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April 23, 2008
NJ Nets Chatterbox
If it wasn't for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, we might have missed two articles from New Jersey, which have stirred up all kinds of chatter about keeping the Nets in the Garden State:
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Nets to Newark Chatter
Yesterday in two Jersey papers (The Newark Star-Ledger and The Record), there was quite a bit of chatter about the expense of the proposed move of the Nets to Brooklyn and the possibility of the Nets moving to the newly built Prudential Center Arena in Newark.
The Bergen Record, Can the Nets afford to move to Brooklyn?
The Nets expect to lose about $40 million in the just-completed season, with similar red ink expected annually for the basketball franchise's foreseeable future at the Izod Center [in New Jersey].
At the same time, the estimated cost of their proposed new building — the Barclays Center in Brooklyn — has soared to $950 million, or more than twice the price of any pro basketball or hockey arena ever built in the United States.
At this rate, the Nets can't afford to stay in the Meadowlands — but can they afford to move to Brooklyn?
The Newark Star-Ledger, Newark hoop dreams [Blog editorial]
Those who dream in New Jersey know the rumors that developer Ratner bought the Nets only to sweeten the appeal of the development project. The reverie is that if Brooklyn falls through, a coalition of New Jersey buyers (led by the New Jersey Devils hockey team, perhaps?) would take the Nets off Ratner's hands. Then the Nets would move into the shiny new Prudential Center, which the Devils built with the city of Newark. Whether the financing of the Newark arena made sense (the city put up the lion's share), it's built and it draws tons of fans via mass transit. The arena here was originally planned as a home for the Nets, and that's where the team belongs.
Nets Daily, Newark Nets? Hope and Reality
The Star-Ledger thinks the Nets should join the Devils at the Prudential Center. With the Nets’ Brooklyn arena hurt by protests and rising costs, the newspaper thinks “The Rock” would be an ideal home. But local pride has its limits, notes an editorial. A Nets’ spokesman says, “Newark is not even a consideration.” There’s also the Nets’ onerous lease with the state, but that, the Ledger hears, could be modified.
The commenters are largely for keeping the Nets in NJ, though most aren't bullish about the prospects.
Posted by lumi at April 23, 2008 5:42 AM