What I Noticed at the Barclays Center
"The Fighting Spirit of Brooklyn" (via Modelo), a Coney Island boardwalk homage (!), and the obscured Meditation Room. (Authenticity?) Plus unsurprisingly pricey concessions.
A Dec. 8 Brooklyn Magazine article called The Ultimate Guide to Eating at Barclays Center sent me to a Brooklyn Nets game there. (The unbylined article was essentially an advertorial, though it didn’t make that disclosure.)
See, Brooklyn Magazine, in Scott Lynch’s estimable (but always enthusiastic) restaurant reviews, typically discloses the price of a dish, usually in a photo caption. That’s useful consumer journalism.
The “Ultimate Guide,” however, ignored prices, because, I assume, those prices are high, and BSE Global owns both the arena operating company and Brooklyn Magazine.
So I went to the arena—the Nets shellacked the woeful-without-Giannis Milwaukee Bucks—to take a few notes for the record. (I go every few years. The one time I tested the food, as I reported Oct. 16, 2012, the quality was all over the map.)
As the photo below indicates, a Bud Light costs $13, so why not not spend an extra buck for a Corona or a few more for a craft beer? If the water fountains—not sure how typical this was—are underpowered, why not spend $6 for some water.
OK, sure, prices are high at captive venues everywhere.
(State Sen. April Baskin has sponsored a bill that would require “entertainment and sport venues receiving public financial benefits” to adopt a fan-friendly concession pricing policy, which limits food and non-alcoholic beverage prices to no more than 20 percent above the average retail price of similar items sold nearby.)
It’s worth noting the numbers—see more below—but I found more interesting stuff, evidence how the arena marketers double down on “Brooklyn” to generate revenue. Remember, the Brooklyn Nets claimed last February that they “put the city back into authenticity.”
Brooklyn Boardwalk
I apparently missed the July 2024 introduction of “Brooklyn Boardwalk, our little slice of Coney Island right inside Barclays Center.” It’s just the repurposing of a Grab & Go store with Coney-style honky-tonk art direction.
But, hey, they make a semi-credible faux boardwalk signage, just as they created a semi-credible Brooklyn bodega awning. (See “Welcome to the Corner Store!”, Nov. 27, 2023.)
Meet Modelo Bridge
Upstairs, they take it to another level.
As announced in October, “The west end of Barclays Center’s upper concourse has been reimagined as Modelo Bridge, a two-level, 6,800-square-foot multi-use space designed as both a communal destination open to all guests and an activation zone for halftime performances, fan contests, and other entertainment.”
NetsDaily recently interviewed BSE Global Chief Hospitality Officer Shanon Ferguson, concluding that arena managers “opted to create something elevated, more social, and of course, true to Brooklyn.”
Another way of putting it might be: seats are cramped, rows are long and center seats tough to return to, so when people stretch their legs and/or visit the concession stands, why not give them a place to hang out?
After all, the view’s far better than from the real nosebleed seats.
So, if you can fit a boardwalk and a bodega in the arena, why not a faux bridge?
“Modelo Bridge features an oversized raised platform shaped like a bridge,” according to the announcement, “inspired by the iconic structures connecting Brooklyn to the rest of New York, complete with artwork from local New York muralists commissioned in partnership with the Mexican beer brand.”
That artwork is chock full of more Brooklyn iconography—Parachute Jump, anyone?—but, inevitably, also advertises Mexican-brewed Modelo.
Cleverly, they ape Borough President Marty Markowitz’s notorious “Leaving Brooklyn” road signs with “Mark of a Fighter” and “Home of the Fighting Spirit!” appended to “Leaving Modelo Bridge” faux road signs.
“Modelo has long recognized the ‘Mark of a Fighter’ in this spirited borough as the Official Import Beer of the Brooklyn Nets since 2016,” said Rene Ramos, SVP Brand Activation for Constellation Brands, in the press release. “Modeling the Modelo Bridge after the iconic bridges of Brooklyn felt like the perfect symbol of grit and tenacity that connects our brand to this community.”
Whether any beer, which tends to induce sluggishness, might be a symbol of grit and tenacity seems a stretch.
The Meditation Room
The Meditation Room—a secular chapel (see previous coverage) secured by the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, a longtime ally of the arena builder and subsequent operators—is announced by signage, but hard to see and thus likely little used.
That’s because, if you look toward the door of that room, it’s blocked by a Mamava lactation pod, which presumably meets more urgent needs.
To reach the Meditation Room, you must loop around the pod.
The 50/50 raffle
Ticketholders are invited to buy tickets to the gameday 50/50 Raffle, in which half the jackpot supports the Brooklyn Nets & New York Liberty Foundation (“focusing on health, wellness, and creating a more equitable society”), and the other half goes to a fan.
This tactic suggests that charitable impulses are not enough; a wager must be attached. According to the rules, such contributions are not tax-deductible. As the photo below right indicates when expanded, the jackpot that night was $445.
Patty time
Early on, the arena tried to rep Brooklyn, in terms of scope of food, and it’s doing a better job. Consider: two different places to get West Indian patties.
Still, a Pop’s Patty that elsewhere costs $6 is instead $9, while one from Chef Kwame—high-end stuff, I know—goes for $19.50, albeit with coco bread and slaw.
Cocktail time
In case you’re wondering, cocktails run $16 (single) and $24 (double), or $18 and $26 for premium liquor.
More merch
I’m not sure when it started, but I noticed more opportunities—outside of the team store, which can be entered from the arena concourse—than ever to buy Brooklyn Nets clothing and merchandise.
On the screens
A few shots of other promotional messages are below.
Also, a short video of one of several episodes featuring fans hyped to be there.
A few price checks
The Brooklyn Magazine article lovingly detailed the food available, including Brooklyn classics like Nathan’s and Junior’s.
Note that, as the New York Times once reported, some vendors “supply premade food that is heated and finished on-site,” while others have licensed vendor Levy FoodService to make their dishes.
The photos below indicate some prices:
$8 popcorn
$6 chips
$8 Nathan’s hot dog
$14 Buffalo Boss boneless wings and fries
$16 Paisano’s double smashburger
$6.50 fries
$10.50 Junior’s cheesecake slice
$8 Levain cookie ($5.75 in store)
$12 mushroom taco
$18.75 pulled pork sandwich
About Nathan’s
“Nathan’s Since 1916” says the sign, but in 1987, as the current company owners explain, “The Handwerker family sells off the Nathan’s Famous business to private investors, who then expanded franchise operations around New York.”
So we’re not in Coney Island anymore. It’s all part of the authenticity.