The Long island Nets season could end as soon as Saturday but it’s been a success from a marketing perspective. After a rough start, they played before four crowds of 7,000 or more.
Back on the night of January 7, the Long Island Nets played the Birmingham Squadron, the Hawks G League affiliate, at Nassau Coliseum. The Nets won, 112-104, but the box score was notable not because Kendall Brown scored 25 points. No, the big number that night was 625, the attendance. It was cold, and it had snowed the night before. Still that was an ugly number for a professional team in any sport no matter the weather.
Things have gotten better since, dramatically so. Long Island, playing as “Les Nets” in suburban Montreal, drew an average of nearly 7,000 fans to six “home” games at Place Bell, a total of 40,000.
Then, on February 11, in a game on Long Island rather than in the Province of Quebec, the Nets set a new home attendance record for the team’s Education Day promotion, with 7,325 fans filling the lower bowl at Nassau Coliseum. Most were children bussed in from local schools for a late morning game. The Nets won that one too and again, the big number was the attendance … for different if positive reasons. Counting the games at Place Bell, Long Island played before the four largest crowds in team history.
The organization’s internal goal going forward is 3,000 per game, the average for the league.
“It was amazing to see how many schools in the community support us for Education Day,” Morgan Taylor, the Vice President for Business Operations for Long Island and the New York Liberty told NetsDaily in an exclusive interview. “It’s been a work in progress over the past eight seasons and understanding getting to this point hasn’t been easy. It’s been wonderful seeing all the schools come out to support us.
“We had a great game that day and a great win. We’ll continue to build on that, continue to keep going and show the community how strong we’re able to build on Long Island.”
The organization has historically had difficulty in drawing fans to the Coliseum which despite a $180 million renovation in 2017 is still a 50-year-old venue. Getting there without a car isn’t easy. Average crowds of 2,000 have been seen as a good thing.
There’s even a possibility that the Nets days at the Coliseum are nearing an end. They are the only pro team left there. The venue hasn’t hosted a concert in more than two years and other than the two remaining Long Island games, the arena website’s event page shows only a home furnishing show, a trading card collectors show and a bridal and wedding expo … for the rest of the year.
Moreover, Las Vegas Sands, the big casino operator, and a local real estate company want to “transform” the 72 acres around the Coliseum site into a $6 billion casino and resort complex called the “Sands New York” that would include a 400,000-square-foot casino, a hotel with 1,670 rooms. The resort would also feature a a live performance venue. They’re one of 11 applicants for three downstate casino licenses that will be awarded by year’s end. If they win one of the licenses, that would leave the Long Island Nets without a home.
But BSE Global, the Nets parent group, isn’t giving up. They’re focusing on Long Island wherever they play next. Nassau? UBS Arena? Island Federal Arena at Stony Brook University (where Long Island played in the G League Finals in 2019?) The Nets aren’t commenting.
When asked about improving home attendance, Taylor says it starts with “continuing to build our relationships on Long Island.”
Thar starts with theme nights that focus on a variety of community aspects. Take the first week of January. Monday, it was a night devoted to the Town of Huntington, Tuesday, Jewish Heritage Night; Thursday Town of Babylon. Later in January, it was Chinese New Year, then February, it was Dale the Mascot’s Birthday then Valentines Day. The already reasonable ticket prices are often discounted and there is often a themed jersey. (Long Island famously wore Sponge Bob jerseys back in 2022.)
Jerseys and other merchandise have become a big part of Long Island’s marketing campaign, making a statement whether it be on the theme nights at the Nassau Coliseum or as the “Les Nets” in Quebec. “It’s important for us to be a pillar in the community. We can show up authentically and make sure we’re resonating with the fans in certain communities,” Taylor tells ND.
“We call them theme nights, but they’re an opportunity for us to immerse ourselves in the community that we’re honoring and serving for the night. They’re a part of our overall brand experience. We want to make sure that we’re resonating with fans, they see it, and we have opportunities for partners to come in as well and celebrate our theme night.”
Taylor, who is also the Vice President of Business Operations for the New York Liberty, has been able to use a lot of what she’s learned with the Libs whose ticket became one of the city’s hottest tickets, Lesson learned? “It’s grass roots. It’s being ingrained in the community. From our basketball programming, that’s where we’re looking to build generational fandom,” says Taylor. In short, get them while they’re young and build organically.
“You see the synergies between the kids that are coming to our basketball programs, their schools coming out for Education Day, and continuing to build on that. It’s no secret that the Liberty have a strong community initiative, especially in the basketball programming, and how that’s evolved from when the Liberty played at Madison Square Garden to us being in Barclays now.”
Beyond what they do on the court, Long Island also is organizing events off-court. They’ve sponsored coaching clinics. Local youth coaches are invited to free clinics at the Yes We Can Center in Westbury where Long Island practices. Long Island head coach Mfon Udofia and his assistants work with the coaches to “help young players develop and enhance their basketball and mental skills.”
And everyone gets merchandise. Taylor laid out what they plan for the end of the season later this week on Thursday and Saturday nights vs. the Cleveland Charge.
“We’ll close the season out here with our Girl’s Night Out programming, during which we’ll honor the New York Liberty as we do every year, and then our Fan Appreciation game, during which we’ll celebrate the Town of Hempstead, which is the town in which we play.”
Also at the team’s last regular season game Saturday, you can buy a ticket to the game as well as admission to a pre-game “Game Day Clinic” for $25.
As of right now, Taylor tells ND that they’re keeping Montreal and Long Island separate, but there will be an opportunity Saturday to purchase some “Les Nets” gear which also serves as advertising when a boy or girl wears the jersey to the playground or to school.
Too often, NBA teams have had limited horizons for their G League affiliates. They’ve been about development, with attendance and endorsements second thoughts. The often high turnover on the roster doesn’t help either.
And like a lot of professional sports teams, particularly those in minor leagues, COVID hit hard. Long Island had an aggressive community outreach before the pandemic. but it had to be reconstructed.
“We were activating heavily in the community and then when the pandemic hit we had to become creative with our we connected with our fans especially while the LI Nets were in the Bubble,” a team spokesperson noted. “Since then, we’ve hosted our first summer camp in 2024, saw an increase in the number of basketball clinics as well as connecting with new community groups in the Long Island area.”
It will be a while before we find out what and where the future will be for the Nets on Long Island. One thing though is certain: they’ve done a lot to establish their brand. That’s got to help if events push them to a new home.