Ratner Denies Interest In Selling Nets Or Moving Team To Newark

Ratner Denies That He Is Interested In Selling Nets

Nets Owner Bruce Ratner Thursday denied a report that claimed that Ratner was interested in selling the team or moving it to Newark, according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. Ratner said in a statement, "There have been no discussions with any elected officials or business executives about buying the team or moving to Newark. The team is very simply not for sale, and any stories that suggest or insinuate that we would be interested in listening to those conversations are flat-out false." Ratner added that he is "focused on breaking ground by year's end" on the team's new $950M Barclays Center in Brooklyn (N.Y. TIMES, 5/2). Nets President Rod Thorn: "All the indications that I've been given are that we are going to Brooklyn, and that they expect us to be there in 2010. ... I feel confident that it's going to happen" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 5/2).

STAY FOR A WHILE: Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine Thursday said that he would "like the Nets to stay in New Jersey, be it Newark or East Rutherford, but sees no need for his involvement at this point." Corzine: "I would very much prefer they be in New Jersey as opposed to Brooklyn, and we will wait to hear whether there are propositions that the state has a role to play in" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 5/2). In Newark, Steve Politi writes under the header, "It's Time To Bring Nets To Newark." Nets officials "insist they are still targeting the 2010-11 season as their first in their new home, but even they have to know that's silly talk." Politi: "You can't find many people outside of Ratner and his minions who think the arena in Brooklyn makes any sense now." The arena's cost is "quickly approaching $1[B], which would make it twice as expensive as any in U.S. history." But moving the team to Newark "makes sense on so many levels." Ratner needs to work a deal with Devils Owner Jeff Vanderbeek "in the short term to get the Nets out of the Meadowlands, a situation that would be mutually beneficial for both owners." If the Nets' "struggles continue" at the Prudential Center, Ratner "should sell the team to New Jersey investors to keep it where it belongs" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 5/2).