The Izod Center, the former home of the New Jersey Nets, is reportedly set to close its doors by the end of this month. Via NJ.com:
Under an agreement that will be announced Thursday, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority — which oversees the 34-year-old, state-owned venue — has reached an agreement with the Prudential Center that grants the arena in Newark official hosting rights to the events calendar of the Izod Center, according to a source familiar with the agreement who asked not to be identified because the source was not authorized to publicly discuss it.
The two-year deal called for all future events currently scheduled for the Izod Center to be moved to the Prudential Center, effective Jan. 31. According to the Izod calendar, those upcoming events include concerts by Chris Brown and Maroon 5, a Ringling Bros. circus, and a Disney event.
The arena, formerly known as the Brendan Byrne Arena from 1981 to 1996 and Continental Airlines Arena from 1996 to 2007, housed the Nets from when it opened in 1981 until 2010. The Nets came to an agreement with the arena & Prudential Center to allow the team to play their final two years in Newark, before they headed to Brooklyn for the 2012-13 season.
The Izod Center is off Route 3 in East Rutherford, a difficult place to attract guests due to its non-centralized location and lack of public transportation directly to the arena. The Nets routinely ranked among the NBA’s worst in attendance during their time there, even struggling during the team’s successful on-court years.
Now, it may be done for good: though the report cites only a two-year contract, it’s hard to imagine a comeback for an arena that has done little since the Nets left beyond graduations and occasional concerts, especially with the boom of arenas in the area.
NJ.com — Deal closing Izod Center expected to be announced Thursday
