Prudential Center
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This article or section is about a planned or proposed arena. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the construction and/or completion of the arena approaches. |
- This article is about the sports arena in Newark, New Jersey. For the Boston, Massachusetts complex, see Prudential Tower.
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 Architect's rendition of Prudential Center. |
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| Location | Newark, New Jersey |
| Broke ground | October 3, 2005 |
| Opened | August 2007 (scheduled) |
| Owner | City of Newark |
| Operator | Devils Arena Entertainment LLC (a subsidiary of the New Jersey Devils) |
| Architect | HOK Sport Morris Adjmi Architects (Exterior) |
| Former names | |
| Newark Arena (October 3, 2005 - January 4, 2007) | |
| Tenants | |
| New Jersey Devils (NHL) (beginning in fall of 2007) | |
| Capacity | |
| 17,615 (Hockey) 18,500 (Basketball) 19,000 (Concerts)[1] |
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The Prudential Center (originally the Newark Arena) is an 18,000-seat multi-purpose arena being built in Newark, New Jersey for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. The arena is designed by HOK Sport, with the exterior designed by Morris Adjmi Architects. Construction of the arena will be finished in August 2007, in time for the 2007-08 NHL season. The arena will also be home to a Newark Major Indoor Soccer League expansion team which will begin play in the 2007-08 MISL season. [2] Arena ownership has claimed that 40-60 additional events are booked for its first year of use.
The arena will be located a couple blocks from Newark Penn Station in downtown Newark. The arena will be accessible via New Jersey Transit, PATH, the Newark City Subway, the Newark Light Rail and Amtrak.
The Prudential Center will be the first major league sports venue to open in the New York City metropolitan area since the Meadowlands Arena opened in 1981.
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[edit] History
Groundbreaking for the arena began on October 3, 2005.
On Tuesday, January 24, 2006, the Devils submitted a guarantee in writing that the team will contribute $100 million to the arena, [3] one day after the city and state threatened to cancel the project. [4]
The arena was originally intended to be the home of the New Jersey Nets when the team was owned by YankeeNets.
The arena was expected to replace the Continental Airlines Arena, which was supposed to be demolished to make way for the Meadowlands Xanadu project. However, the site for the Xanadu project has been moved to another area of the Meadowlands Sports Complex, and the New Jersey Nets have extended their lease at the Meadowlands through at least 2010 [1] due to complications involving the team's proposed move to a new arena in Brooklyn, New York. This will leave two arenas in New Jersey competing with each other to book concerts and family shows. State officials, though, have called for the Continental Arena to close once the Newark Arena opens. Although the Nets extended their lease at the Continental Airlines Arena, Devils ownership has offered a public invitation for the NBA team to be a tenant in Newark. With the news about the Continental Arena extension, a Nets move to Newark does not seem likely, unless the plan to move to Brooklyn ultimately does not happen.
[edit] Naming rights
On January 5, 2007, Devils owner Jeffrey Vanderbeek revealed that Prudential Financial purchased the naming rights of the arena.[5] [6] Prudential Center, however, is also the name of numerous office complexes around the country, notably in Boston, Massachusetts. Local media have already been discussing that the arena could be nicknamed "The Rock" after Prudential's corporate logo. This will be the first sports venue in the NYC area to be called a "Center", a designation used since the 1990s, usually associated with corporate sponsorship. On January 8, 2007, the Devils officially announced the 20-year naming rights deal with Prudential Financial at a press conference. A banner with the new name, Prudential Center, was mounted at the construction site.[7]
Prudential will pay $105.3 million over 20 years.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=286824&page=NewsPage&service=page NHL.com
- ^ http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1167895210258100.xml&coll=3&thispage=2
- ^ http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--devilsarena0124jan24,0,6821656.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2303214
- ^ http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20070105-1522-hkn-devilsarena.html
- ^ http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/business/16290819.htm
- ^ http://www.newjerseydevils.com/2005/html/theteam/teamnews/prudential010807.php
[edit] See also
- Red Bull Park, a proposed soccer stadium in Harrison, New Jersey for the Red Bull New York soccer team, under contruction
- Barclays Center, a proposed arena in Brooklyn for the current New Jersey Nets
- Citi Field, a proposed baseball stadium in Queens for the New York Mets, under construction
- New Yankee Stadium, a proposed baseball stadium in The Bronx for the New York Yankees, under contruction
- New Meadowlands Stadium, a proposed football stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey for the New York Giants and New York Jets.
- West Side Stadium, a failed proposal for a stadium and business complex over the MTA's Hudson Yards
[edit] External links
- Prudential Center Home Page
- $100M letter of credit from Devils clears way for Newark arena
- City Unveils Model of Newark/Devils Arena
- Newark Breaks Ground for Devils Arena
- Economic and legal analysis of the Newark arena project (Shelterforce Magazine)
- February 2007 video interview from the Prudential Center construction site
