago that everyone associates the Nets name with New Jersey and that's not really a plus.

The Knicks pee their pants.

[hawk36]

Not being from the NYC area it's hard for me to judge, but to New Jersey fans does the team moving to Brooklyn feel the same as if they moved to Seattle or something?

I'm from New Jersey and was a huge Nets fan, as soon as they said they were moving to Brooklyn I stopped. Very smart move to go to Brooklyn financially, but I only loved them because they were a New Jersey team.

Interesting. If the Sonics would have moved across the lake to Bellevue and renamed themselves the Bellevue Sonics I'm sure it would have rubbed me the wrong way. Enough so to make me consider being a Blazer fan just to spite them. So, are you going to be a Knicks fan now?

[chakfu]

That's how I'd brand the Brooklyn Nets.

I love the idea but at the same time I don't - probably because I hate chain nets in general and love the smooth feel and sound of proper nets...the kind used in the NBA.

Maybe the chain nets would be better as an alternate mark? Something where the primary logo would have more of a...nylon or whatever official net, and an alternate could replace it with chain (more red/white/blue with the primary set/logo and more gray/silver for the chain alternates.)

Interesting that their logos have never featured a Net. I hated the little net stitching in the lane and on the trim that they have used though. It's been mentioned many time the irony that their current logo features a rim but no net; what NBA logos have used nets in the first place? Only the Cavs AFAIK used them at all prominently. Heat are another rim but no net team (presumably the fireball burnt it off). A net isn't the easiest thing to render in a logo, is it?