Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, the state-owned facility has been used as a rehearsal stage by major concert-touring music stars and by NBCUniversal for television filming. The arena is located on New Jersey Route 120 across the highway from MetLife Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack, next to the American Dream shopping and entertainment complex.
The arena, which opened in 1981, was originally built to accommodate the New Jersey Nets basketball team. In 1982, the relocated Colorado Rockies hockey team became the New Jersey Devils and joined the Nets at the venue. In 1985, the Seton Hall Pirates men's collegiate basketball team began playing its home games at the arena. In 2007, the Prudential Center opened in nearby Newark as the new Devils home arena. Seton Hall, whose campus in South Orange is closer to Newark than East Rutherford, likewise moved its basketball games there. The Nets remained at the Meadowlands for three more seasons before moving to Newark, where they played two seasons before departing New Jersey for Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The men's basketball team from Fordham University played four home games during the 2010–11 season at the arena.
Following the departure of all three of its major tenants, the arena continued to host occasional non-sporting events, such as touring shows and concerts, and other local events. The state-owned facility reported losses for 2013, and was projected to have $8.5 million in losses for 2015. On January 15, 2015, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) voted to shut down Izod Center, and have Prudential Center acquire hosting rights to events scheduled for the arena over the next two years in a $2 million deal.
Since closing, the vacant arena has been used as a rehearsal venue for large-scale touring concert productions as well as a sound stage for video and television productions. Since 2018, NBC has leased the venue to film prime-time drama series, including The Enemy Within and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector. It is also home to the crime drama series The Equalizer, starring Queen Latifah, and the TV programs Tales of the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: Dead City.
Contents
History
Construction on a new arena across Route 20 (now 120) from Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack began in 1977, with the arena's initial purpose being to serve as the primary home for the Nets who had moved from Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York to New Jersey. While the venue was being built, the Nets played their home games in Piscataway at the Rutgers Athletic Center.
The arena was designed by Grad Partnership and Dilullo, Clauss, Ostroki & Partners and was constructed at a cost of $85 million. Originally named the Brendan Byrne Arena, after the sitting governor of New Jersey, Brendan Byrne, the building opened on July 2, 1981, with the first of six concerts by New Jersey rock musician Bruce Springsteen. The Nets moved into their new home on October 30, 1981, and lost to their cross-river rivals, the New York Knicks in their inaugural home game. In 1982, the arena hosted the NBA All-Star Game. Then, it hosted the 1996 NBA draft.
Another motivation for building an arena in the Meadowlands was to potentially lure a National Hockey League team to New Jersey. Governor Byrne was a member of an ownership group that was looking to do so, and in 1978 businessman Arthur Imperatore purchased the Colorado Rockies and announced that he would be relocating the team to New Jersey. Unfortunately for Imperatore, the Rockies would be sold twice more before that finally became a reality. The newly renamed, John McMullen-owned New Jersey Devils played their first game at the arena on October 5, 1982, against the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the game ending in a 3–3 tie. Don Lever scored the first goal in the arena, which was the Devils' very first goal. In 1984, the arena hosted the NHL All-Star Game. The following year, the Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team began playing at the arena.
On January 4, 1996, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) announced a naming rights deal with Continental Airlines under which the airline, with a hub at nearby Newark Liberty International Airport, would pay the NJSEA $29 million over 12 years. As Continental Airlines Arena, it hosted the 1996 Final Four—the last Final Four to date that has been held in an arena specifically built for basketball.
In September 2006, the Nets and the NJSEA announced an extension of their lease to keep the team in the Meadowlands until 2013, with a provision to leave as early as 2009 if the Brooklyn arena was completed. It was reported at the time that the Nets' owner, Bruce Ratner was seeking to sell the Nets, thus thwarting any possible move to Brooklyn.
Shutdown
With the loss of its major tenants, the Izod Center served primarily as a venue for traveling events, such as concerts, ice shows, and other occasional local events such as graduation ceremonies. New Jersey's government considered possible options for the arena, including selling or leasing it to another operator, or closing it entirely. Triple Five Group had attempted to negotiate taking over the arena so it could be incorporated into the nearby American Dream Meadowlands complex, but the deal fell through. The arena reported losses for 2013, also facing competition from Barclays Center in landing major concerts, and it was estimated that the arena would lose $8.5 million over the course of 2015. Even with its use during Super Bowl XLVIII, Izod Center reported a $45,800 loss from the event.
On January 15, 2015, as urged by state governor Chris Christie, the NJSEA voted to close Izod Center. Under a two-year, $2 million agreement with Devils Arena Entertainment LLC, most future events scheduled for Izod Center were moved to Prudential Center. While the arena was originally expected to be shut down by the end of January, its final event was a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus event on March 22, 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, the operators of Prudential Center were held responsible for staffing and logistics for shows held after January 31 but was entitled to receive the profits from such events.
On July 14, 2016, The Record reported that Devils Arena Entertainment had yet to pay the first $500,000 installment of its $2 million agreement with the NJSEA. On August 11, 2016, the NJSEA announced that it would allow musicians to book the arena for use as a rehearsal facility. Prudential Center president Hugh Weber noted that Coldplay had similarly done so prior to their tour stop at nearby MetLife Stadium, and that while Prudential Center has frequently seen similar bookings, there is a large backlog due to the venue's high traffic. The NJSEA and the Prudential Center will share the revenue generated by the rehearsals.
On May 1, 2025, the arena was the site of the NJ Film Expo due to the increase of film and television production in the state of New Jersey.
Usage
Sports
The arena has primarily served as a sports venue in its history. The arena was the home of the NBA's New Jersey Nets basketball franchise from 1981 to 2010. It was the home arena for the NHL's New Jersey Devils hockey franchise from 1982 to 2007 and the NCAA's Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team from 1985 to 2007 as well as continuing to play host to various regular season men's college basketball. The last game being played on December 18, 2014, between the Duke Blue Devils and UConn Huskies. Izod Center used two separate floors for NBA and NCAA basketball—a standard hardwood floor for Nets and the arena's old parquet floor for regular season college basketball (since 2007, the NCAA has used a uniform floor for regional sites).
College basketball first arrived at the arena with the opening rounds of the 1984 NCAA basketball tournament. Seton Hall moved its Big East Conference men's basketball games to the arena for the 1985–86 season. The arena hosted the NCAA Men's Final Four in 1996, the last traditional arena to do so to date. On eleven occasions (1986–1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2007) the arena hosted the semifinals and finals of the tournament's East Regional. Only Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium, which hosted 13 regional finals from 1940 to 1952, has hosted more. It also hosted the 1982–1989 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and 1986 Atlantic Ten Conference men's basketball tournaments.
On January 22, 1987, after New Jersey was hit with 20 inches (51 cm) of snow, only 334 fans attended the Devils' 7–5 victory over the Calgary Flames, a record for the lowest attendance for a game in modern NHL history.
Other teams that have called the arena home include the New Jersey Rockets of the Major Indoor Soccer League, the New Jersey Rockin' Rollers of Roller Hockey International, the New Jersey XTreme of the National Indoor Football League, and the New Jersey Red Dogs / Gladiators of the Arena Football League. Two different National Lacrosse League teams have played at the arena—the New Jersey Saints from 1987 to 1988, and the New Jersey Storm from 2002 to 2003. The New York Cosmos also used the arena to host indoor matches, and the last NASL indoor game was played at the arena on April 11, 1984 – the Cosmos lost to the San Diego Sockers, 7–3, in front of 4,717 fans, giving the Sockers a sweep of the best-of-five series.
On February 12, 2011, the arena hosted Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva. In November 2011, the Izod Center was the host of the final round of the TicketCity Legends Classic. The UFC on Fox 3 event took place at the arena on May 5, 2012.
Concerts
The arena was a popular site for concerts, having been designed with acoustics in mind and requiring a smaller facility fee for artists than competing venues, such as Madison Square Garden.
Bruce Springsteen remains one of the most popular concert acts; his appearances have included a six-night run to open the arena in July 1981, a 10-night sold-out run in 1984, an 11-night run in 1992 and a 15-night sold-out run in 1999. This last feat was commemorated by a large banner hanging from the rafters, next to the banners representing the achievements of the resident sports teams. Springsteen would return to the arena for concerts in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2012. Additionally, a number of tracks from Springsteen's 1986 live album Live/1975-85 were recorded at the arena during concerts in 1981 and 1984. In 2015, Springsteen's August 5, 1984, concert was officially released as a live album followed by his August 20, 1984 concert in 2018, his July 25, 1992 concert in 2019, and his July 9, 1981 concert in 2020. New Jersey natives Bon Jovi have played at the arena many times and sold out every show. The only other act to do that is Bruce Springsteen.
The Rolling Stones performed three consecutive shows, during their 1981 North American Tour, on November 5–7, 1981, with Tina Turner, George Thorogood & The Destroyers and The J. Geils Band as their opening acts. The shows on November 5 and 6 were filmed and partially featured on their live-concert film, entitled Let's Spend the Night Together. Queen performed in the arena on August 9, 1982, during their Hot Space Tour. This concert is infamous for Brian May 'accidentally' snapping a replica of his Red Special after he hurled it to his wall of Vox AC30s and the roadies missed catching it. The replica was made by John Birch and was notably seen in the music videos of We Will Rock You and Spread Your Wings.
Iron Maiden performed the first show on their The Beast on the Road Tour on October 22, 1982, and on their Somewhere Back in Time World Tour on March 14, 2008. Their performance of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" was featured in the concert documentary Flight 666.
The Grateful Dead played 16 times from 1983 through 1989, and recorded Road Trips Volume 4 Number 2, on March 31–April 1, 1988 and Nightfall of Diamonds, on October 16, 1989.
Other events
Fordham University's men's basketball team used the Izod Center as an alternate home court for four games in the 2010–11 season. The average attendance for these games was only 1,799, which was approximately half of the capacity of Fordham's normal home, Rose Hill Gymnasium.
American Idol held auditions at the Izod Center on September 22, 2011. It also held auditions prior to this in 2006 for its sixth season.
Some scenes of the film Just Wright were filmed at the arena.
Wrestling Events
The arena has hosted various wrestling events such as WWE Raw, Smackdown! and the following pay per view events:
SummerSlam 1989, 1997 & 2007
King Of The Ring 2001
No Mercy 2004
No Way Out 2012
Extreme Rules 2014
Other facilities
The center previously hosted a Continental Airlines ticketing office.
The Winner's Club was a luxury bar and restaurant inside the arena that hosted parties and group events. The Winner's Club is now used by the New Jersey State Police.
Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey
The Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey was established in 1988 to honor athletes, teams, events, and contributors associated with the state of New Jersey. While there was no physical site or structure for the hall, the members were honored with plaques displayed throughout the arena.
In popular culture
In 1985, Meadowlands Arena was featured in a first season episode of The Cosby Show titled "Back to the Track, Jack", in which series protagonist Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable and his fellow former track teammates from Hillman College compete in a masters relay race rematch against their former rivals from Norton University. The following year, the arena was featured in the opening scene of the film Highlander, purporting to be Madison Square Garden.
Replacement
In 2021, plans were revealed to replace the Meadowlands Arena with a new convention center.
Public perception
The arena was frequently cited near the bottom of public polls. It was commonly referred to as "cold and dull" in appearance, as well as being "cavernous". In a 2005 poll, USA Today rated it the worst arena in the NBA, with the distance of the inexpensive seats from the court, and the level of crowding in the concourse after the game cited as reasons. Construction workers are proposing to demolish the arena, but is still standing in its place as of June 26, 2026.