Nets CEO Yormark looking forward to better days

Someday Brett Yormark might be able to look back on all this and laugh.

Or at least teach a graduate- level course in marketing about it.

But that day is not today.

"It's been a challenge, for sure,'' the Nets' CEO said Wednesday, pondering the most profound promotional predicaments in sports.

The Nets are trying to sell tickets in East Rutherford, N.J., while preparing to move to Newark in the fall . . . but only as a pit stop en route to Brooklyn.

Oh, and they are 5-50.

That could explain their average of 13,045 tickets sold at the Izod Center, which ranks 30th in the 30-team NBA.

Fortunately for the Nets, Yormark is famously indefatigable and refuses to see the folly in this.

"It's a challenge we've embraced,'' he said. "And we firmly believe we can get better because of it as an organization.''

In the near term, the Nets have been their usual creative, aggressive selves, organizing special activities for season ticket-holders and theme events from Chinese Culture Night to Jewish Family Night.

But the real sell is the future.

By next season, the team hopes to have a big-name coach, a high draft pick and a free agent or two in its temporary home at the modern, train-accessible Prudential Center.

By 2012, the plan is to have a new owner in Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov and a new arena in downtown Brooklyn.

"I hate to call this season an aberration, but I think it's a short-term setback, one I'm not happy about, nor are our fans,'' Yormark said.

"However, the comfort is in knowing we're going to make change and we're going to make positive change and we're going to do it soon.''

That makes some sense in basketball terms, but in the meantime, how do you sell tickets to people in New Jersey for a team that is leaving while getting Brooklyn interested in a team that is not yet there?

The expectation is that the rail link to Newark will allow city dwellers to sample the coming product more easily, and the team already is reaching out to Brooklyn with community initiatives.

The more complicated challenge is the Jersey fan base, modest as it is.

The Nets don't have much to sell now, other than visiting stars, game-night entertainment and perks for season subscribers such as a private preview of "Avatar'' and bowling with Devin Harris.

Most daunting are those two pesky rivers separating current fans from the future arena.

Yormark said many fans have requested information about Brooklyn, but he admitted "our season ticket-holders are not going to be able to commit to as many games as they currently attend in New Jersey, for obvious reasons.''

Sponsors with the luxury of a long-term view have shown interest, Yormark said, adding that the current record "doesn't even come up'' in such discussions.

"One thing is for sure,'' he said. "They all get the Brooklyn story. It's very convincing.''

Sponsors and future fans aren't the only ones who feel that pull.

"You know what keeps me going every day, every night?'' Yormark said. "Opening night in Brooklyn, having my kids right near me, enjoying that special moment.

"Every day you get a little down or there seems to be another challenge or obstacle, that's what comes into my mind. It's a moment I want to be a part of and a moment I know we're closer to today than we've ever been.''