Meadowlands Arena
Meadowlands Arena is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, the state-owned facility has been used as a rehearsal stage by major concert-touring music stars and by NBCUniversal for television filming. The arena is located on New Jersey Route 120 across the highway from MetLife Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack, next to the American Dream shopping and entertainment complex.
The arena, which opened in 1981, was originally built to accommodate the New Jersey Nets basketball team. In 1982, the relocated Colorado Rockies hockey team became the New Jersey Devils and joined the Nets at the venue. In 1985, the Seton Hall Pirates men's collegiate basketball team began playing its home games at the arena. In 2007, the Prudential Center opened in nearby Newark as the new Devils home arena. Seton Hall, whose campus in South Orange is closer to Newark than East Rutherford, likewise moved its basketball games there. The Nets remained at the Meadowlands for three more seasons before moving to Newark, where they played two seasons before departing New Jersey for Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The men's basketball team from Fordham University played four home games during the 2010–11 season at the arena.
Following the departure of all three of its major tenants, the arena continued to host occasional non-sporting events, such as touring shows and concerts, and other local events. The state-owned facility reported losses for 2013, and was projected to have $8.5 million in losses for 2015. On January 15, 2015, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority voted to shut down Izod Center, and have Prudential Center acquire hosting rights to events scheduled for the arena over the next two years in a $2 million deal.
Since closing, the vacant arena has been used as a rehearsal venue for large-scale touring concert productions as well as a sound stage for video and television productions. Since 2018, NBC has leased the venue to film prime-time drama series, including The Enemy Within and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector. It is also home to the crime drama series The Equalizer, starring Queen Latifah, and the TV programs Tales of the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: Dead City.
History
Construction on a new arena across Route 20 from Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack began in 1977, with the arena's initial purpose being to serve as the primary home for the Nets who had moved from Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York to New Jersey. While the venue was being built, the Nets played their home games in Piscataway at the Rutgers Athletic Center.The arena was designed by Grad Partnership and Dilullo, Clauss, Ostroki & Partners and was constructed at a cost of $85 million. Originally named the Brendan Byrne Arena, after the sitting governor of New Jersey, Brendan Byrne, the building opened on July 2, 1981, with the first of six concerts by New Jersey rock musician Bruce Springsteen. The Nets moved into their new home on October 30, 1981, and lost to their cross-river rivals, the New York Knicks in their inaugural home game. In 1982, the arena hosted the NBA All-Star Game. Then, it hosted the 1996 NBA draft.
Another motivation for building an arena in the Meadowlands was to potentially lure a National Hockey League team to New Jersey. Governor Byrne was a member of an ownership group that was looking to do so, and in 1978 businessman Arthur Imperatore purchased the Colorado Rockies and announced that he would be relocating the team to New Jersey. Unfortunately for Imperatore, the Rockies would be sold twice more before that finally became a reality. The newly renamed, John McMullen-owned New Jersey Devils played their first game at the arena on October 5, 1982, against the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the game ending in a 3–3 tie. Don Lever scored the first goal in the arena, which was the Devils' very first goal. In 1984, the arena hosted the NHL All-Star Game. The following year, the Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team began playing at the arena.
On January 4, 1996, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority announced a naming rights deal with Continental Airlines under which the airline, with a hub at nearby Newark Liberty International Airport, would pay the NJSEA $29 million over 12 years. As Continental Airlines Arena, it hosted the 1996 Final Four—the last Final Four to date that has been held in an arena specifically built for basketball.
In September 2006, the Nets and the NJSEA announced an extension of their lease to keep the team in the Meadowlands until 2013, with a provision to leave as early as 2009 if the Brooklyn arena was completed. It was reported at the time that the Nets' owner, Bruce Ratner was seeking to sell the Nets, thus thwarting any possible move to Brooklyn.
On May 5, 2007, the Devils played their last game at the arena, losing 3–2 to the Ottawa Senators, eliminating them from the Eastern Conference semifinals 4–1. Scott Gomez scored the final goal in the building. The Devils subsequently relocated to the newly constructed Prudential Center in nearby Newark at the beginning of the 2007–08 NHL season.
Following the Devils' final season at the arena in 2007, Continental Airlines opted out of the naming rights agreement and the NJSEA signed an agreement with Izod for five years. The company paid $1.4 million per year for the first two years of the agreement; when the Nets left, it dropped to $750,000 per year for the balance of the five-year deal. The columns of the Izod Center's exterior were also repainted red as the arena assumed a new color scheme.
In 2009, Newark mayor Cory Booker and Devils owner Jeffrey Vanderbeek called for the closing of the Izod Center, because it was a competing venue to the Prudential Center for events, and a "drain on taxpayers." In October 2009, a deal was brokered for the Nets to play at the Prudential Center for two seasons, beginning in the 2010–11 NBA season. The deal also included a partnership with the Prudential Center hosting sporting events, and the Izod Center handling concerts and family shows. The two arenas proposed a joint venture, Jersey Presents LLC, to wrestle leverage from promoters who had been playing the two against each other. "You can’t have two venues that close together fighting each other and have that be productive for the state," said Jerry Zaro, economic czar to former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, who brokered the deal. The Nets' agreement to play the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons in Newark was finalized on February 18, 2010. On April 12, 2010, the Nets played their final game at the Izod Center, a 105–95 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. Terrence Williams made the final basket in the arena.
Shutdown
With the loss of its major tenants, the Izod Center served primarily as a venue for traveling events, such as concerts, ice shows, and other occasional local events such as graduation ceremonies. New Jersey's government considered possible options for the arena, including selling or leasing it to another operator, or closing it entirely. Triple Five Group had attempted to negotiate taking over the arena so it could be incorporated into the nearby American Dream Meadowlands complex, but the deal fell through. The arena reported losses for 2013, also facing competition from Barclays Center in landing major concerts, and it was estimated that the arena would lose $8.5 million over the course of 2015. Even with its use during Super Bowl XLVIII, Izod Center reported a $45,800 loss from the event.On January 15, 2015, as urged by state governor Chris Christie, the NJSEA voted to close Izod Center. Under a two-year, $2 million agreement with Devils Arena Entertainment LLC, most future events scheduled for Izod Center were moved to Prudential Center. While the arena was originally expected to be shut down by the end of January, its final event was a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus event on March 22, 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, the operators of Prudential Center were held responsible for staffing and logistics for shows held after January 31 but was entitled to receive the profits from such events.
On July 14, 2016, The Record reported that Devils Arena Entertainment had yet to pay the first $500,000 installment of its $2 million agreement with the NJSEA. On August 11, 2016, the NJSEA announced that it would allow musicians to book the arena for use as a rehearsal facility. Prudential Center president Hugh Weber noted that Coldplay had similarly done so prior to their tour stop at nearby MetLife Stadium, and that while Prudential Center has frequently seen similar bookings, there is a large backlog due to the venue's high traffic. The NJSEA and the Prudential Center will share the revenue generated by the rehearsals.
On May 1, 2025, the arena was the site of the NJ Film Expo due to the increase of film and television production in the state of New Jersey.
Seating capacity
| Years | Capacity |
| 1981–1985 | 19,025 |
| 1985–2007 | 19,040 |
Usage
Sports
The arena has primarily served as a sports venue in its history. The arena was the home of the NBA's New Jersey Nets basketball franchise from 1981 to 2010. It was the home arena for the NHL's New Jersey Devils hockey franchise from 1982 to 2007 and the NCAA's Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team from 1985 to 2007 as well as continuing to play host to various regular season men's college basketball. The last game being played on December 18, 2014, between the Duke Blue Devils and UConn Huskies. Izod Center used two separate floors for NBA and NCAA basketball—a standard hardwood floor for Nets and the arena's old parquet floor for regular season college basketball.College basketball first arrived at the arena with the opening rounds of the 1984 NCAA basketball tournament. Seton Hall moved its Big East Conference men's basketball games to the arena for the 1985–86 season. The arena hosted the NCAA Men's Final Four in 1996, the last traditional arena to do so to date. On eleven occasions the arena hosted the semifinals and finals of the tournament's East Regional. Only Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium, which hosted 13 regional finals from 1940 to 1952, has hosted more. It also hosted the 1982–1989 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and 1986 Atlantic Ten Conference men's basketball tournaments.
On January 22, 1987, after New Jersey was hit with of snow, only 334 fans attended the Devils' 7–5 victory over the Calgary Flames, a record for the lowest attendance for a game in modern NHL history.
Other teams that have called the arena home include the New Jersey Rockets of the Major Indoor Soccer League, the New Jersey Rockin' Rollers of Roller Hockey International, the New Jersey XTreme of the National Indoor Football League, and the New Jersey Red Dogs / Gladiators of the Arena Football League. Two different National Lacrosse League teams have played at the arena—the New Jersey Saints from 1987 to 1988, and the New Jersey Storm from 2002 to 2003. The New York Cosmos also used the arena to host indoor matches, and the last NASL indoor game was played at the arena on April 11, 1984 – the Cosmos lost to the San Diego Sockers, 7–3, in front of 4,717 fans, giving the Sockers a sweep of the best-of-five series.
On February 12, 2011, the arena hosted Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva. In November 2011, the Izod Center was the host of the final round of the TicketCity Legends Classic. The UFC on Fox 3 event took place at the arena on May 5, 2012.