The Prudential Center in Newark will be getting a bit busier.

In an expected outcome, the long standing IZOD Center in Newark will be closing its doors for good at the end of the month. The New Jersey Sports & Entertainment board voted to close the arena 10 votes to 2.

The goal is to transport any programming and events to the nearby Prudential Center to boost a struggling north Jersey economy after losing the Nets to Brooklyn and being left with only the New Jersey Devils in the winter months.

Before construction of the Prudential Center, the IZOD Center hosted three major tenants before losing each of them including the Nets, Devils and Seton Hall basketball.

It began in 1981 under the former name of Brendan Byrne Arena, was renamed to Continental Airlines Arena until 2007 when the IZOD Center took things over thereafter.

In addition to hosting professional and collegiate sports, the IZOD Center also hosted multiple lacrosse leagues as well as some of Jersey native Bruce Springsteen's best concerts.

"This is a long time coming. It never made sense to keep open an outdated arena that is less than 10 miles away from the City of Newark and the Prudential Center," North Ward councilman Anibal Ramos said in a statement via NJ.com.

Some concerts previously scheduled after the closure such as Maroon 5, Chris Brown and Trey Songz will be transferred to the Prudential Center.

As of right now, the final few events listed to appear at the IZOD Center are WWE on January 24th and Monster Jam on January 31st.

For more on the closure, check out NJ.com.

 

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