Prudential Center
Prudential Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League, the New York Sirens of the Professional Women's Hockey League, and the men's basketball program of Seton Hall University. By 2023, it was among the top five concert venues worldwide by earnings. The arena is owned by the Newark Housing Authority and operated by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, owners of the Devils.
Background
Fans and sports writers have nicknamed the arena "The Rock" in reference to the Rock of Gibraltar, the corporate logo of Prudential Financial, a financial institution that owns the naming rights to the arena and is headquartered within walking distance of it. In December 2013, the arena ranked third nationally and ninth internationally for self-reported annual revenue.At the time of its opening, Prudential Center was the first major league sports venue to be built in the New York metropolitan area since the Meadowlands Arena, the Devils' former home, opened in 1981. The arena was designed by Populous and Morris Adjmi Architects. It is owned by the Newark Housing Authority and operated by Josh Harris and David Blitzer of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.
Arena usage
Professional hockey
The Prudential Center primarily serves as the home arena for the New Jersey Devils, a National Hockey League franchise. The team previously played at Meadowlands Arena from 1982 to 2007. The arena also became the home arena for the New York Sirens of the Professional Women's Hockey League starting with the 2024–2025 season.The Devils' first playoff series-clinching win at the arena was on May 25, 2012, when they defeated the rival New York Rangers 3–2 in overtime on a goal by Adam Henrique to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Games 1, 2, and 5 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals were played at the arena.
Professional basketball
The Prudential Center is the home court of the NCAA's Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team, which played in the Meadowlands from 1985 to 2007. The arena also hosts select home games for the Seton Hall Pirates women's basketball team, and the NJIT Highlanders men's basketball team.The Prudential Center was originally intended to also be the home of the New Jersey Nets, but the team was sold to real estate developer Bruce Ratner, who intended to build an arena in Brooklyn for the team, and the Nets remained in the Meadowlands while awaiting construction of what became the Barclays Center. However, the construction of the Barclays Center was plagued by lawsuits and economic issues during the late 2000s recession. In the fall of 2009, the Nets played two preseason games at the Prudential Center, while considering a possible move there. After the success of the preseason games at the Prudential Center, the Nets finalized a deal to move to the Prudential Center.
On April 23, 2012, the Nets played their final game at the Prudential Center. The Nets relocated to the Barclays Center to become the Brooklyn Nets at the beginning of the 2012–13 NBA season.
The New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association played home games at Prudential Center during the 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons, due to renovations at Madison Square Garden.
Other professional team sports
The arena was a former home of the New York Titans of the National Lacrosse League until 2009, when the Titans moved to Orlando.Concerts and live productions
The venue has hosted the MTV Video Music Awards a number of times in recent years. It has additionally hosted concerts for acts such as Celine Dion, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Marc Anthony, My Chemical Romance, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Elton John, Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Daddy Yankee, and Tool. In 2017, Billboard named Prudential Center "the East Coast home of K-pop" as the venue has hosted numerous K-pop concerts for acts such as BTS, Suga, NCT, Blackpink, Stray Kids, Jin and IU, as well as KCON conventions.Sources give maximum capacity for concerts as 19,500, although the venue's website itself currently lists capacity as the following:
Center Stage: 16,755; End Stage: 16,659; Half House Theater: 7,777; Lower Bowl Half House: 4,094; Cocktail Reception: 2,500; Banquet: 1,000; and Theatre Style: 2,000.
Mixed martial arts
The arena has held a series of UFC events. The first was held on November 17, 2007, when the arena hosted the UFC's hundredth event for UFC 78: Validation. On March 27, 2010, the arena held UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy. On March 19, 2011, the arena held UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones. On April 27, 2013, the arena held UFC 159: Jones vs. Sonnen. On February 1, 2014, the arena held UFC 169: Barão vs. Faber 2. On April 18, 2015, the arena held UFC on Fox: Machida vs. Rockhold. On January 30, 2016, the arena held UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Bader. On August 3, 2019, the arena held UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler. On May 6, 2023, the arena held UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo. On June 1, 2024, the arena held UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier. On June 7, 2025, the arena held UFC 316: Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley 2.Tennis
On December 7, the arena will host 'A Racquet at The Rock', its first tennis event. The competitors will include Carlos Alcaraz, Amanda Anisimova, Frances Tiafoe, and Emma Raducanu.Features
Design
The red and gray exterior is inspired by Newark's bricklaying and railroad heritage. Fans approaching the arena from the front are presented with a view of the arena's externally mounted 4,800 square foot LED display, one of the largest in the world. The Daktronics display is split up into thin panels with gaps in between, in order to prevent the fans' view from inside from being obstructed. Along the arena's east side Mulberry Street entrance are two large cylindrical entrance towers, the arena's most prominent exterior feature. These towers take the fans up to the main concourse, by escalator and staircase.The interior's lower level concourse provides views of downtown Newark on the Edison Place and Mulberry Street sides through large windows. Prudential Center features separate concourses for the lower and upper levels, whereas the Continental Airlines Arena had one concourse for both levels of the arena. Throughout the lower concourse, jerseys of most high school hockey teams in New Jersey hang from the walls. The arena also features many murals of players and memorable moments from Devils history. One mural encompasses a long stretch of the lower concourse wall and features Devils Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, and Ken Daneyko, along with tributes to other New Jersey sports and Newark landmarks, with depictions that include Seton Hall men's basketball legends Richie Regan and Terry Dehere, soccer player Tony Meola, a boxer, and tennis legend Althea Gibson.
Amenities and facilities
As one of the newer facilities to be used in the NHL, the Prudential Center features a large array of amenities. The rink area features LED ribbons circumnavigating the arena and a scoreboard by Trans-Lux installed in 2017, weighing over 44 tons and the largest in-arena, center-hung scoreboard in the world, replacing a smaller, lower-resolution eight-sided unit from Daktronics. The 76 luxury suites available are the largest in North America. Personal dining, WiFi, and HDTVs are some of the many conveniences available in the luxury suites. There are 750 flat-screen TVs in total across the arena.On each side of the lower bowl the three middle sections consist of a combined 2,330 Club seats. These black-colored seats emblazoned with the Devils' logo are wider with more legroom. Club seat and season ticket holders have access to a 350-seat restaurant on the suite level in one of the end zones with views of the rink and practice rink. Additionally, the Goal Bar, located on Suite Level One offers Club and Goal Bar seat holders terrace-style seating in a bar environment. Club Seat holders also have access to lounges on the main concourse offering buffet-style food options. One of these lounges contains the television camera staging area and the commentating post at which Don La Greca and Ken Daneyko call games for MSG Sportsnet telecasts, whereas home radio broadcasts and all road team broadcasts originate from the press box above the 200 level.
On the north, Edison Place side of the arena, at street level, are the ticket office and the Devils' 2,600 square foot Team Store, along with Championship Plaza, a public meeting place that celebrates the Devils' past and present successes on the ice. Attached to the Prudential Center are the Devils' corporate offices and practice rink, which contains its own locker rooms. The Prudential Center is one of only five NHL arenas with a practice rink, and the only one with dual locker rooms and practice facilities.
The Grammy Museum Experience, a museum celebrating the Grammy Awards, was held at the center from October 20, 2017, to June 25, 2023.
Practice rink
The Devils' practice rink, the RWJ Barnabas Health Hockey House, is attached to the arena, located on the south side of the building. On select days, it is open to fans after the game for public ice skating. The practice rink also served as the home of the Metropolitan Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League from 2016 to 2019. The Saint Peter's Prep Mauraders hockey teams, NJIT Highlanders club hockey team that competes in the Colonial States College Hockey Conference, and other local youth teams also use the rink. The arena also hosts the NJSIAA Public A, Public B, and Private State Finals for high school ice hockey.Championship Plaza and environs
Championship Plaza was opened on October 3, 2009. The public square celebrating the Devils' history is opposite the arena on Mulberry Street between Edison Place and Market Street. The most prominent piece of the plaza is the tall, stainless steel hockey player statue. The Rock, part of Prudential's logo inspired by the Rock of Gibraltar, was also installed in the plaza. Devil fans were able purchase a limited amount of bricks that would be placed in and around the plaza with personalized messages inscribed.On the opposite end of the arena, a statue of former Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was dedicated outside of the Lafayette Street entrance tower and practice rink on October 22, 2016.
Much like the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Prudential Center was expected to boost Newark's urban renaissance. Small-scale projects in the immediate vicinity of the arena around Four Corners have led to the construction of new hotels, loft conversions, and a restaurant row. The development of Mulberry Commons, a city square originally proposed as the centerpiece of a commercial and residential complex near the arena, stagnated for a decade. Construction began in October 2017, and park opened after 15 years of delay on May 30, 2019.