Newsflash: The Nets maybe headed back to Long Island

As a New Yorker, I am thrilled. To have two teams in the NewYork area is terrific. There new arena deal in Newark, NJ is apparently dead finally. So if this does happen, that means the NHL's Devils are without a home and could then possibly move to Houston.

Nets could be headed for the Island
By Steve Zipay
New York Newsday Staff

A plan for a $355-million arena to house the Nets and Devils in Newark is faltering, and if the Nets eventually are sold, Islanders co-owner Charles Wang is waiting in the wings to explore buying the NBA team and moving it to a new home on Long Island. That and this report from New York Newsday's Steve Zipay

"Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I'm sure he'll be in the mix," a source close to Wang said yesterday. "He is certainly exploring it. But the seller's got to take a step forward first."

Wang has long expressed a desire to own an NBA team, and the Nets, with roots in Nassau County, would be a logical choice. If Wang decides to build an arena to replace the aging Nassau Coliseum, he would need a second sports franchise to keep the revenue flowing.

The Nets are not for sale, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said, and declined to comment on Wang's interest or that of any prospective owner. But the Nets, who made the NBA Finals last year and lead the Atlantic Division with a 39-25 record, aren't drawing well in East Rutherford. Thousands of empty seats are visible in most games at the 20,049-seat Continental Airlines Arena.

YankeeNets, the partnership that controls the Nets, proposed the Newark arena five years ago, but it has never overcome the financial and political hurdles. The latest setbacks, according to newspaper reports, are the state's $5-billion budget deficit and the cash shortfall of YankeeNets.

The Newark Star-Ledger yesterday said a half-dozen state officials, executives and consultants termed the project just about dead. The city of Newark had pledged $167 million from the lease of Newark Airport and seaport to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Another $210 million was to come from state and city loans.

But that doesn't mean the Nets, whose lease at Continental Airlines Arena runs through the 2007-2008 season, will be sold soon or will move. They could play in a renovated arena or a new one on the same site in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Last month, the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority agreed to award Mills Corp./Mack-Cali Realty Corp. rights for a $1-billion transformation of the complex into a family entertainment park/retail center called Xanadu. In the initial designs, the arena stays intact. That and this report from New York Newsday's Steve Zipay