BSE Global Acquires Brooklyn Magazine, Relaunches It As BKMag

The entertainment company BSE Global, which owns the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and Barclays Center, relaunched the independent publisher Brooklyn Magazine as BKMag on Monday after first acquiring the title in March. The relaunch is the first step in a broader bid from BSE Global to build a global media brand, called Brooklyn Media, early next year, according to global chief products and experiences officer DeJuan Wilson. “We want to put Brooklyn at the center of the BSE ecosystem and connect people to Brooklyn through all the things they love,” Wilson said. “The relaunch is about positioning BKMag as the ultimate guide to Brooklyn.” The acquisition, which was not widely reported at the time, came almost three and a half years after Brooklyn Magazine restarted, in December 2020, under the leadership of political marketer Michael Bassik and former AdAge editor Brian Braiker. BSE Global declined to share the financial specifics of the transaction or the total headcount of the publication, although the company does plan to expand. After acquiring the title, BSE Global spent several months working to understand what content was resonating with the Brooklyn Magazine audience and finalizing the strategy for its next era, according to Wilson. Going forward, BKMag will more heavily emphasize guides, such as lists of the best restaurants in the borough and short-form video content. The content will be designed to champion the borough's culture by showcasing music, nightlife, food, and art. The publisher is also suspending its final print magazine of the year and evaluating the print product's role for 2025. It will monetize the content through advertising, with an emphasis on custom content, sponsorships, and brand integrations. The publisher also hosts events, such as its summertime movie screenings in Brooklyn parks, and has a newsletter, both of which add surface areas for potential multichannel packages. Although BKMag will be part of the BSE Global umbrella, the publisher will only cover its fellow portfolio companies when organically relevant, according to Wilson. When BSE Global launches Brooklyn Media next year, BKMag will serve as the flagship media property of the operation. The expansion is part of a larger investment from BSE Global into Brooklyn itself, which includes backing a wine club and nearby performance venue. Although BKMag will be BSE Global’s first foray into media, the owners of the holding company, husband and wife Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, have ample experience in the industry. Joe is a cofounder of Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce platform, and serves as its executive chairman. In 2015, the Alibaba Group acquired the South China Morning Post, the preeminent news media publisher in Hong Kong, and Joe now serves as its chairman as well. Clara was an executive producer of Into the Okavango, a 2018 conservation documentary, Blue Bayou, a 2021 drama, and Unfinished Business, a 2022 documentary about the WNBA. The two bought the New York Liberty in 2019 for $15 million and have since revitalized the franchise, which won the WNBA Championship in October. When the Tsais sold a 15% stake in BSE Global this summer, the Liberty part of the deal was valued at $200 million.

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Brooklyn Magazine Relaunches As BKMag After BSE Global Acquisition

The parent company of the Brooklyn Nets will use the publisher as the foundation for a new global media brand

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