Nets Receive Warm Embrace At Start Of Two-Year Newark Stint

There are "hints of a surprising warm embrace" as the Nets begin a scheduled two-year stint at Prudential Center, according to Richard Perez-Pena of the N.Y. TIMES. The arrival of the team "drew mostly positive, even enthusiastic, reactions from dozens of people interviewed on Newark streets." Team officials said that they "have set a record for new season tickets sold, 2,800 and counting for the season that opens Oct. 27," though they "would not say how many of the old season-ticket holders at the Izod Center at the Meadowlands have renewed." Rather than "acting as though it is just passing through, by all accounts the team has worked at building up local loyalty." Long before planning the move to Newark, the Nets "worked with community groups ... to sponsor youth leagues, holiday parties for children and other events." Recently, the organization "has started a new marketing campaign, opened a practice to the public and held a free basketball clinic in Branch Brook Park." Meanwhile, Perez-Pena notes the WNBA Liberty next spring "will join the Nets in making the Prudential their temporary home." Since the arena opened in '07, it has become a "popular site for concerts, in use more than 200 days a year," and Devils and arena Owner Jeff Vanderbeek said that the "year that started July 1 will be its first turning a profit" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/19).