Calculating the Net Value.

When the topic of professional basketball in New York comes up--and it does quite often--the team that almost exclusively becomes the center of attention is the Knicks. Even though the Knickerbockers just experienced one of the worst seasons in NBA history, (and last won an NBA championship in 1972-73), the aura and tradition of the franchise are completely ingrained into the fabric of New York sports.

Which is a good thing--unless you happen to be the Nets. Never mind that the 39-year-old franchise has rostered talent that included Julius "Dr. J" Erving and Rick Barry, and just three seasons ago was in the NBA finals, the inescapable truth remains: The Nets are to the Knicks what pork is to chicken--the other white meat.

Which is why management has been investing time, money and energy into building the equity of the Nets' brand, with the battle for the public's hearts and sponsorship revenue being waged on several fronts. But it hasn't been easy.

The most obvious battle is taking place on the basketball court itself: The NBA playoffs began this past weekend. Led by Vince Carter and Jason Kidd, the Nets are trying to return to the championship finals, where they lost in 2001-02 to the Los Angeles Lakers and in 2002-03 to the San Antonio Spurs.

Another battle is on the streets. Team owner and real estate developer Bruce Ratner, who bought the Nets in 2004 for $300 million with the intention of moving the franchise to Brooklyn, N.Y., has since been working overtime to convince locals that his proposed $3.5 billion Atlantic Yards Development Project will be as good for the borough as it promises to be for his team.

His current plan is to relocate the Nets for the 2009-10 NBA season from Continental Airlines Arena to a $435 million sports and entertainment venue, the centerpiece of a 22-acre office and condo tower complex under the auspices of Ratner's development concern, Forest City Ratner Co. Although some on-site demolition has begun, the overall project itself is awaiting final approval from state and city officials.

The construction plan has drawn its share of critics in Brooklyn; others feel the Nets are abandoning their supporters in Jersey, their home since 1977. Indeed, the franchise has taken "New Jersey" out of all communications and, via a sponsorship deal, is officially known as the Nets presented by Jackson Hewitt (the Parsippany, N.J.-based tax preparation firm). To the latter, Ratner has replied on several occasions, "I don't think we'll lose the fan base. I hope we can get 50% of the fans from New Jersey."

Perhaps Ratner's most important battle--to boost sagging team revenue--has been waged in corporate boardrooms. That's where Nets brass has been working to convince potential marketing partners that aligning with the team means more than bonding with a Metro New York property, it's a team with enough equity to resonate across America.

About 30% of Nets ticket sales now come from fans in New York, according to Tom Glick, Nets svp and CMO, and that certainly will grow. But there's also a bigger goal. "We can become a national brand," said Glick. "Kids across the country wear hats and jerseys with New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers logos. So why not the Nets?"

Although Ratner has the financial and real estate moxie, the man who is taking the Nets' plan to marketers and the masses is Brett Yormark, CEO of Nets Sports & Entertainment. Yormark, who had been with the team in the 1990s, rejoined the Nets in January 2005 after six years of accelerating Nascar's marketing efforts (in 2003 he earned a Brandweek "Marketer of the Year" nod). For the most part, he's been capitalizing on an aggressive strategy: Within months of Yormark's arrival, the team had assumed control of its portion of sales and marketing within Continental Airlines Arena from the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority. Now, the Continental Arena is among the most sponsor-laden venues in the entire NBA.

Yormark and his team have seen to it that a veritable department store of marketers are given space and face time with fans. The companies include: Izod, which has branding on seat backs in sections 121, 122, 123; Siemens, which has signage on the stairways between sections 121-122 and 122-123; Cushman & Wakefield, with signage on the stairs between sections 107-108 and 108-109, and also a branded courtside suite at section 105; a T-Mobile-branded courtside suite at section 109; the Aerozone, section 241, sponsored by Aeropostale; ADT-branded courtside areas, including rows A through D directly across from both team benches, and the first row under both baskets.

Rocawear and Marquis Jet have branding on "Hollywood" courtside seats between the players' benches and the scorer's table (which literally was cut down from 60 to 45 feet to add the space). Seated here are such celebrities as Brooklyn-born rapper/entrepreneur Jay-Z (Sean Carter), a part owner of the team, who more often than not attends games with his equally famous girlfriend, Beyoncé Knowles. Then there's the Nissan Courtside Club (reserved for season ticket holders), the Tiffany Franchise Room (restricted to investors and their guests) and the Marquis Jet-branded visitor's dressing room. Coming soon: the Dewar's 12 Winners Club, described as an eclectic, upscale sports bar.

In addition, some 50 marketers have purchased ad space on rotating signs at courtside, along the baseline and on the four-sided scoreboard that hangs above center court; and more than 40 pay for ads on an LED system that circles above the second deck.

During a recent pregame tour of the venue, Yormark envisioned ways to add to the equation. He said a second LED ring would be installed next season. At one point, he looked at a concession stand that, like many others, has a special line open only to fans with a VIP all-access card that enables them to avoid crowds, and said, "Next season we are going to have those lines branded."

Why pour so much energy into a facility with a short-term future? Two reasons: Most of the current sponsors have deals that will expire on or about the time the Nets exit to Brooklyn, and Yormark is "testing" partnership strategies for the new facility. Equally important, it is the Nets' name that is being developed, not its home or stars.

"A lot of teams build their brand around players, but even the best players come and go," said Yormark. "We're building around the equity of the Nets, of families coming to the game and having fun. When we put a winning team on the court, that gets more fans to support the team. So the challenge is getting fans to associate our sponsors with the team, to get them to purchase the goods or services our marketing partners offer."

Those partners should be pleased by some recent numbers. Unlike March, the Nets came in like a lamb and left like a lion, running off a 14-game winning streak that spilled into April. That solidified the team's spot in the playoffs and put more bodies into seats. Through March, the team's average attendance was 16,660; although that's only 82.6% of basketball capacity at the Continental Arena, it's a 12.4% increase over 2004-05, per the NBA. The team won't disclose specific financials, but Yormark said 85 marketers have signed on since 2005, that 95% of all sponsors renewed from last season and sponsorship revenue this year is up 200%.

One happy partner is Marquis Jet, a fleet of private planes with minimum rates of roughly $100,000 for 25 hours. "The Nets walk the walk when it comes to creating brand value," said Peter Feigin, vp-corporate development at Marquis Jet, New York. Because nearly 15% of Marquis' customers are professional athletes, Yormark worked out a locker room sponsorship (which includes signage and branded towels), and turned an unused piece of real estate into valuable property. "This deal gives us access to every player in the NBA," Feigin enthused. "It is a plan that has had terrific activation."

Yormark wants to develop such arena activation in Brooklyn. But some key factors--including the team's name--are still undecided. Neither Yormark or Ratner would confirm or deny that the New York Nets and Brooklyn Nets are the only two names in contention. And no one is saying that the working title of Brooklyn Nets Arena won't be renamed, for the right price. The move to Brooklyn originally was slated for 2007, and the delay--due to a confluence of legal, financial and logistical hurdles--is costly. The Nets lose between $20-30 million annually, per the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger. At present, Ratner is trying to sell a $60 million stake in the franchise to ease financial pressures that he firmly believes will be resolved once ensconced in the new residence.

Marquis Jet, for one, wants to be on board. "I see us going to the new arena as a founding partner," said Feigin. "The brand presence there could be amazing."