Exciting News from the Bergen Record

Izod wins naming rights to Continental Airlines Arena


Thursday, October 4, 2007

By JOHN BRENNANSTAFF WRITER
TARIQ ZEHAWI / THE RECORD

Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and the rest of the Nets will have a new name for their home this coming season.

Continental Airlines Arena is out -- Izod Center is in.

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority board voted unanimously Thursday morning to award the naming rights on its Meadowlands arena to Izod -- a clothing line that is part of the Phillips-Van Heusen empire.

Izod was chosen over Jay-Z’s Rocawear and Fort Lee-based Southpole in a three-way race among "clothes horses," in part because of its parent company’s ability to tie in extensively with the $2 billion Xanadu retail and entertainment project that will surround the Izod Center.
Continental informed the sports authority in May it would exercise its option to void its 11-year-old naming rights deal because of the departure of the New Jersey Devils hockey team for Newark’s Prudential Center. The agency called upon New Jersey Nets Chief Executive Officer Brett Yormark to seek potential bidders for an arena that will be home for the Nets for at least two more seasons.

All three bidders made pitches to a sports authority subcommittee Monday, with rap music mogul Jay-Z making part of Rocawear’s presentation himself. Each bid was thought to be $1.4 million to $2 million annually, but the board also considered each bidder’s financial viability, as well as other qualifications beyond cash.

E-mail: brennan@northjersey.com