Is it any wonder the Nets' three cultural nights this season feature Russian, Chinese and Latin performers, the latter two scheduled for Saturday and February 9? After English, the three most widely spoken first languages of Brooklyn households are, in order, Spanish, Russian and Chinese. Around 500,000 Brooklynites count themselves as Hispanic, 300,000 as Russian and 160,000 as Chinese.
The Nets' plans for globalizing the franchise have another synergistic advantage beyond selling merchandise overseas. Brooklyn is one of most diverse counties in America. Taking the team global could help the Nets sell tickets at home as its popularity crisscrosses oceans...a fan in Mexico could later become a fan in Sunset Park.
It's not for nothing Prokhorov is fond of saying, "Brooklyn was the heart of United States immigration. A lot of people from other countries passed through Brooklyn. They have a lot of relatives in China, in Africa, in Russia, in Europe."