GlobeSt.com UPDATE: NY Jets Confirm Interest in New Jersey

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ-As reported by GlobeSt.com, the New York Jets recently submitted a proposal to the New York Giants to build a new 90,000-seat stadium to replace the existing Giants Stadium that the teams currently share. That proposal, as reported, came in the wake of the demise of a plan to build a new stadium for the Jets on Manhattan’s West Side. Jets officials had declined comment on the proposal with the Giants, but now confirm that New Jersey is indeed in play as the Jets’ home.

“We have worked hard to create what the Jets have never had but still deserve – a home of our own,” team president Jay Cross wrote in a letter to season ticket holders this week. “Last month, we came within one vote of making the dream of a new Jets stadium [in New York] a reality. But an obscure state board refused to fund infrastructure improvements which the team was willing to match with the largest private sports investment in history –$1.6 billion.

“While we continue to pursue our own stadium in New York,” the letter continues, a reference to a meeting scheduled for later this month with officials of the Borough of Queens, “we must now consider other options. The Jets recently entered into talks with the Giants to explore a proposed new Meadowlands stadium that would house both teams on truly equal footing. The discussions are in the early stages and no timeframe has been set to make a final decision.”

The letter also suggests, at least indirectly, that the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority might be helping the process along. “The Jets won a major victory when the NJSEA agreed to a rent reduction [on the Jets' current Giants Stadium lease], recognizing our right to equal treatment with the Giants. In exchange, we agreed to settle our lawsuit against the NJSEA.”