Getting spoiled by technology at Barclays Center

In the business, it's called "competing with the couch," making the arena experience so full and so fresh that fans will get off their couch, turn off their 60" HDTV screens and head for the game. No team has done more in that regard than the Nets, with its apps and its wireless network at Barclays Center.

The Times' Joshua Brustein reviews the arena experience this weekend and finds it "the most ambitious effort" so far in competing with television. Brustein tried all the functions of the team and arena app. He was most impressed with the idea of exclusive video feeds, but noted, "in many places in the arena I could not get it to load."

He liked the feature that permits fans in the "nose-bleed" seats to order food, pay for it and then pick it up. While not that impressed with the ticketing function, he reveals, "The arena is considering adding a feature to future versions that would offer fans the chance to pay to move down a few rows after they arrive in the arena."

All this is possible, he noted, because of the arena's wireless network, "a feat in itself" and the added touch of having charging booths around the arena.

• At Barclays Center, Heightening the Fan Experience - Joshua Brustein - New York Times