Review by Sean Rowland, Stadium Journey Correspondent

The Izod Center has its days numbered as the last remaining professional tenant will be leaving at the end of this year. The New Jersey Nets, who have played the last 28 years in the Meadowlands, are making a pit stop in Newark to the Prudential Center before permanently moving to Brooklyn. The building never has had a special place in fan’s hearts and it likely will not be missed too much when the arena says goodbye.

The Izod Center simply serves the purpose of hosting a basketball game. There is no stand-out feature in the building, no great atmosphere and no historical significance, though it has hosted numerous NCAA Tournament basketball games. The Nets have had some success here as the NBA Finals twice came to the Meadowlands in the early part of the 2000s. Since then, New Jersey has become one of the worst NBA teams of all time making an already dull atmosphere at the Izod Center even poorer.

FANFARE Score: 16

Food & Beverage: 3

What you would expect from attending a professional sporting event is here food-wise, but that is about it. There are your typical food items like hot dogs, hamburgers and popcorn, while some of the other additional items include Italian sausage, Mrs. Fields Cookies and Carvel Ice Cream.

Nothing out of the ordinary as the only unique food I saw was variations on hot dogs, like the “Belly Buster” which was loaded with Ketchup, Chili, Onions, Peppers and Home Fries. The usual beer offerings (Budweiser, Coors, Miller) are available at the Izod Center. A few concession stands had Rolling Rocks and LandSharks, along with Micholeb’s ShockTop Belgian White. As expected due to the close proximity to New York City, prices ran high with all bottled beers costing $8. A regular cheeseburger was $6, while just a soft pretzel will run you $4.25.

Atmosphere: 2

The atmosphere in terms of numbers is pretty bad. Izod looked a little more than a half-full during a Friday night game and attendance is at the bottom of the league. Entire sections in the second deck were empty and you can pretty much pick your seat across the upper-level (however, be aware that there is no chance of getting into the lower-level seats with some stern ushers watching over things).

There seems to be little interest in the team and even when the team was good, sell-outs were rare. The building looks conducive to hold in noise with a low roof and there were some periods during the game when the fans did make it relatively loud.

Neighborhood: 1

Izod Center is located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which is a massive facility in East Rutherford, NJ. It is famously known for being in a swampy area and this is true. There is no neighborhood within a couple miles as you are surrounded by parking lot. A few hotels have been built within the complex and construction still continues (after many years) on the Xanadu Project which is to be a huge retail and entertainment facility.

Fans: 3

There is not much Nets apparel in the stands and the crowd has a family atmosphere to it (not a bad thing), with most of the fan-noise generated by kids. However, the majority of the fans were watching and paying attention to the game as they never got too distracted or involved in their own conversations. In fact, the crowd was ready to go nuts when the Nets just missed a three that would have tied the game during the third quarter. What pushed the ranking to a three was when some of the fans gave a standing O as New Jersey trimmed a 20 point lead to five. It was impressive to see some passion, when these fans have been watching a 5-50 team all year and will soon be losing them as they move across the river.

Access: 3

Getting into the Meadowlands is actually straightforward with drivers entering either from Route 3 or the Garden State Parkway. The traffic is a different story as it sometimes can be a nightmare. For the Nets game, there were no traffic problems. Getting to the actual arena parking involves navigating a maze of roads. It may be a bit confusing if you researched directions prior to arriving, as you are led to different roads and sections to get you to the parking lots. Thankfully, everything is well signed and directed. Bathrooms were not plentiful, but there was no problem with lines.

Return on Investment: 2

Prices were not unusually high with respect to the league and area; however there is not much return on investment here as you can probably find a much better NBA experience elsewhere. Parking runs you $12, though ticket prices are as low as $10. The cheapest lower deck seats are $60.

Etc.: 2

The Izod Center gets a point for the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame which is located when you first enter the building near the box office. It is a nice feature with information on each member, but they needlessly block off the area so you can’t get close enough to read the plaques. The other point comes from the “Nets Sensational Seniors”, a dance team of 60+ year olds. They are hard-workers and were surprisingly very entertaining to all in attendance.