Nets' Brooklyn Move May Occur During 2010-11 Season

[Lil Bit Special]

Nets Owner Bruce Ratner yesterday acknowledged that the team's scheduled move to Brooklyn, which in recent months "had been pushed back to the start of the 2010-2011 season, may not occur until that season is already underway," according to Julian Garcia of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS.

Ratner, at the press conference to introduce F Yi Jianlian and F Bobby Simmons, said that the "move could occur late in the year." However, Nets VP/PR Barry Baum later "clarified the remarks," saying that the move "may not occur until the 2010 'calendar year' as opposed to before that season" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/10).

Ratner said that groundbreaking on the Barclays Center "is to begin in November." Garcia yesterday wrote, "Teams pack up and move regularly now, but doing it in the middle of a season would create a tough situation for fans in New Jersey, who are already confused about how much to commit to a team that probably won't be around in a couple of years" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 7/9).

In New Jersey, Ian O'Connor writes with Ratner "losing an estimated $40[M] a year in the Meadowlands, and with the purchase of the team setting him back $300[M], the Nets are expected to have cost their owner nearly $600[M] by the time he lands in Brooklyn" (Bergen RECORD, 7/10).