Brooklyn Nets
After the Nets' move to Brooklyn, the team introduced a new superhero mascot named BrooklyKnight (a pun on the demonym "Brooklynite") on November 3, 2012. In his first appearance, he was lowered from the ceiling of the Barclays Center amid sparks and fanfare and introduced by Nets PA announcer David Diamante: "Here to defend Brooklyn, he's the BrooklyKnight." The mascot was co-created by Marvel Entertainment, a sister company to NBA broadcasters ABC and ESPN. The character also starred in 32-page comic book published by Marvel titled "BrooklyKnight #1", written by Jason Aaron with art by Mike Deodato. After the Nets' second season in Brooklyn, the BrooklyKnight mascot was retired.
Brooklyn Nets
After a lengthy ownership of the franchise and numerous attempts to improve the financial situation of the team, the "Secaucus Seven" finally sold the team in 1998 to a group of local real estate developers led by Raymond Chambers and Lewis Katz, who called themselves the "Community Youth Organization" and wanted to move the team to Newark, New Jersey. The next year the group signed an agreement with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to form YankeeNets, a holding company that owned the two teams, and later also the New Jersey Devils, and increase leverage in future broadcast contracts by negotiating together. After receiving offers from numerous broadcast partners, including what was then their current rights holder Cablevision, YankeeNets decided to launch its own regional sports television called the YES Network.