Back in January 2007, Barclays saved the Nets Brooklyn dream by agreeing to a 20-year naming rights deal for their new arena which had a reported, but not officially confirmed, $400 million price tag. Twice during the arena's long delay, the deal was renegotiated, according to documents later filed as part of arena bonding process.
Norman Oder, critic and chronicler of the Nets' move to Brooklyn, has long claimed the real value of the deal was only about half that figure, based on those documents, and has challenged the New York Times to stop using the $400 million figure. Bruce Ratner's investment bankers have noted the Barclays package includes not just arena naming rights but "certain fees" paid the Nets.
So the Times asked its reporter to double-check and an editor wrote Oder that "both the Nets and Ratner confirmed the reported number again on Tuesday." Oder is not satisfied.