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Hi,I am a big fan of New Jersey Nets(since J-Kidd Era)
What I don't understand is that,why the Nets had top star like Vince Carter and Kidd,and making the playoffs from 01~07,the attendence was always poor.Even in the year when they making the finals,the average attendence was around like..14000~15000 per game,terrible compare to ANY other team in the NBA.No wonder Nets left NJ.
I really like NJ because of the Nets in those years.Can someone please tell me why NJ lack of faithful fans for nets or devils?
Is it because of the arena's public transit?Or NJ people just don't care basketball or any other professional sports?
Phil Jackson said that "it is very difficult to build a professional sports team in NJ,because lack of faithful fans and market"
Well, there are a lot of reasons, but I think these are 3 of the leading ones:
(1) entered a market where they were and banana; if you were a basketball fan in the area, you were most likely already a Knicks fan (or Bulls, Celtics, Lakers)
(2) Long history of losing. The team sucked for too long. So by the time they started winning, it took a while for fans to warm up and trust that they were actually decent. They had some momentum by '06 and '07 when they were closer to 17K fans which was at least close to league average.
(3) mediocre arena in mediocre (at best) location. The meadowlands is a bit of a pain to get to. For 8 football games preseason, fans tolerate it and tailgating makes it more worthwhile. The Newark arena is nice, but they were on their way out by then.
Is it because of the arena's public transit?Or NJ people just don't care basketball or any other professional sports?
You hit the nail right on the head. Basketball for the most part is not as popular in NJ as other areas of the country. NJ is really big into Football, Baseball and to a lesser degree Hockey. Ratings overall have been on a steady slow decline for basketball since it's peak in the 1970's. It's an overcrowded market.
You hit the nail right on the head. Basketball for the most part is not as popular in NJ as other areas of the country. NJ is really big into Football, Baseball and to a lesser degree Hockey. Ratings overall have been on a steady slow decline for basketball since it's peak in the 1970's. It's an overcrowded market.
That's not entirely true, NJ does not have any Football teams. The Jets and Giants are NY teams and most fans at the stadium are NYers.
The only real pro team in NJ is the Devils and even with the Devil's success they have not gotten the attention as the Rangers and even the Islanders received because the mass market media here focuses on NY.
And the reason the owner took the Nets to Brooklyn because NJ folks don't pay attention to the Nets as they don't get any coverage. Once they move over to BK, you suddenly see more attention and fanbase increases overnight.
That's not entirely true, NJ does not have any Football teams. The Jets and Giants are NY teams and most fans at the stadium are NYers.
The only real pro team in NJ is the Devils and even with the Devil's success they have not gotten the attention as the Rangers and even the Islanders received because the mass market media here focuses on NY.
And the reason the owner took the Nets to Brooklyn because NJ folks don't pay attention to the Nets as they don't get any coverage. Once they move over to BK, you suddenly see more attention and fanbase increases overnight.
That is simply not true. I know that for the Giants, as of 10+ years ago, 50% of the ticket holders came from NJ, and the wait-list was weighted more heavily towards NJ, so that percentage has likely only grown.
As for the motivation for the move to Brooklyn, yes it offered a more attractive market, but by far the most important consideration was that the Nets would control all of the stadium revenue. They had crappy deals in E Rutherford and Newark.
That's true, vision33r. It's hard for a team to attract a fan base when the media market gives them almost no attention. I really think New Jersey should have it's own media market for this reason. Focus is so one sided in favor of New York in general, not just with sports.
I think the Devils succeeded where the Nets failed for a few reasons.
1.) Winning three Stanley Cups didn't hurt. It's always easier to attract a fan base when the team is good. There were a few times when the Nets were good but they could never win a championship and for the rest of their history, they were mediocre at best.
2.) I feel like the Devils embraced their identity as a New Jersey team more than the Nets ever did. The Devils carved out a dedicated, if smaller, fan base because they were proud to represent New Jersey as something unique and apart from New York. The Nets, on the other hand, never really embraced a unique culture the way the Devils did.
3.) The move to Newark definitely helped the Devils out. The Prudential Center is much easier to get to than the Meadowlands and since the Devils fan base is generally very young, they are more willing to go to the Pru Center than the Izod Center. Attendance has benefited from the move to Newark and the Devils have turned a profit in most years since moving (according to Forbes). Had the Nets moved to Newark as well I think they would have seen a similar financial boost.
That's true, vision33r. It's hard for a team to attract a fan base when the media market gives them almost no attention. I really think New Jersey should have it's own media market for this reason. Focus is so one sided in favor of New York in general, not just with sports.
The poster above you didn't read the part I said about "mass media" only cares about NY sports teams. It didn't matter the Devils absolutely dominated the Rangers for more than 2 decades after their last Stanley Cup win.
It didn't matter the Nets reached the championships the last decade more than the Knicks did.
The media only concentrates in NY teams and people are going to see only teams that gets media coverage.
That is simply not true. I know that for the Giants, as of 10+ years ago, 50% of the ticket holders came from NJ, and the wait-list was weighted more heavily towards NJ, so that percentage has likely only grown.
As for the motivation for the move to Brooklyn, yes it offered a more attractive market, but by far the most important consideration was that the Nets would control all of the stadium revenue. They had crappy deals in E Rutherford and Newark.
That's because a good chunk of those people living in NJ used to be from NY. NJ residents will watch NY teams because that's what's playing on TV. It didn't help that the Nets and Devils are only on SNY Cable which requires extra $$.
NJ is just like another boro to NYC like Staten Island. You have fans from NY and NJ attending Giants/Yanks/Rangers but you won't find many NYers attending devil's home games unless Rangers are playing.
The Devil's don't even draw decent crowds if i recall correctly. I don't know if this changed in recent years, but you can always walk up to the box office during the playoffs and buy Devils tickets. It's a running joke amongst area hockey fans.
As for attendance of area sports teams - Yankee Stadium draws a lot of people that live in NJ. So does MetLife Stadium for both Jets and Giants.
I watch the Yankees because I'm a Yankees fan, and I have always made sure I had a cable package that included the YES network or MLB package.
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