Reports of the death of Harrison, N.J.’s soccer stadium appear to have been exaggerated. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, under a new deal in the works, “the [state] sports authority, the town of Harrison and the MetroStars would evenly divide the costs of building an $84 million stadium beside the Passaic River.” The state would get a cut of parking, concessions, advertising and naming rights revenues, plus a ticket tax surcharge, to pay back its share of the cost; it’s unclear what if anything the city of Harrison, which is expected to use tax-increment financing for its share of the project, would get out of the deal.
4 comments on “MetroStars stadium no longer red-carded?”
Comments are closed.
they’d (harrison) get about 20,000 visitors 16 times a year. plus concerts and a venue for other events including high school sports. it’s part of a larger development including apartments and hotels. you might not think it’s much, but i think it qualifes as “something”.
300,000 fans a year is about what the Newark Bears draw, and that stadium is widely regarded as not having done squat for Newark. I’ve been to a bunch of games there, and I don’t think I’ve ever spent a dime outside the ballpark gates. It’s hard to see why anyone would build, say, restaurants in Harrison to draw the business of fans who only show up 16 days a year.
This is fantastic news for the Metrostars. The team desperately needs to leave Giants STadium ASAP.
My only concern is the control which the NJSEA will retain over the new Harrison stadium. A surcharge on the tickets? And lord knows how many fights the NJSEA goons and Metro fans have gotten into.
Well you would have to figure that there would be much mroe than 16 games played at the stadium.
16 MLS games
+ playoffs
+ All-Star game
+ MLS Cup game
+ US Open Cup games
+ exhibition games
+ US National Team games
+ Foreign National team games
+ concerts
+ high school soccer / football
+ lacrosse