Barclays Center Unveiled In High-Profile Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

The Barclays Center was unveiled Friday in a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov, N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other team an local officials. CNBC’s Brian Schactman said, “You can see why everyone says Jay-Z’s fingerprints are all over this place.” Prokhorov said, “We need some time to develop stores with merchandise.” He added the team “needs the support of Brooklynites, of all New York City and we are ready to fight.” Schactman: “In many ways they’ve already won the fight (with) merchandise as popular as any team in the NBA (and) 11,000 season tickets, that’s a franchise record. That’s means a lot of eyeballs for Barclays.”

Schactman then spoke with Nets CEO Brett Yormark about why naming-rights partner Barclays would “pony up” $400M over 20 years “when they don’t even have a retail presence in the U.S.” Yormark: “This was a pure brand play for them” (“Squawk on the Street,” CNBC, 9/21).