New Jersey state officials yesterday conceded that despite the impending closure of Izod Center, "some concerts and shows -- including the Ringling Bros. Circus -- will go on as planned through the end of March," according to Ted Sherman of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. New Jersey Sports & Exhibition Authority President & CEO Wayne Hasenbalg said, "It's not easy to move stuff." Hasenbalg said that Izod Center "was on its way to losing" $8.5M this year. Under an agreement approved Thursday, the NJSEA "agreed to turn off the lights at the arena at the end of January and give hosting rights to its events calendar" to Prudential Center in Newark. Hasenbalg said that under the terms of the agreement, Prudential Center "would get the revenues for any extended dates after January." Sherman notes no decision "has been made yet on the other two concerts set for February and March at Izod" -- Chris Brown on Feb. 21 and Maroon 5 on March 8. Izod Center’s hosting of the WWE's SummerSlam in August will be "far more difficult to resolve" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 1/19).
BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW: A Bergen RECORD editorial stated the decision to "stanch the flow of blood makes sense financially." But to "close one wound, another was opened: Longtime employees at the arena will have no jobs, and businesses that depend upon the Izod Center will be hard up as well." The closure is a "bitter pill to swallow" (Bergen RECORD, 1/17). In New Jersey, John Brennan noted beyond closing Izod Center until the end of '16, the state’s agreement with Prudential Center "also places limits on the Meadowlands arena’s operations in 2017 and beyond." A 10-page document shows "numerous promises made to the operators" of Prudential Center in exchange for the $2M they pledged to pay the NJSEA. In the letter, the NJSEA "agreed either to keep the Izod Center closed" in '17 and '18, or "alternatively to reopen in 2017 in a format that is not directly competitive with the Newark arena." The NJSEA in the latter case "would agree" that from '17-21, Izod Center "would only offer a 'single theatrical residency production' -- a series of performances such as Cirque du Soleil -- or cut the capacity" in half to a maximum of 10,000 seats. Popular family shows that are "featured in most or all arenas in the region also would not be held at Izod Center at that time, with an exception for shows produced by a new operator" (Bergen RECORD, 1/17).
COSTLY MISSTEPS? In New Jersey, Mike Kelly writes after "decades of success, two disastrous political decisions were made." The first was to "allow Newark to build another sports arena only seven miles away." The second was the "mind-boggling approval" of the American Dream Meadowlands project, which has "been described as a place where you can shop and be entertained." That project has "essentially choked off the Izod arena to customers" (Bergen RECORD, 1/19).
