Nets Ticket Sales Revenue Drops By Almost One-Third In '08-09

Nets' Ticket Sales Revenue Dropped From $37.4M To $25.9M Last Season

The Nets’ ticket sales revenue “declined by nearly one-third last season,” according to an SEC filing cited by John Brennan of the Bergen RECORD. The filing indicated that Nets attendance figures were similar in '07-08 and '08-09, but ticket sales revenue “nosedived” to $25.9M from $37.4M. The Nets balanced most of the decline with “cuts in player salaries, marketing and other expenses -- but still finished with an operating loss” of $68.6M in ’08-09. Nets CEO Brett Yormark said, “It is not uncommon for professional sports teams to lose money. Our situation has been challenging, in large measure due to playing our home games in an older arena, which mostly lacks up-to-date amenities.” Yormark added that “about half of the operating losses are not ‘cash losses,’ but amortization costs related to the acquisition of the team” in ’04 by Bruce Ratner (Bergen RECORD, 9/28).

NETS' GAIN: Nicolai Tsynkevich, spokesperson for prospective Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov, yesterday said, “I don’t understand why people in U.S. seem so scared to have Prokhorov as the NBA club owner. … Maybe that’s a part of image, but believe me, he is more into sports, work and good meals than into luxury lifestyle. As for different scandals -- believe me, Mark Cuban is much more loud.” He added that Prokhorov’s management style is “completely hands-off.” Tsynkevich: “His actions for CSKA were limited to hiring the management, approving the budget, and the strategy. All other things he was leaving into hands of the people he trusts” (NJ.com, 9/29).