Governor Chris Christie and administration plan to pull the plug on the 34 year old, lonesome Izod Center.
Izod Center formerly called Brendan Byrne Arena and Continental Airlines Arena, has not had a long term tenant since the departure of NHL’s New Jersey Devils and NCAA’s Seton Hall in 2007. Izod also had NBA’s Brooklyn Nets (Formerly New Jersey Nets when playing at Izod Center.) as a major tenant until their departure in 2010 to the Prudential Center, just a couple miles away in downtown Newark.
Izod Center is now practically a entertainment venue in Christie Administration’s eyes, since lack of sports tenants.
With the NJ Devils’ 8 year old Prudential Center nearby, along with NY Knicks and NY Rangers’ Madison Square Garden right in NYC and Brooklyn Nets’ Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it did not seem logical to keep the arena when you have those ones nearby which are also newly updated. Not to mention all 3 of those arenas have crushed IZod Center’s attendance and ticket sales in the entertainment department.
Some highlight moments that occured in the wall and floors of IZod Center were:
1. NJ Devils 3 Stanley Cup Championships in 1995,2000,2003.
2. Bruce Springsteen Concert in 1981
3. Rolling Stones Concert in 1981
4. Nets Back to Back NBA Finals Appearances in 2002 and 2003.
5. Home of the NCAA Final Four Tournament in 1996.
It was announced the week of January 13th that the arena was undergoing plans to either close it or try to attempt selling it to a private owner. Christie and his administration thought of an idea of seeing if the owners of this brand new Meadowlands Shopping Mall (Set to open in 2017) will purchase the arena. That plan fell though. So the arena is scheduled to close it doors on February 1st for good. The very last event that will occur at the arena is the Monster Truck Rally on January 30th and 31st.
All events that were scheduled for Izod Center after January 31st, like for example the Chris Brown concert in March, will be moved to the Prudential Center in Newark.
No further plan on demolishing the arena has been intended, but the arena will definitely close until they could figure out what to do with it.
