February 23, 2009
Joe DePlasco, for Forest City Ratner, 212-685-4300
Company to also sponsor Nets Basketball
MetroPCS is the eighth Founding Partner for the Barclays Center, with a ninth Founding Partner to be announced next week.
As a key component of its multi-year Founding Partnership, MetroPCS branding will be featured prominently in the upper bowl of the Barclays Center, to be known as the MetroPCS Pavilion, with fully integrated signage. Additionally, MetroPCS will receive branding in select areas throughout the building, and will have retail space at ground level.
Earlier this month, MetroPCS announced the launch of its low cost, flat-rate, no signed contract unlimited wireless services in the five boroughs of New York City, Newark, Jersey City, and Paterson, N.J..
MetroPCS joins a stable of best-in-class companies who have signed on as Founding Partners, including: ADT, Anheuser-Busch, Cushman & Wakefield, EmblemHealth, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Jones Soda Co., and Phillips-Van Heusen. The Founding Partners will be featured prominently in a distinct ‘neighborhood’ such as the ADT Plaza, the Cushman & Wakefield Theater, the EmblemHealth Entrance, the IZOD-Nets Team Store, Club MGM Grand @ Foxwoods, and the Jones Soda Shoppe.
As a key component to the Founding Partner alliances, BSE will introduce an unprecedented ‘Street to Seat’ branding strategy. The timed program assures that visitors to the Barclays Center will see the same synchronized signage from the moment they arrive outside the venue on the marquee to when they walk into the ADT Plaza and finally as they proceed into the Barclays Center seating bowl. Each Founding Partner will receive these moments of exclusivity.
"We are thrilled to join with such a respected company as MetroPCS and to help build its brand in Brooklyn and throughout New York City and northern New Jersey,” said Brett Yormark, president and CEO of Nets Sports and Entertainment. “As a new Founding Partner, MetroPCS is showing its excitement about the Barclays Center and the entire Atlantic Yards development. Our alliance is yet another example of the enthusiasm and confidence in the marketplace about the arena and Brooklyn’s dynamic renaissance as we continue to move closer to bringing the best of sports and entertainment to the borough.”
"MetroPCS is proud to be a Founding Partner for the planned Barclays Center in Brooklyn and a sponsor of Nets Basketball," said Dan Olmetti, vice president and general manager for MetroPCS’ New York market. "We believe this opportunity and sponsorship will help us generate additional awareness of our unlimited, flat-rate service with no contract. The partnership is a win-win situation for everyone, including the consumers, and we look forward to being an integral part of Nets’ fans experience at the Barclays Center.”
The Barclays Center will be a world class sports and entertainment landmark facility, which will be the home of the Brooklyn Nets and host to more than 200 events annually. In January 2007, Barclays, a leading global financial services company, and the Nets announced a multi-faceted strategic marketing and media partnership that includes a 20-year naming rights of the arena.
As a Founding Partner, MetroPCS, which was represented by Richards Sports & Entertainment in its negotiations with BSE, will be part of the Nets extensive community outreach in the borough. Last year was the launch of the Barclays-Nets Community Alliance, a non-profit organization whose goal is to promote athletics, education, and personal development among young people in Brooklyn.
In its recent launch in New York City and New Jersey, MetroPCS continued its expansion into the Northeast, which also includes the Greater Philadelphia Region, the Greater Boston Area, Worcester, Mass., Providence, R.I. and Manchester, N.H. MetroPCS’ unlimited wireless service is now offered in all major U.S. regions including the East Coast, Southeastern U.S., Midwest, Central and Western regions.
In addition to bringing a new low cost, flat-rate, no signed contract unlimited wireless service, MetroPCS’ entry into the market will provide a positive stimulus for the local economy by creating an estimated 1,600 jobs by the end of 2009.
Continued consumer demand for MetroPCS’ wireless service, as well as entry into new markets such as the five boroughs of New York City, Newark, Jersey City and Paterson, have been the driving factors behind the company’s growth to over 5.4 million subscribers nationwide.
For more information on the Barclays Center, please go to www.barclayscenter.com.
About MetroPCS Communications, Inc.
Dallas-based MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) is a provider of unlimited wireless communications service for a flat-rate with no signed contract. MetroPCS owns or has access to licenses covering a population of approximately 150 million people in the largest metropolitan areas in the United States, including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, Boston, Miami, Tampa, and Sacramento. MetroPCS ranked "Highest In Customer Satisfaction With Wireless Prepaid Service" in the J.D. Power and Associates third annual Prepaid Customer Satisfaction Study in July of 2008. As of December 31, 2008, MetroPCS had approximately 5.4 million subscribers. For more information please visit www.metropcs.com.