Brooklyn Nets eyeing new sponsor for Barclays Center thanks to Joe Tsai

The Brooklyn Nets have experienced a massive rise in relevance in 2020-21 thanks to James Harden making their All-NBA duo into a Big 3.

With great power comes shifting expectations and change across the board, though.

Greatness can be disorienting, and it looks like Nets owner Joe Tsai has every intention of revamping every inch of this burgeoning team’s brand.

According to sources, Tsai is actively shopping for a new uniform sponsor to replace Motorola — and of course he is. Does anything feel more outdated than that current sponsorship?

Does any current NBA jersey sponsorship feel maximized and “hip” right now?

Tsai could reportedly earn up to $13 million for a new jersey patch from an upgraded company, and he’s not stopping there. The same speculative sources claim Barclays could soon be removed as the sponsor of the arena, too, leading to a monstrous naming deal for a dominant new era in Nets basketball.

Are the Brooklyn Nets about to lose the Barclays Center name?

We should’ve seen this coming when Tsai bought the Nets in the first place, but the details of the relationship are now coming to light.

Tsai has already reportedly boosted the jersey patch rights to a $13 million valuation, which exceeds the cost of Barclays’ arena sponsorship. As the number pitched to Motorola rises, so too will the eventual cost of placing a corporate name on the arena, something Barclays may no longer be able to afford — and there’s an out in the contract between the two parties after 2022.

Add in the fact that Barclays bought the rights in the first place because they intended to expand their US operation … then abandoned that notion when the financial crisis hit, we’re left wondering why they’ve even bothered for so long.

The Brooklyn Nets brand will be in the spotlight for the next several years, with the potential of months-long playoff runs culminating here every summer. Airtime is assured for whatever brand steps up to the plate here.

Just two years into his quest to raise the profile of all Nets-related sponsorships, Tsai already seems to have met his goal of exceeding the valuation of the previous naming rights deal. Now how high can the number climb?

Brooklyn Nets: Did James Harden troll Knicks with New Yorker tweet?

Brooklyn Nets star James Harden was honored to be on the cover of the New Yorker, but...not alongside the New York Knicks. No thanks.