MEADOWLANDS – The New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority (NJSEA), owners of the Izod Center in East Rutherford, were scheduled to hear a proposal on Thursday, Jan. 15 to close the arena for at least two years. The closing would be part of a deal with the Prudential Center in Newark, which would hold events previously scheduled for Izod, while paying NJSEA during the closure, according to njbiz.com.
The Izod Center, formerly known as the Brendan T. Byrne Arena, lost money for the state last year, in part due to competition from other venues in the region. The New Jersey Devils moved from the Izod Center to the Prudential Center in 2007, followed by the Nets in 2010, who migrated to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The NJSEA has been exploring options to privatize the Izod Center for years. The Meadowlands Racetrack and Monmouth Park, both money-losing operations for the state, were privatized in recent years.
Triple Five, the developers that took over the floundering Xanadu Mall in the nearby Meadowlands and are in the process of rebooting it as the American Dream complex, have been suggested as possible new owners for the Izod Center, as have the owners of the Prudential Center.
There was no indication of when the Izod Center would close if the proposal is approved.
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