Brooklyn hoops fans will have to wait. The New Jersey Nets won't be moving into their new digs in New York City until sometime in 2010. The team had initially targeted its move to Brooklyn for the start of the 2009 season, but delays in breaking ground at the eventual Barclays Center have now pushed back the proposed debut toward the latter half of the 2009-2010 season at the earliest.
Is this significant financial news? It is if you're following Jones Soda (Nasdaq: JSDA). The fast-growing soft drink maker has a deal to be the exclusive soda provider at the new arena.
Most consumers associate Jones Soda with its colorful pop, packaged in clear bottles with user-submitted photo labels. The company extended its reach by expanding distribution of its more economical canned produce beyond Target (NYSE: TGT) last year.
These are big markets. Titans like Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) aren't breaking a syrupy sweat. However, Jones Soda's move into sports venues has to make heads turn.
Jones Soda made waves when it booted Coke as the in-stadium provider of soft drinks for Seattle Seahawks home games during the current football season. Jones Soda shareholders are no doubt tickled to see one of this weekend's four playoff games taking place in Seattle.
The exclusive pouring rights deal in Brooklyn will serve smaller audiences, but will do so over a far greater number of home games. It's also a key win in that it took place outside of Jones Soda's home turf of Seattle.
Other leagues have been watching the Seahawks rollout. Jones isn't a brand associated with conventional flavors like cola or lemon-lime. However, Jones has been able to inject a little personality into the process. It rolled out a Seahawks-themed line of football-inspired flavors in a collectors pack. The company also has photographers at the stadium, providing patrons with customized labels for their bottles -- a clever keepsake touch.
Having a baseball team -- or additional football and basketball teams -- make the leap to Jones Soda would be huge. The company's financials haven't been as impressive as its case volume growth. Fiscally speaking, Jones has not lived up to the hype of being the next Hansen Natural (Nasdaq: HANS).
As long as the deal engines are still turning, though, this game isn't over -- even if playing hoops in Brooklyn is now two years away.
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