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Renaming the Nets

The Newark Star-Ledger reports today that the owner of the New Jersey Nets has sold a "presenting sponsorship" to Jackson Hewitt; from now on, the Nets will be known as "The New Jersey Nets presented by Jackson Hewitt."

Hm. Could this move prompt NYC officials to realize that their plan to relocate the Nets to Brooklyn isn't all it's cracked up to be? That using a sports team named after a tax preparation service isn't exactly going to help  "brand" Brooklyn?

Nah, I doubt it....

(Via Commercial Alert)

Here's today's Newark Star-Ledger article:

http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-9/1109833031311460.xml

Industry Insider: Nets score groundbreaking Jackson Hewitt sponsorship

Brett Yormark promised to breathe life into the Nets' sagging sponsorship business, and after seven weeks as the team's chief executive, he is beginning to deliver.

The former NASCAR executive has yet to persuade the NBA to allow him to stitch corporate patches on his team's uniforms, but suddenly the Nets are "the New Jersey Nets presented by Jackson Hewitt."

That makes the franchise the first big-league sports team in the metropolitan area to sell what is known as a "presenting sponsorship." Such a deal is the highest level of team sponsorship in the sports industry, because the company name is so closely associated with the team name.

"I want to brand my coaches, my training staff, everything," Yormark said, only half-joking, on Tuesday. "It's been a great first 35 days. There is a new culture, and we're instilling a whole new attitude here."

Part of that attitude is Yormark's philosophy to sell the Nets brand morning, noon and night. During his first week on the job, he called Mike Lister, chief executive at Jackson Hewitt, the Parsippany- based tax services firm, and asked him to try something no other NBA team has right now -- a sponsorship that puts a corporate name right below the team name nearly everywhere, including the emblem.

Yormark had previously persuaded Lister to become the official tax services company for NASCAR. The Nets deal includes signs in the arena and gets the Nets radio and arena announcers to introduce the team "presented by Jackson Hewitt" several times each game.

"It won't be every time they announce the score, but I modeled this on the Nextel deal with NASCAR," Yormark said. "Everywhere the Nets go, Jackson Hewitt goes, too."

That may sound like crass commercialism to sports traditionalists, but David Carter, who teaches sports business at the University of Southern California, said most fans "long ago accepted a massive corporate presence in sports."

"Any potential revenue source is going to be tapped going forward," he said.

Lister, whose company is already running Nets ticket promotions, said Yormark's plan to "NASCAR-ize the Nets" impressed him.

"You're going to see a lot from this organization in terms of bringing the team to the fans," he said.

Yormark said he is considering getting a computer company to sponsor press row, and a camera company to sponsor the area where kids take pictures of the players as they warm up.

"I tell my people here that as long as it relevant and it's authentic, we are going to do it," he said.

WNBA in New Jersey?

Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek acknowledged this week he has discussed bringing a WNBA team to the arena he plans to build in Newark.

Vanderbeek cautioned the discussions were only preliminary, but a WNBA team would play 20 home games during the summer, when his hockey team is idle -- assuming the NHL lockout gets settled eventually.

"The arena business is all about filling dates, and we are going to look at all possibilities" Vanderbeek said.

For the WNBA, a New Jersey franchise would help establish a local rivalry for the Liberty, who play at Madison Square Garden.

In several markets, including New York, owners of the local NBA franchise also own the WNBA team and share an arena. But Bruce Ratner is planning to move his Nets from the Continental Airlines Arena to an arena in Brooklyn, and it's unclear whether a second WNBA franchise could succeed in New York City.

"David Stern is a smart commissioner, and he's interested in any new arena that's going up in this region," Vanderbeek said.

And finally ... New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority chairman Carl Gold berg said state budget matters and NFL meetings have prevented the Giants and state officials from meeting again to negotiate a deal for a new Giants Stadium. The two sides are expected to sit down in the coming days.

-- Matthew Futterman