A Newark Star-Ledger/Eagleton Public Opinion telephone
poll of 800 adults found that support for moving the Nets
from the Meadowlands to Newark "has nearly doubled" in the
past 14 months, according to Jordan & Mueller of the Newark
STAR-LEDGER. Among NJ residents, 28% believe the proposed
move is a "good idea," 15% think it is a "bad idea" and 57%
"either don't care or have no opinion." Asked the same
questions in January '99, "only" 16% felt a Nets move to
Newark was a good idea, while 23% "were sour on the
proposal" and 61% "didn't care." The latest poll was
conducted between February 28-March 9 and has a margin of
error of +/- 3.5%. Public awareness of the proposed move
also has risen, as 59% said that they "have heard or read
something" about the team's plans to leave the Meadowlands,
up from 47% last year (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 3/20).
MEADOWLANDS MALL? In N.Y., Filip Bondy examined the
future of the Meadowlands, and wrote that "at the moment,
the Meadowlands is doing fine, even turning a tidy profit,"
as the NFL Giants, Jets and Devils have leases that extend
through "at least" eight more seasons. In '99, the arena
lost $1.8M, though the Meadowlands Racetrack and Giants
Stadium "were still profitable," based on combined revenues
of "nearly" $29M (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/19).
