I dont know about Newark. I havent been there but it is one of the places I am avoiding in the tri-state area. Yeah the arena might be cool, but it is what around the arena I have issues with.
that's actually a very nice part of Newark. Newark gets a bad rep, like most cities, there's good places and bad. the bad just happens to be REALLY bad.
I don't understand all those pulling for Newark. Really, don't. If Brooklyn project is wasted, so are our dream of seeing Lebron in Nets uniform.
So do I! And I want Nets to play in Brooklyn in new arena that is always packed. Tired of jokes a-la Hollinger "...keep some hope alive for the 11 remaining fans at Izod Center". I doubt Nets would have full arena in Newark, whereas you can't go wrong with downtown Brooklyn.
do yourself a favor and check it out - it is like a police state with security - way safer than Yankee stadium. Short walk to the train - lots of parking. Good restaurants and bars in walking distance. The only reason why they are not there right now even if they are still moving to Brooklyn is that Ratner does not want any shred of this talk going on - his project is hangin by a thread. Nov will be huge - if the financing is not in place Barclays can pull - Barclays pulls then the project falls apart. LeBron has man love for Jay Z not Brooklyn - I am sure he could be sold on a state of the art arena 5 miles from NYC!
Good - the government should not be kicking people out of their homes at below market value and using tax payer money to fund a sports arena.
Ratner will not own the team, so he won't be getting any deals. No one wants the Nets to move to Newark more than I do, believe me. David Stern doesn't want the Nets in NJ. The owners don't want the Nets in NJ. If there's any serious buyers from a viable city, the Nets are gone.
I dont think the NBA has no say whatsoever in what an owner does with his franchise. Ratner is all about using the team for a sweetheart real estate deal - no other city is going to not only pay him top dollar but give him a hundred million dollar sweetheart real estate deal. I think they'll be in Newark - close, easy and makes sense - Rat won't make billions like he would in Brooklyn but he would make millions. A lot more than if he sold to another city.
Do you have a link to an article that says Ratner wants to develop in Newark? I have never heard a word about that. That would be great! The owners have to approve any sale. They are Stern's sheep.
Ratner would never ever say anything except his standard garbage about how Brooklyn is a foregone conclusion and will create jobs...blah blah. He has to say that or he will lose Barclays. The Star Ledger - based in Newark - a few weeks back (sorry no link) said that there were already backroom negotiations that stated they wanted the Nets and were willing to offer Ratner a sweetheart real estate project as well as money for the team. This is so similar to the Jets West Side Stadium - you never heard Woody utter the words New Jersey - it was all New York, New York - but when it finally fell through how long did it take for him to put together the NJ deal? I think the same thing is going to happen in this case. The NEts didnt work in the MEadowlands cause its difficult to get to and nothing there- Newark has great public transportation, restaurants, bars and lots of local businesses that go to games after work. Its a no brainer. The longer Brooklyn gets strung out the better the odds the NEts are in Newark IMO
The league can't force an owner to sell to a lower bidder because they want to force the team to move. Can a local buyer come up with a competitive bid? I would think Vanderbeek could because he has an advantage in that he already has a state-of-the-art arena built that needs a 2nd tenant and he's in the #1 media market.
I love the picture you are painting, but the amount of speculation is too much to really be excited over the prospect. Let's just say I hope you are right. I still think moving out of state is far more likely.
But the owner can accept whatever offer he wants. Ratner doesn't have to accept a competitive offer from NJ interests. Vanderbeek would definitely be interested in buying the Nets, but David Stern is not interested in that. My money's on Stern. Either way, the only sure way the Nets stay local is if Barclay's is built. After that it's a crapshoot.
Ratner would take the best offer. When I said "competitive" I just meant to say that I see no reason why Vanderbeek couldn't come up with the best price due to his circumstances. Although, he did make his money at Lehman Brothers and probably had quite a bit of their stocK! I agree that Barclay's is the best bet to keep them local, but the odds of them staying local aren't too bad because of the Newark arena.
Barclays is a financial behemoth, if indeed they are looking for an advertising/investment vehicle, and are committed to putting down a major footprint in NYC , there is no check they can't help write, that is to say I'm pretty certain they can step in and broker a deal to make Atlantic Yards happen. I think out of the major investment houses, they are one of the few in solid shape.
It's hard to gauge even the intrest Barclays still has here, but anyway: I have a hunch there was a lot of value in Lehman, and I don't know if lending/liquidity will be an issue but beyond that Barclays is based in the British banking network so I take it they may have a US independent credit stream, and also have the more stable Britsh economy. Although financial globalization affects everyone, I think Barclays still has alot of value to leverage acquisitions, but this just my guess, I haven't done the homework to know that. Also, I do not know the terms of the Ratner/Barclays association, but even as a third party buying advertising space lets say, I would assume that a more direct owner/investor/lender relationship is not impossible for Ratner/Barclays. So if Barclays management deems the Ratner plan a go, there will always be a way for them to step in and connect Ratner's project with capitol and strong investor backing possibly from a global pool. But I'm sure there is a freeze on everything until the US great depression has run it's course. But I must stress that this is all out my ass. NetIncome would do alot better to speak on this.
I'd only be okay with Brooklyn not working out if it were almost guaranteed that Mayor Booker and Vanderbeek could assemble a group that could come up with a number that would be significantly bigger than other potential bidders from Long Island and Kansas City. If it's a difference between a few hundred million, how could you turn it down?
