NJ Sports Authority readies offer to Nets to stay: stake in Izod, renovations

Just my personal intuition

 

Please provide documentation.

Where have I lied? Please show me.

 

why wont the guys that are protestin this just stop? having a stadium there would be good for the comminuty and state... thats y bloomberg even wants it... and is ok with the tax exemptions.... sigh... and we (the net fans) want LBJ for christmas

 

If it's such a good investment, then Ratner should do it with all of his OWN money. Not with the taxpayers' money. What a concept.

 

BB is the last person on the internet who is allowed to ask for links.

Source

 

Lol....

 

if u had a good idea.. and u needed money to start it... would u prefer to start it with your own money? or somebody else's money?

 

Will the NY Times suffice?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...936A15757C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

"Chief among the new rules, clearly crafted with Yao in mind, is one requiring Chinese athletes abroad to turn over at least half their pretax earnings, including endorsement income, to Chinese government agencies for the length of their careers."

Took me about 5 minutes. Considering all of your posts in the thread, which I will write off as not completely serious, you might want to take a lesson in cost-benefit analysis.

 

Uh, sure, but they'll called bonds and they are from people who want to engage in the transaction. Not tax revenue from taxpayers.

I don't blame Ratner that much. What he's doing is immoral but rational. I blame the NY government for being corrupt.

 

No it didn't, it took you over a year (click the link). I'll forward this to KC

 

It took me over a year to type in "yao ming china family"? Man, I suck at Googling, then.

 

Yeah you probably do. I mean it's all there in the quotes.

 

Pru Center seeks to fill up its calendar
by Maura McDermott/The Star-Ledger
Monday October 20, 2008, 7:55 AM

When the Prudential Center opened in Newark almost a year ago, Mayor Cory Booker called it "a testimony to hope."

The $375 million arena was envisioned not just as a gleaming showcase for concerts and sports games, but as the spark that would "continue to fuel and energize the resurgence of Newark," Booker proclaimed on opening night.
Jerry McRea/The Star-LedgerElephants chow down during a lunch for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus elephants, held outside for a sidewalk audience the Prudential Center.

But with the economy in crisis, even the arena's biggest supporters say it must work hard to fill its calendar with top-notch acts, and the resurgence of the neighborhood around it will be slower and more hard-fought than expected.

In its first year, the 18,000-seat arena -- nicknamed the Rock -- has sold more than 1.5 million tickets and received glowing reviews from fans. However, its 150 concerts, family shows and sports events fell about 20 to 25 short of the hoped-for number, according to Jeff Vanderbeek, owner of the New Jersey Devils and developer of the arena.

Vanderbeek said he feels confident the arena will book 175 events next year. "A new building like this is going to continue to amaze people and sell itself," Vanderbeek said.

The Rock's fortunes have a direct impact on the city's budget, and on the neighborhood around it.

The rent Newark collects is pegged to the arena's profits. The city is due to receive 7 percent of all revenues from suites, concessions, naming rights and advertising, plus 4 percent of all other revenues. That payment can range from $2 million to $6 million a year.

The arena also owes $2.5 million for "base" rent, maintenance, sports and job training programs, according to its lease.

Vanderbeek said his accountants are still analyzing the numbers.

The Rock has until Oct. 26 to make the payment, and independent auditors will pore over the arena's books, according to the venue's landlord, the Newark Housing Authority.

The arena had a strong showing in its first year, despite the economic downturn, according to Vanderbeek and concert industry executives.

In addition to the $105 million Prudential naming rights deal, the arena has sponsorship contracts with PNC Bank, Verizon, AmeriHealth, Lincoln Mercury and Pepsi, Vanderbeek said.

Fans packed the Prudential Center for shows by Bon Jovi, Hannah Montana, the Eagles, Alicia Keys, Tom Petty and Celine Dion, among other performers.

Ticket sales were strong for last week's seven shows by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, according to a circus spokesman.

So far, most shows at the arena have been booked by AEG, the nation's second-largest promoter, which manages the arena. Live Nation, the biggest promoter, booked no acts there.

John Scher, a major independent concert promoter, said the first show he's booked at the Rock -- Metallica's two-night run early next year -- is nearly sold out. If it goes well, more acts will follow, he said.

Newark got the booking, in part, because its major competitor, the Izod Center in the Meadowlands, was only available for one night, Scher said.

But it didn't hurt that a Metallica manager had a great time at an event at the Rock, he added.

"You hear it's this beautiful arena, but seeing it is a lot better than hearing about it," Scher said.

The same is true for fans, said Arthur Stern, a developer who owns the first market-rate apartment building downtown in decades.

Stern brought his 12-year-old daughter and her friends to a Hannah Montana show at the Prudential Center in December and was amazed by how many teenage girls took the train from Manhattan to Newark -- many without their parents tagging along.

The arena "has had an absolutely unbelievable effect on the perception of downtown Newark, which is certainly one of the major issues that everyone's confronted," Stern said.

Already, Stern's 317-unit rental building on Raymond Boulevard is more than 90 percent leased, he said.

"Without question, the arena helped," he said.

It's also helped keep downtown streets bustling with activity after dark. And that has attracted the interest of entrepreneurs.

In the last year, at least four new bars or restaurants -- Hell's Kitchen Lounge, The Spot Lounge, Scully's Publick House and 60 Park Grill -- have opened within a few blocks of the arena.

A 4-year-old Mulberry Street watering hole, the Arena Bar and Grill, just completed a nearly $1 million renovation.

Yet another eatery, the Brick City Bar and Grill, is expected to open by early November, with seating for 120, a bar with big-screen televisions and a waterfall.

"The arena is the main reason we're here," said Izzy Sema, who got the idea to open the restaurant with his brother-in-law, Brian Karwoski, when they had trouble finding a place to eat before a Bon Jovi show last year.

As more restaurants open, Newark could get to be like Hoboken, where "you know you're going to find a good place to eat and a lot of people walking around," Sema said.

But even as the downtown nightlife improves, once-ambitious plans for new downtown hotels and skyscrapers have faltered as lending for such projects has dried up.

"The handicapping variable is clearly the economy," said Al Koeppe, president of the Newark Alliance. "We're not seeing the cranes in the city we'd like to see, and we're not alone. ... Hopefully that's transitory, as it has been in the nation's past."

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