Two potential investors in the $150M bid to buy the
Nets said Friday that the deal "isn't contingent on the
partners' desire to move the team to downtown Newark,"
according to Sterling & Chambers of the Newark STAR-LEDGER.
The investors said that the Tuesday deadline imposed by the
current Nets owners "makes it impossible to resolve the
thorny question" of whether the Nets would stay in the
Meadowlands or relocate. Charles Kushner, an investor
considering joining the group led by NJ business execs Stan
Gale and Finn Wentworth: "I don't think the purchase of the
Nets could be made conditioned on the team coming to Newark.
There are just too many loose ends to wrap up before the
deadline." Another potential investor, Kinney Parking Chair
Lewis Katz, said that "a key hurdle in the move to Newark
would be the cooperation" of Devils Owner John McMullen. A
feasibility study determined that Newark was the best site
for a new arena only if both the Nets and the Devils played
there, but McMullen "repeated" Friday that he does not want
to move the Devils: "There's no way I'm involved in Newark.
I don't know what else to say" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 6/27).
FROM THE MEADOWLANDS: In N.Y., Steve Popper reported
that the NJ Sports & Exposition Authority "has not ruled out
improving the Meadowlands' appeal." An official involved in
the Newark dealings said, "Underlying all of this quietly is
a move afoot to renovate the Meadowlands property. ... [I]t
has become clear that the Meadowlands needs to make the
property more attractive" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/27).
