In remarks by Nets officials, he is officially referred to as "cultural icon" rather than minority shareholder, reportedly part of an agreement between he and the team. His name is printed in all caps, as in "JAY-Z".
The face of the team may be Deron Williams, but the face of the franchise and its new home is Shawn Carter. Brett Yormark said so back in September, "Jay-Z is truly the face of the Barclays Center and of the Brooklyn Nets."
As Brooklyn gets closer --business operations move next month and new team colors and logos will be introduced soon as well-- team officials report that the Brooklyn-born Jay-Z is more involved with the team.
He's serving as a consultant on the colors and logos; as well as new uniforms, due in the summer; interior spaces -- including the half million dollar "event level" suites at Barclays Center; and the ad campaign for the transition from New Jersey to Brooklyn.
Jay-Z of course is a bit busy nowadays, with the arrival of his daughter Blue Ivy Carter. If you needed any reinforcement of his marketing power, look no further than the covers of the Post and Daily News as well as the Empire State Building. He's after all in an Empire State of Mind. Read more on what he's doing after the break...
"Jay's very involved, which is terrific," the Nets CEO. "Obviously, he's a trendsetter and such a talented individual. We and myself in particular collaborate with Jay very often. He's doing some things with the building as far as premium spaces, working with our architect and our design firm. He's also working with us on our jerseys, the colors, just directionally how we want to present the brand when we get to Brooklyn.
"So he's very involved, takes it very seriously and obviously coming from Brooklyn, he sees this as a huge moment and a bit of a part of his legacy. So, I'm really happy to have him on board and like I said, we work very closely together."
"Jay-Z is one of the owners of the Nets. We've been working very closely with him on all the club spaces which is really fun."
Rap mogul Jay-Z — co-founder of the hip clothing line Rocawear — is working with Nets brass and Adidas to design uniforms for the team when it moves into the under-construction Barclays Center in Brooklyn next year, Nets officials told the Post. No matter what, the logo will feature Brooklyn prominently because the club wants to tap into the borough’s world-popular brand name, officials said.
“Brooklyn will be involved in whatever we do,” said Fred Mangione, chief marketing officer for the Nets and Barclays Center.
"We have a brand, the arena, for housing great talent. And we have a brand, the Brooklyn Nets, and we need to make them a phenomenon in 2012," Translation president and Jay-Z partner Steve Stoute told Advertising Age. "Our job is to remove all doubt that what's coming to Brooklyn is going to make Brooklyn one of the finest entertainment capitals in the country."
"JAY-Z is truly the face of the Barclays Center and of the Brooklyn Nets," Brett Yormark said. "There's no better alignment than to have a world-class venue and team with a world-class entertainer."
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Billy King said back in April that Jay-Z is indeed involved, unlike other minority celebrity owners, Usher in Cleveland and Nelly in Charlotte.
"To see (Jay-Z) give a pitch on Brooklyn, and the passion about going to Brooklyn – you see it on tape, you see it on TV. To see him in a room with Carmelo, and making it, you see the passion there," King told Stefan Bondy. "And if he’s as passionate about Brooklyn, I just can’t imagine what the other people that live there are going to be like when we get there. And to see him as involved and as passionate about the Nets, to me, it’s a real positive. It’s not just something that he’s just using, or investing in. It’s something that he’s going to be involved in even more when we get – next season, I think, even further, we go to Brooklyn."