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Posted on June 15, 2015 June 15, 2015

A mix-up in the Meadowlands: Towns haven’t received hotel surcharge

JUNE 14, 2015, 11:52 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2015, 12:14 AM
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Six towns have been waiting a month for their shares of nearly $2.5 million in revenue from a new hotel-room surcharge, which replaced a controversial tax-sharing arrangement when Governor Christie signed a bill overhauling oversight of the Meadowlands District this year.

The overdue money is contributing to an atmosphere of confusion in the Meadowlands four months after the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority absorbed the state Meadowlands Commission, the agency that had controlled planning and development in the 30-square-mile district for nearly half a century.

The law, which Christie signed in early February, ushered in the most sweeping changes to the region’s power structure in decades. The governor said it would give the Meadowlands a much-needed economic boost, while opponents worried that it would result in overdevelopment of an environmentally sensitive area of the state.

But the absorption of the Meadowlands Commission’s functions by the sports authority is having unexpected financial repercussions for the 14 Bergen and Hudson county municipalities that have territory within the district.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/a-mix-up-in-the-meadowlands-towns-haven-t-received-hotel-surcharge-1.1355773

Posted on June 8, 2015 January 20, 2019

Arrests made at Summer Jam concert after some fans clash with State Police

JUNE 7, 2015, 10:19 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2015, 12:23 AM
BY JIM NORMAN AND JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

Some of the music fans at the Hot 97 Summer Jam clashed with law enforcement officers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night, and State Police in riot gear called in two Bearcat armored personnel carriers and shot streams of pepper spray gas as angry concertgoers hurled bottles, according to reports from the scene.

State Police spokesman Sgt. Gregory Williams said he could confirm only that “additional troopers” had been dispatched to the stadium in East Rutherford, but he could not say how many. He said there were “multiple arrests” inside and outside the stadium, but that he could not give precise numbers.

The concert, with headliners Kendrick Lamar and Chris Brown, continued despite the unrest.

People at the scene said police used sound generators to produce a screeching, ear-pounding noise in an effort to disperse the crowd, only to see it regroup and attack with bottles at another site in the parking lot.

Hundreds of troopers and police officers called in from nearby communities pushed back against crowds of people angry that they could not get into the stadium, using clubs and riot shields, according to reports from the scene.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/arrests-made-at-summer-jam-concert-after-some-fans-clash-with-state-police-1.1351014

Posted on June 29, 2014 January 20, 2019

After years of Squandering Billions Identity crisis for NJ sports authority

“Jim” McGreevey’s Xanadu

After years of Squandering Billions Identity crisis for NJ sports authority

JUNE 28, 2014, 11:48 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2014, 11:51 PM
BY JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

With its finances in the red and its role sharply curtailed, questions are being raised about the long-term future of the agency that put New Jersey on the map of big-time sports.

But no matter what its fate, the hard truth is that the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which once netted tens of millions of dollars annually from The Meadowlands Racetrack and Giants Stadium, will likely be a lingering financial liability for state taxpayers.

A series of decisions by officials over time have left it marooned, with significant structural costs and little means to pay for them other than dipping into the state treasury. The agency continues along, its prime attractions now in private hands, sagging under obligations undertaken during more flush times and with a payroll that — while pared significantly — still includes executives with some of the highest salaries in state government.

“There are certain obligations entered into by prior administrations that we’re going to be living with for the next 25 years,” said Wayne Hasenbalg, who makes $225,000 as president of the authority. “Some of these costs we inherited — even if the authority went away today — are still going to be somebody’s obligations.”

Among those obligations are long-term pension costs for retired workers, more than $6 million in annual payments due to East Rutherford as the host town of the Meadowlands Sports Complex and $4 million per year toward operating costs of the state Racing Commission.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/identity-crisis-for-nj-sports-authority-1.1043202#sthash.Ddvgl4c0.dpuf

Posted on February 2, 2014 January 20, 2019

Sit back and enjoy: This Super Bowl could be epic

Sit back and enjoy: This Super Bowl could be epic
Sunday February 2, 2014, 10:54 AM
BY ART STAPLETON
STAFF WRITER
The Record

The two best teams in football will step inside MetLife Stadium tonight for Super Bowl XLVIII in what promises to be a historic setting in East Rutherford.

They have dreams of bathing in team-colored confetti, a championship parade and taking turns hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The Broncos have them. The Seahawks do, too.

No one ever contemplates what coming up short will feel like until it happens.

The top team in one conference will win. The top team in the other will not.

That’s as rock-solid a Super Bowl guarantee as any made by Joe Namath.

“I don’t think we envision ourselves losing. We wouldn’t play the game if we did,” Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett said. “We would just forfeit it and not waste our time doing this media [availability]. We could be home with our families, at Disney World or maybe Turks and Caicos or something like that.

“We don’t envision ourselves losing at all.”

Added Broncos safety and Paterson native Mike Adams: “Nobody remembers who finishes as Super Bowl runner-up, so nobody thinks that way.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/sports/pro_sports/243168091_Sit_back_and_enjoy__This_one_could_be_epic.html#sthash.ooF4Ynpu.dpuf

Posted on February 2, 2014 February 2, 2014

Why doesn’t MetLife Stadium have a roof? ‘They’ have the answer

Why doesn’t MetLife Stadium have a roof? ‘They’ have the answer
Sunday, February 2, 2014 Last updated: Sunday February 2, 2014, 10:27 AM
BY JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITER
The Record

The question has been asked around North Jersey for years, and no doubt visitors from Denver and Seattle today will ask the same thing: “If they wanted to have a Super Bowl so badly, why didn’t they put a retractable roof on MetLife Stadium?”

The answer ultimately comes down to who “they” are.

Had leaders of the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority at the time had their way, the 4-year-old stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex would be capped against inclement weather, a feature that would have turned it into all-year venue.

But owners of the Giants and Jets, the two NFL franchises that built and paid for the new $1.6 billion stadium, would have none of it.

First, they said, they saw an added advantage for their teams in playing late-season games outdoors against opponents less accustomed to harsh weather.

And then, of course, there was the added expense.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/243168731_Why_doesn_t_MetLife_Stadium_have_a_roof___They__have_the_answer.html#sthash.AHsZewAj.dpuf

Posted on January 28, 2014 January 20, 2019

Lawmakers: NFL Has Completely Ignored N.J. During Super Bowl Ramp-Up

Lawmakers: NFL Has Completely Ignored N.J. During Super Bowl Ramp-Up

Say East Rutherford, Towns Near MetLife Not Allowed To Use Words ‘Super Bowl’ In Ads January 27, 2014 6:05 PM

Lawmakers: NFL Has Completely Ignored N.J. During Super Bowl Ramp-Up

Say East Rutherford, Towns Near MetLife Not Allowed To Use Words ‘Super Bowl’ In Ads January 27, 2014 6:05 PM

New Jersey officials feel snubbed by a lack of official Super Bowl events being held in the towns surrounding Metlife Stadium. (Credit CBS 2)

SECAUCUS, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — With the Super Bowl XLVIII just days away, you’d never know it from the New Jersey side of this two-part equation.

Some lawmakers say the NFL hasn’t endorsed any of its events, leaving New Jersey out of the spotlight and in the cold, CBS 2’s Emily Smith reported Monday.

While the big game is being held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., some Jersey leaders said they are worried that the league hasn’t gotten the memo that this is not New York City’s Super Bowl.

“It’s just not a feeling of … it’s almost like not wanting to be here,” Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli said of the NFL.

With the Super Bowl just days away, New York City is clearly ready, turning Times Square into an official NFL-sanctioned Super Bowl zone.

Meanwhile in New Jersey you can’t find a banner or sign with the words “Super Bowl” on it. New Jersey lawmakers say it’s because the NFL hasn’t recognized their events, and therefore they can’t use the official name “Super Bowl.”

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/01/27/lawmakers-nfl-has-completely-ignored-n-j-during-super-bowl-ramp-up/

Posted on January 26, 2014 January 20, 2019

Plan for Super Bowl safety covers stadium, entire region

Plan for Super Bowl safety covers stadium, entire region
Sunday January 26, 2014, 12:08 AM
BY KAREN SUDOL
STAFF WRITER
The Record

Behind the glamour, fanfare and excitement of the first Super Bowl to be played in New Jersey stands one of the largest coordinated law enforcement efforts ever assembled in the region to ensure that nothing — not a terrorist, a shooter or a bomber — disrupts the fans’ experience.

Some 100 law enforcement agencies have been working for two years to develop a comprehensive security plan for the game, which will draw an estimated 80,000 fans to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford next Sunday.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/Plan_for_Super_Bowl_safety_covers_stadium_entire_region.html#sthash.ouzCo53P.dpuf

Posted on January 26, 2014 January 25, 2014

Prices plummet for Super Bowl tickets

Prices plummet for Super Bowl tickets
Updated: January 24, 2014, 6:35 PM ET
By Darren Rovell | ESPN.com

Two hungry fan bases and the wealth of the New York metropolitan area had some guessing that Super Bowl XLVIII would turn out to be the most expensive ticket in Super Bowl history.

However, judging from the reaction of the resale ticket market in the past 24 hours, it could turn out to be one of the least expensive.

On Friday, nine days before the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks meet at MetLife Stadium, the cheapest ticket to buy for the Super Bowl was $1,779 on NFL Ticket Exchange, the league’s official resale site. That’s $409 cheaper than it was on the site with this many days left last year and $809 cheaper than the year before.

Since the conference championship games ended, ticket prices have steadily plummeted. The get-in price on the NFL Ticket Exchange was $2,700 on Monday.

A sign of concern for brokers?

Julia Vander Ploeg, general manager of Ticketmaster’s resale business, which runs the NFL Ticket Exchange, said the number of tickets on the market has increased by 10 percent in the past 48 hours. And that’s before the NFL has even given the physical tickets to the majority of people the league is taking care of.

“What we have now is like a panicked stock market,” said James Kimmel, owner of Epic Seats, a ticket brokerage in Seattle. “The buyers have frozen, and the sellers are panicking.”

https://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/10346582/2013-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-ticket-prices-continue-plummet

Posted on January 19, 2014 January 19, 2014

Super Bowl? The big game’s economic impact will be smaller than advertised

Super Bowl? The big game’s economic impact will be smaller than advertised

The New York Daily News recently ran an article with this assertion about the Super Bowl: “As many as 400,000 fans are expected to descend on the Meadowlands for the Super Bowl.”

Perhaps. But if they do, 320,000 of them will spend the evening standing around in the swamp. MetLife Stadium holds a mere 80,000.

This is typical of the hype surrounding the Super Bowl. Also typical is the claim that the big game will bring more than $500 million into the regional economy.

Not even close. That’s the conclusion of a study titled “Super Bowl or Super Hyperbole?”co-authored by economist Victor Matheson. The study runs for 32 data-packed pages, but the conclusion is simply stated: “The evidence indicates that at best the Super Bowl contributes approximately one-quarter of what the NFL promises.”

When I called Matheson at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, he told me the NFL typically overestimates the value of the game to the local economy. As for those 400,000 fans, for example, “that’s beyond the capacity of the local hotels to host,” he said. “Most estimates are that about 100,000 people come to a city for the Super Bowl.” (Mulshine/Star-Ledger)

https://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2014/01/super_bowl_the_big_games_econo.html