New Jersey Gov. Not Ready To Rule On Nets Move To Newark

New Jersey Governor Waiting To Receive Input On Nets' Proposed Move To Newark

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie yesterday "refused to say whether he will allow" the Nets to move to Prudential Center for the next two NBA seasons, or waive the $7.5M penalty the Nets face for "breaking their lease" at Izod Center, according to Claire Heininger of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. While the Nets and Devils, the Prudential Center's lead tenant, hope to "send Christie a lease arrangement this week," Christie suggested that a "decision is not imminent." Christie said that he will make a decision "after receiving input on the broader impact of a deal from a newly formed advisory commission on New Jersey's struggling sports, gaming and entertainment industries." Heininger noted the $7.5M fee is "seen as key to the discussions that would bring the Nets to Newark before their planned move to Brooklyn in 2012." While former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was "willing to waive the fee, the sports and gaming committee of Christie's transition team suggested the penalty should be upheld." Christie yesterday said that the newly formed advisory panel will "examine the viability" of the NJSEA, as well as the state's "money-losing racetracks, the stalled Xanadu project" and the relationship between Izod Center and the Prudential Center. The seven-member commission will be led by former NJSEA Chair Jon Hanson, and also includes former Rutgers AD Bob Mulcahy, YES Network Founder Finn Wentworth and YES announcer Al Leiter (NJ.com, 2/3).

TIME TO GET TO WORK: The panel will "follow on the work of a larger group that outlined the problems for Christie in a transition report last month." Christie asked the commission to "report back to him by June 30, but said it will advise him on more pressing issues on an 'ongoing, real-time' basis." He stressed that the issues are "interrelated and cannot be tackled individually -- nor should the stakeholders see it that way." The STAR-LEDGER outlines the "big problems that need to be addressed" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 2/4). A STAR-LEDGER editorial states New Jersey's state department "needs an objective, hard look" at the NJSEA's "sky-high debt; its decaying and underutilized arena; an ugly and abandoned indoor ski slope; a stadium deal that will cost taxpayers millions; a dying horse-racing industry; and ridiculous NJSEA salaries." But naming Hanson as the Chair of the panel is a "flat-out whiff" by Christie. As a former Chair of the NJSEA, Hanson is "an alumnus of Mismanagement University." He helped "create the problem" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 2/4).