Jets and Giants Break Ground on $1.3 Billion Stadium

[nyk]

PICTURES OF STADIUM: http://68.72.70.73/

New Giants/Jets stadium expected to open for 2010 season

Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants and New York Jets broke ground Wednesday on the first stadium to be jointly owned by two NFL teams and unveiled how architects plan to make two competing teams feel at home in a $1.3 billion stadium.

"Ensuring that the stadium would feel like home to both teams and both groups of fans was our goal and also one of the biggest challenges in the design of the stadium," said Steve Tisch, chairman and executive vice president of the New York Giants.

To do that, the stadium will feature an eight-story mega display, called the "Great Wall," with 400-foot-long by 40-foot-high panels featuring either team's logo or neutral colors for non-football events.

Tisch, Giants President and CEO John Mara and Jets Chairman and CEO Woody Johnson unveiled the design at a ceremony also attended by New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The yet unnamed building, for which owners are still working on a naming-rights deal, will host 20 NFL games each season -- more than any football stadium in the country.

Constructed next to the existing Giants Stadium, the new field is expected to open for the 2010 season and seat 82,500 in a bowl-design, where seats in the front row are 46 feet from the sidelines. Fans also will find a 300,000-square-foot outdoor plaza for tailgating.

While Wednesday's event marked the official ground breaking, infrastructure work is already under way on the open-air facility at the Meadowlands sports complex.

Along with the design of the building, planners have been working to make access to the facility easier. Lanes into the Meadowlands will increase to more than 40 from the existing 16 and a new rail facility will connect the stadium to New York's Penn Station through Secaucus beginning in February 2009.

The teams cleared a large hurdle last month when each completed separate $650 million financing deals. CitiCorp is financing the Jets' portion, while investment banks Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers are financing the Giants' deal.

The teams also received a financial boost earlier this year when NFL owners approved $300 million in loans for stadium work.

The teams announced plans to build a stadium together two years ago, after the Jets' plans for a stadium on Manhattan's West Side fell through. The Giants had been planning to build a new stadium themselves.

Now, the Giants also will construct a new training facility at the Meadowlands, while the Jets are building their own in Florham Park, N.J.

The stadium is one of several new major sports facilities opening in the New York metropolitan area. New homes also are being built for the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils.

The Devils hockey team is leaving Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands for the Prudential Center, opening in downtown Newark in October.

[scraw28]

PICTURES OF STADIUM: http://68.72.70.73/

New Giants/Jets stadium expected to open for 2010 season

Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants and New York Jets broke ground Wednesday on the first stadium to be jointly owned by two NFL teams and unveiled how architects plan to make two competing teams feel at home in a $1.3 billion stadium.

"Ensuring that the stadium would feel like home to both teams and both groups of fans was our goal and also one of the biggest challenges in the design of the stadium," said Steve Tisch, chairman and executive vice president of the New York Giants.

To do that, the stadium will feature an eight-story mega display, called the "Great Wall," with 400-foot-long by 40-foot-high panels featuring either team's logo or neutral colors for non-football events.

Tisch, Giants President and CEO John Mara and Jets Chairman and CEO Woody Johnson unveiled the design at a ceremony also attended by New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The yet unnamed building, for which owners are still working on a naming-rights deal, will host 20 NFL games each season -- more than any football stadium in the country.

Constructed next to the existing Giants Stadium, the new field is expected to open for the 2010 season and seat 82,500 in a bowl-design, where seats in the front row are 46 feet from the sidelines. Fans also will find a 300,000-square-foot outdoor plaza for tailgating.

While Wednesday's event marked the official ground breaking, infrastructure work is already under way on the open-air facility at the Meadowlands sports complex.

Along with the design of the building, planners have been working to make access to the facility easier. Lanes into the Meadowlands will increase to more than 40 from the existing 16 and a new rail facility will connect the stadium to New York's Penn Station through Secaucus beginning in February 2009.

The teams cleared a large hurdle last month when each completed separate $650 million financing deals. CitiCorp is financing the Jets' portion, while investment banks Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers are financing the Giants' deal.

The teams also received a financial boost earlier this year when NFL owners approved $300 million in loans for stadium work.

The teams announced plans to build a stadium together two years ago, after the Jets' plans for a stadium on Manhattan's West Side fell through. The Giants had been planning to build a new stadium themselves.

Now, the Giants also will construct a new training facility at the Meadowlands, while the Jets are building their own in Florham Park, N.J.

The stadium is one of several new major sports facilities opening in the New York metropolitan area. New homes also are being built for the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils.

The Devils hockey team is leaving Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands for the Prudential Center, opening in downtown Newark in October.

are the nets supposed to move to brooklyn?

[rams80]

That's the theory.

[TFoA]

So they're both going to share stadiums AGAIN??? Wow, I would've figured they'd split and get their own stadium.

I'd name it Jets Stadium, just to be fair.

[WJMorris3]

Nice to see them borrowing an idea from Allianz Arena, illuminating the outside blue for Giants games and green for Jets games.

[bullsfan4life]

So they're both going to share stadiums AGAIN??? Wow, I would've figured they'd split and get their own stadium.

I still wish that idea for the West Side Stadium was appoved.

[njmeadowlanders]

So they're both going to share stadiums AGAIN??? Wow, I would've figured they'd split and get their own stadium.

I'd name it Jets Stadium, just to be fair.

It makes no sense to have 2 stadiums. Think about it--why build two stadiums to host 10 games a year plus any playoff games and some concerts here and there, when you can double the use of the stadium, save money, and make it one amazing building?

It's not like baseball--it makes perfect sense to have it be a 50/50 joint venture. Two stadiums would be completely unnecessary.

And it's not like they're even rivals. I know you have idiot Jet and idiot Giant fans that think there IS a rivalry, but when you play each other once every 4 years, please...

[nyk]

So they're both going to share stadiums AGAIN??? Wow, I would've figured they'd split and get their own stadium.

I still wish that idea for the West Side Stadium was appoved.

you and i both buddy.....you and i both

[patsox]

It's not the most impressive design I've ever seen. Could've made it a little more distinctive.

[Viper]

It's not the most impressive design I've ever seen. Could've made it a little more distinctive.

It does look an awful lot like the existing Giants Stadium. I would have thought they'd at least build any new NYC-area NFL stadium with a retractable roof, so they could occasionally host a Super Bowl.

[bullsfan4life]

It's not the most impressive design I've ever seen. Could've made it a little more distinctive.

I would have thought they'd at least build any new NYC-area NFL stadium with a retractable roof, so they could occasionally host a Super Bowl.

Well that was the West Side Stadium. It was supposed to be for the Olympics and the Jets would also be there. The NFL even gave the 2010 Super Bowl to New York pending the stadium be built. Then the 2012 Olympics to London, then the city voted against building the stadium.

[nyk]

It's not the most impressive design I've ever seen. Could've made it a little more distinctive.

I would have thought they'd at least build any new NYC-area NFL stadium with a retractable roof, so they could occasionally host a Super Bowl.

Well that was the West Side Stadium. It was supposed to be for the Olympics and the Jets would also be there. The NFL even gave the 2010 Super Bowl to New York pending the stadium be built. Then the 2012 Olympics to London, then the city voted against building the stadium.

The city actually voted against the stadium before the olympic were awarded to london. NYC try to make up for it by have the new Mets Stadium become the Olympic Stadium before the new citi field was proposed.

[DEAD!]

This rendering made me laugh...

I see the "field level" boxes like the Cowboys are doing, but the orientation of the NFL logo is strange....

[dfwabel]

It's not the most impressive design I've ever seen. Could've made it a little more distinctive.

It does look an awful lot like the existing Giants Stadium. I would have thought they'd at least build any new NYC-area NFL stadium with a retractable roof, so they could occasionally host a Super Bowl.

You said the exact same think I was thinking. It looks like the current facility with more glass for a true club level. Not that much of an architectural wonder. Plus, if retractable, they would have gotten into the Final Four rotation too. Possibly they may have the same backlash as the city of Chicago went from some who wanted a retractable roof on new Soldier Field.

[bullsfan4life]

It's not the most impressive design I've ever seen. Could've made it a little more distinctive.

I would have thought they'd at least build any new NYC-area NFL stadium with a retractable roof, so they could occasionally host a Super Bowl.

Well that was the West Side Stadium. It was supposed to be for the Olympics and the Jets would also be there. The NFL even gave the 2010 Super Bowl to New York pending the stadium be built. Then the 2012 Olympics to London, then the city voted against building the stadium.

The city actually voted against the stadium before the olympic were awarded to london. NYC try to make up for it by have the new Mets Stadium become the Olympic Stadium before the new citi field was proposed.

Ether way, it would have been a site to behold.

[KevinMcD]

That area behind the benches are luxury boxes??? Why would anybody want to pay more to sit behind the bench and not be able to see the field?

Overall the stadium is not as nice as many of the other newer stadiums but still pretty impressive.

[NoHoJoe]

I am against this stadium for a number of reasons.

1. Giants Stadium is 31 years old. It could stay up for another 31 years. Look at Arrowhead Stadium, Ralph Wilson Stadium, even Monster Park. If those are still up, why can't Giant Stadium stay up another 30 years?

2. The Jets and Giants are committed to a 99 year lease, with a no exit clause until 2025 at the earliest.

In any case, the Buffalo Bill are, for all intents and purposes, the only NFL Franchise in New York.

If there are any Jets and Giants fans on this board, Please call Mr. Tisch, Mr. Mara, Mr. Johnson, Governors Corzine and Spitzer, and the head of the New Jersey Sports and Expostion Authority, as well as NFL Commissioner Goodell and Mayor Bloomberg and tell them to STOP construction of this stadium and ask to propose legislation if the Jets and Gaints are to remain the New York Jets and New York Gaints, then the teams must play in a stadium in New York City or New York State!!!!

3. No dome. Well, there goes the Final Four, The Super Bowl, the Olympics, etc.

4. Enviromental Studies need to be conducted. HALT CONSTRUCTION NOW!!!

www.newyorkjest.com

[KevinMcD]

1. Giants Stadium is 31 years old. It could stay up for another 31 years. Look at Arrowhead Stadium, Ralph Wilson Stadium, even Monster Park. If those are still up, why can't Giant Stadium stay up another 30 years?

Because it's near NYC and they(New Yorkers) think they are the best so they need a brand new fancy $1.3B stadium.

[rams80]

I am against this stadium for a number of reasons.

1. Giants Stadium is 31 years old. It could stay up for another 31 years. Look at Arrowhead Stadium, Ralph Wilson Stadium, even Monster Park. If those are still up, why can't Giant Stadium stay up another 30 years?

2. The Jets and Giants are committed to a 99 year lease, with a no exit clause until 2025 at the earliest.

In any case, the Buffalo Bill are, for all intents and purposes, the only NFL Franchise in New York.

If there are any Jets and Giants fans on this board, Please call Mr. Tisch, Mr. Mara, Mr. Johnson, Governors Corzine and Spitzer, and the head of the New Jersey Sports and Expostion Authority, as well as NFL Commissioner Goodell and Mayor Bloomberg and tell them to STOP construction of this stadium and ask to propose legislation if the Jets and Gaints are to remain the New York Jets and New York Gaints, then the teams must play in a stadium in New York City or New York State!!!!

3. No dome. Well, there goes the Final Four, The Super Bowl, the Olympics, etc.

4. Enviromental Studies need to be conducted. HALT CONSTRUCTION NOW!!!

www.newyorkjest.com

Here's the thing. It appears that they are building the stadium without government funds. If they wanted to build the stadium in New York, given all the bitching from the NIMBY crowd and troubles they'd have over purchasing land, they wouldn't be able to break ground for the next 5 years. New York lost it chance at having a NFL team in the city for a generation when the West Side Stadium failed. Besides, 30 years is roughly the average lifespan of a stadium nowadays. Honestly, if New Yorkers care so much about whether or not the Jets and Giants have the New York moniker, they might want to be a little more forthcoming on the land. I'm also pretty sure that one more environmental study won't matter one jot.

[koizim]

Giants Stadium is 31 years old. It could stay up for another 31 years. Look at Arrowhead Stadium, Ralph Wilson Stadium, even Monster Park. If those are still up, why can't Giant Stadium stay up another 30 years?

You've gotta be kidding. Fenway Park was redone in the 40s when they added the Green Monster and then, of course, there are the post 2000 changes. Yankee Stadium was redesigned in 1976 (53 years after it opened). The Boston Garden and the original Madison Square Garden are gone and Soldier Field was completely redone.

Plus, Arrowhead is getting rebuilt, Monster Park is a nearly unanimous pick for the NFL's worst stadium, and Ralph Wilson Stadium's replacement is already being designed.

The only pro stadium that has remained unchanged/un-redesigned since it's original construction is Wrigley Field, and even that has had minor revisions.

And bills2005, that is not only downright wrong, offensive and biased, the Cowboys are building and equally expensive and opulent new stadium. Please think before you post something dumb....again.