Since Barclays Center opened in 2012, it has hosted some of the best events not only in Brooklyn or New York City, but the world. Some have included the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, tour stops by the Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, and Katy Perry, college basketball games and the Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Brooklyn Nets, and who can forget the eight Jay Z concerts that opened the building?
Rolling out had the opportunity to talk to the man who leads the arena, Brett Yormark, the CEO of Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets. Queried about whether he expected the team to receive the level of support that it has from fans, he responded, “Absolutely not. I mean we had a great vision for what we wanted. We wanted this team to help galvanize the borough and obviously our playoff theme this year was One Pride. One Goal. One Dream. One Reason. For Brooklyn, so it’s all been about the fan base here in the borough who have been just incredibly supportive of this franchise. As Mikhail Prokhorov said, he wants to bring a championship to Brooklyn. We’re on that mission.”
Yormark also expressed pride about the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards experience. “Well, that experience was terrific … it was probably one of the biggest events that we’ve had here. It was a global event. Our goal is to glamourize this borough. To put this building, this borough, this city, on the biggest stage possible. The MTV Video Music Awards certainly was a great example of it. We recently hosted the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which was another big award show … our goal is to be very active in the awards show business and very excited about what the future holds for us,” he said.
As successful as the building has been, that success will grow with the addition of the New York Islanders, who will call Barclays Center home beginning in September 2015. Yormark talked about the inspiration behind the deal. “We’ve had a great [22] months since we’ve opened the Barclays Center, obviously concerts, family shows, college basketball, boxing and the Nets have really filled the dates here but we wanted more. We’re a group that’s happy but we’re never satisfied. So bringing a second professional franchise in, an NHL team, the New York Islanders, a team that has an incredible legacy, I think is great for this borough and we’ve received a ton of interest from fans that want to get involved and it’s a very exciting time for the borough. Thankfully, Brooklyn scored again by bringing in another pro franchise,” he said.
Barclays Center will be celebrating its second anniversary on Sept. 28, and the venue has an exciting lineup of forthcoming events, including Fashion Rocks 2014 with performances by Jennifer Lopez, Usher and Pitbull; the Source360 concert featuring Wu Tang Clan, The Diplomats and more; in addition to another season of Brooklyn Nets basketball. Yormark and his staff have done an impeccable job in their first two years, and Brooklyn and New York City are better places for it. Visit BarclaysCenter.com for more upcoming events.
