In Little Noticed Move, NBA Takes Control of BrooklynNets.com

The NBA has taken control of the url, BrooklynNets.com, and now automatically directs traffic from that link to the BarclaysCenter.com NetsBasketball page.  According to the domain's history, the web address was controlled for years by a motorcycle site, which first registered it in 2003, not long after Bruce Ratner expressed interest in buying the team.  On March 21, NBA Media Ventures LLC at the league's New York headquarters was listed as the website's registrant for the first time.

For years, the site featured one page, featuring a drawing of a basketball player and a top-hatted, tuxedo-wearing, one-eyed plutocrat doing battle and the cryptic phrase, "Tim Hailey's Brooklyn Nets vs. The Residents".

The "Residents" apparently refers not to arena critics but to a band who never identified themselves by name, always appearing in public in disguise. That same page stated, "brooklynnets.com is not associated in any way with the National Basketball Association, New Jersey Nets or Forest City Ratner".  On occasion, it featured a Brooklyn uniform jersey and the words, "Coming Soon". Domain registration sites do not indicate how the transfer occurred or how the NBA acquired the address.

The change in registrants and link to BarclaysCenter.com is yet another indication that the Nets are leaning toward retaining the "Nets" name after the move to Brooklyn.

• Nets Basketball - BrooklynNets.com