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ESPN.com news services
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New Jersey Nets might be moving to Long Island. If they do, Jason Kidd might not want to join them.
The Nets' star point guard told ESPN the Magazine's Ric Bucher Thursday night that if the franchise is sold and moved to Long Island, he will request to be traded. Kidd, who currently lives in New Jersey, told Bucher he would be willing to play in New Jersey or Brooklyn, but not on Long Island.
This twist comes one day after the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority made a proposal to the team to share $100 million in improvement costs to upgrade the Continental Airlines Arena, and two days after three investment groups submitted preliminary bids for the franchise.
The bids were filed Wednesday by groups led by Charles Kushner, Charles Wang and Bruce Ratner. Each was for more than $200 million, according to published reports.
Kushner is the only one of the three who plans to keep the team in New Jersey. Wang, the owner of the NHL's New York Islanders, would move the team to Long Island. Ratner would move the team to Brooklyn by 2008 if he succeeds in building a new arena.
On Thursday, NJSEA chairman Carl Goldberg commented that "The sports authority's interest is keeping the teams in New Jersey," and unveiled a plan designed to work with the Kushner group to keep the Nets in their current location in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
Goldberg said an "investment" in luxury suites and enhanced concession space at the arena in East Rutherford would make it a far more attractive home for the Nets, boosting the team's annual revenues by $18 million to $22 million.
The additional revenues would also be shared by the team's owner and the sports agency, which is trying to wean itself off public subsidies, Goldberg said.
Despite winning NBA Eastern Conference championships the past two years, the Nets have lost money playing at the 22-year-old arena, which lacks many amenities that generate revenues at newer facilities.
An upgrade of the Meadowlands arena all but precludes development of an arena in Newark, where plans to build a new home for the Nets and the NHL's New Jersey Devils have stalled over financing issues.
Goldberg said a joint upgrade of the arena would be similar to a deal reached last month between the sports agency and the New York Giants football team. With help from the National Football League, the team and the agency plan to finance up to $300 million in upgrades to Giants Stadium.
Officials said the deal would help the agency meet its lease obligation to provide the Giants with a state-of-the-art facility, and could boost New Jersey's NFL bid to host the Super Bowl as early as 2008.
ESPN.com news services
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New Jersey Nets might be moving to Long Island. If they do, Jason Kidd might not want to join them.
The Nets' star point guard told ESPN the Magazine's Ric Bucher Thursday night that if the franchise is sold and moved to Long Island, he will request to be traded. Kidd, who currently lives in New Jersey, told Bucher he would be willing to play in New Jersey or Brooklyn, but not on Long Island.
This twist comes one day after the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority made a proposal to the team to share $100 million in improvement costs to upgrade the Continental Airlines Arena, and two days after three investment groups submitted preliminary bids for the franchise.
The bids were filed Wednesday by groups led by Charles Kushner, Charles Wang and Bruce Ratner. Each was for more than $200 million, according to published reports.
Kushner is the only one of the three who plans to keep the team in New Jersey. Wang, the owner of the NHL's New York Islanders, would move the team to Long Island. Ratner would move the team to Brooklyn by 2008 if he succeeds in building a new arena.
On Thursday, NJSEA chairman Carl Goldberg commented that "The sports authority's interest is keeping the teams in New Jersey," and unveiled a plan designed to work with the Kushner group to keep the Nets in their current location in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
Goldberg said an "investment" in luxury suites and enhanced concession space at the arena in East Rutherford would make it a far more attractive home for the Nets, boosting the team's annual revenues by $18 million to $22 million.
The additional revenues would also be shared by the team's owner and the sports agency, which is trying to wean itself off public subsidies, Goldberg said.
Despite winning NBA Eastern Conference championships the past two years, the Nets have lost money playing at the 22-year-old arena, which lacks many amenities that generate revenues at newer facilities.
An upgrade of the Meadowlands arena all but precludes development of an arena in Newark, where plans to build a new home for the Nets and the NHL's New Jersey Devils have stalled over financing issues.
Goldberg said a joint upgrade of the arena would be similar to a deal reached last month between the sports agency and the New York Giants football team. With help from the National Football League, the team and the agency plan to finance up to $300 million in upgrades to Giants Stadium.
Officials said the deal would help the agency meet its lease obligation to provide the Giants with a state-of-the-art facility, and could boost New Jersey's NFL bid to host the Super Bowl as early as 2008.
