The Nets this morning unveiled their new team logos and black and white color scheme as the franchise moves closer to its relocation to the Barclays Center next season. The logo was created by rapper Jay-Z, a Brooklyn native and part owner of the franchise. “The Brooklyn Nets logos are another step we’ve made to usher the organization into a new era,” Jay-Z said in a statement (John Lombardo, SportsBusiness Journal). Nets & Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark said the organization is “very happy" that Jay-Z took the time to "really think about the bold move we wanted to make with respect to our move to Brooklyn.” CNBC's Darren Rovell noted the team is “getting rid of red, traditional red, and you're going to be the only NBA team that will have just black and white as the colors.” Yormark: “It's a big departure from where we were with red, white and blue. We think the color pallet of black and white is very simple, it’s traditional, it’s bold, it's all Brooklyn.” When merchandise with the new logos becomes available, Yormark said sales will be “off the charts.” Yormark said there has been an "incredible amount of anticipation and build-up” despite variations of the logo being leaked last week. Yormark added business in Brooklyn has been "terrific.” Yormark: “Sponsorships are great, suites are 75% sold-out. Our general non-premium season sales start tomorrow. We've got a huge database to go after initially, but we're very, very excited. People are voting yes for Brooklyn and they're voting yes for the Brooklyn Nets” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 4/30).
THUMBS DOWN ON TWITTER: The Twittersphere has chimed in on the new logos, and it seems that the new marks have left people underwhelmed. The N.Y. Post's Bart Hubbuch wrote, "Nets' new logo and colors are so generic that it might as well say 'ACME.' Reminds me of generic beer and cigarette props in old movies." Complex magazine's Russ Bengtson wrote, "The new Nets logo looks like it was printed by a computer that didn't have the font specified, so it used the default." The N.Y. Times' Tyler Kepner wrote, "Terrible! No colors, no team name, and as always, no actual net." ESPN's Kevin Conners wrote, "I think it's cool that Jay-Z allowed a 2nd grader to come up with the new Nets logo." Sporting News' Jesse Spector wrote, "Cheers to the Brooklyn Nets for keeping it simple with the logo. Jeers for not advancing past a pencil doodle." But the N.Y. Daily News' Stefan Bondy wrote, "On third impression, I really like the Nets logo and colors."
