Venue: Barclays Center
Address: 620 Atlantic Avenue
Town: Brooklyn, US
Capacity: 17,732

Barclays Center ( BAR-kleez) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The arena also hosts concerts, conventions and other sporting and entertainment events. It is part of the Pacific Park complex at Atlantic Avenue, next to the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station and directly above the LIRR's Atlantic Terminal. The arena opened its doors on September 28, 2012 and its naming rights are held by the British bank Barclays. It is owned by the State of New York's Empire State Development authority through a public entity named the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation. It is leased by Brooklyn Event Center LLC, owned by Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai, with operations (and associated revenue) managed by Tsai's BSE Global. The arena, proposed in 2004 when real estate developer Bruce Ratner purchased the Nets for $300 million as the first step of the process to build a new home for the team, experienced significant hurdles during its development. Its use of eminent domain and its potential environmental impact brought massive community resistance, especially as residential buildings and businesses such as the Ward Bakery and Freddy's bar were to be demolished and large amounts of public subsidies were used, which led to multiple lawsuits. The Great Recession also caused financing for the project to dry up. As a result, construction was delayed until 2010, with no secure funding for the project having been allotted. Groundbreaking for construction occurred on March 11, 2010, and the arena opened on September 21, 2012, which some 200 protesters also attended. Its first event was a Jay-Z concert on September 28, 2012. The arena was conceived by Bruce Ratner of real estate developer Forest City Ratner Companies, the New York division of Forest City Enterprises that