SportingNews

The Nets have become the butt of a seemingly-endless series of jokes this season, flailing and losing their way to a 5-49 record. It doesn’t help matters that they play in the league’s oldest arena, a building far from any public transportation or urban center. The team is bad enough on its own—playing at the Izod Center only makes things worse.

So what’s the solution? Move to beautiful Newark, of course! From The Star-Ledger:

After months of speculation over whether the struggling NBA team would leave Izod Center in the Meadowlands for a two-year stay at the new Prudential Center in Newark, a deal was struck today to allow the Nets to break their lease for $4 million and move to Newark, according to officials involved in the negotiations.

The plan will have the Nets and Devils playing together in the state’s largest city. The move is temporary, with the Nets still planning to move to a new arena in Brooklyn by the start of the 2012 basketball season. But the hapless team, with a miserable record and playing to empty seats at the oldest arena in the NBA, saw the Prudential Center, which is operated by the Devils, as a possible new beginning for a club that has been steadily losing fan base. At the same time, two pre-season games at the Pru Center sold well.

In a lot of ways, Newark is like the municipal version of the Nets: the target of many jokes with a reputation as terminally downtrodden. But that public image is slowly starting to change, in part because of new buildings like the Prudential Center (opened in 2007) and the public relations skills of charismatic mayor Cory Booker.

The Nets are still planning on moving to Brooklyn, but this move will almost assuredly help them in the short term. Even bad teams need a connection to a larger metropolitan area, especially if John Wall makes his way to New Jersey this summer. This may not be a permanent home, but it’s a promising rental.
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