Cablevision To Help Devils

May 20, 1999 / 5:03 PM EDT / AP

Cablevision will help the New Jersey Devils build an arena for the hockey club in Hoboken, the team and company announced today.

"Hoboken is the natural location for a premier sports and entertainment facility," the joint announcement said today about the city across the Hudson River from midtown Manhattan.

Cablevision, which already owns New York's Madison Square Garden as well as the New York Knicks and Rangers, would bear half of the $206 million cost to construct the new venue above the Hoboken commuter rail station, Devils president John McMullen told The Star-Ledger of Newark in today's editions.

The plan would still need some public subsidies, and Hoboken officials are worried about crowded streets and a parking shortage. Still, McMullen called the plan "an outstanding opportunity" for the state.

"We could have done it alone, but this makes it a lead pipe cinch," McMullen told the newspaper. "Having a significant partner like this makes it certain."

He was not immediately available for comment today. The Devils-Cablevision joint announcement was faxed to the media.

Cablevision chairman Charles Dolan, and his brother, Larry, were said to be the leading contenders to buy the New York Jets from the estate of the late Leon Hess.

Cablevision and the NHL club would jointly run the 18,500-seat arena as well as its entertainment and shopping complex. McMullen said the agreement should include long-term broadcast rights for Cablevision, which already televises Devils' games.

The Devils' plan is one of three proposals for new indoor sports venues in northern New Jersey.

Last week, basketball's New Jersey Nets discussed their plans to build an arena in Newark with Gov. Christie Whitman. The Nets owners would like the Devils to join them, and say their project also may include a new soccer stadium for the New York-New Jersey MetroStars.

New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority officials are trying to convince both the Devils and Nets to remain at the Meadowlands in a new arena near their current home, the outmoded Continental Airlines Arena. The authority wants to demolish the arena in East Rutherford and build an entertainment and shopping complex.

Whitman, citing the cost of proposed state subsidies, has said she prefers to have both teams playing in a single building, and is to meet shortly with McMullen.

McMullen said he will not move his team to Newark, preferring instead to build atop Hoboken's historic rail terminal along the Hudson River. It handles 80,000 commuter train riders daily.

The proposal is dependent upon the state granting the Devils and Cablevision "air rights" to build above the terminal. It calls for state taxpayers to contribute $30 million.

Long Island-based Cablevision recently tried unsuccessfully to purchase the New York Yankees. The Yankees instead agreed to a merger with the Nets. Th proposed YankeesNets organization raises the possibility that the two teams could break away from Cablevision's regional sports networks MSG and Fox Sports New York.

A new Yankees-Nets-created sports network is viewed as more viable if the Devils join. Officials did not address how the deal would affect the cable television balance of power.