Sports Biz’s Double Play

Up in New Jersey, Brett Yormark is building the fortunes of the once underperforming Nets organization at the Izod Center in East Rutherford. Formerly the Continental Arena, the state-owned facility scored its new name when Yormark charmed the apparel giant Phillips Van Heusen, Izod's parent. "Brett motivated us to step forward and take a shot on something as outside the box as an apparel-brand name on a sports arena," says Allen Sirkin, the company's president.

The latest owners of the Nets, lead by New York real-estate developer Bruce Ratner, wooed Brett Yormark three years ago from NASCAR, where he helped drive the motor sport to mass popularity, cluttering it with brands in the process. "I knew in the first five minutes that I met him that he'd help change the face of NASCAR," says George Pyne, Yormark's former NASCAR boss. In his brief Nets stint, he has already increased revenue by 20 percent to $100 million, says Ratner's top executive, Joanne Minieri.

Yormark brought to the Nets an eye for sponsorship that he honed at NASCAR. The pitch zone at Izod Center now extends to every nook and cranny—World Yachts, the cruise giant, sponsors a street-level passageway. Yormark lured Tiffany to sponsor the Franchise Room, the dining room for the Nets' owners. Marquis Jet sponsors a VIP lounge, where rap star Jay-Z, a Nets investor, and other celebrities may chill.

By the end of the decade, Brett will have a far grander stage for showcasing his marketing talents when the Nets relocate to a Frank Gehry-designed arena in Brooklyn. The arena will be the centerpiece of one of the nation's largest real-estate developments, a project spearheaded by Ratner. Yormark has already wooed British banking giant Barclays to put its moniker on the center for a reported $400 million, a record 20-year naming-rights deal. "I'm a revenue guy," says Brett. "I was brought in to create value." And he and his brother are doing just that. You can bet on it, double down.

© 2007