Nets Receive Rousing Welcome In Barclays Center Opener

Major-league sports “officially returned to Brooklyn yesterday evening, ending a 55-year wait for a borough that still feels the pain of the Dodgers leaving town.” Nets fans “serenaded" players "with a deafening chant of ‘Brook-lyn! Brook-lyn!’” during the Raptors-Nets regular-season opener at the Barclays Center. Minority Owner Jay-Z and his wife Beyonce sat courtside and Owner Mikhail Prokhorov watched from “high above in his luxury suite” (N.Y. POST, 11/4). Jackie Robinson’s widow, Rachel, "was going to participate" in a ceremony but "couldn’t make it to Saturday’s game” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/4).

Ticket sales on Stubhub.com "jumped 20 percent on Saturday morning” following N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that subway service had been restored to Brooklyn (N.Y. TIMES, 11/3). By tip-off, it was “clear fans had trouble getting to Brooklyn. Several empty seats were visible in the lower and upper bowls." The game was announced as a sellout based on tickets sold, but "not everyone made it” (USA TODAY, 11/4).