TRENTON, NJ (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — A forthcoming article in Forbes reveals that the New York Giants and the New York Jets are some of the NFL's most net-worth teams, ranking fourth and sixth overall in the league.
Both teams also stand to benefit from the revenue generated by ticket sales at their brand new home at the New Meadowland Stadium, with some experts predicting a revenue increase for 2011 of as much as $100 million for each team.
However, the new stadium may prove to be a major liability for the two teams. Both the Giants and the Jets shouldered a massive debt load to build the new stadium — $650 million for the Giants and $750 million for the Jets. If, as some experts believe is likely, the NFL can't reach a contract deal with the players union and there's a lockout in 2011, both teams could be in fiscal hot water.
"The Giants and Jets are both taking substantial risks by going out and borrowing $1.4 billion," Forbes senior editor Kurt Badenhausen said in an interview with the New York Daily News. "The Giants' and Jets' built-in costs of servicing debt are so much higher. If we have a lockout, they still have to pay the interest on their debt, even if nobody's buying a ticket."
Meanwhile, New Jersey taxpayers are still on the hook to the tune of $110 million for public financing for the construction the now-demolished old Giants Stadium. According to the New York Times, the public debt for the former stadium was originally set to be paid off in the mid 1990s but money that had originally been planned to pay the debt down was diverted to other purposes such as the Camden Aquarium, the Times said.
The New Jersey Sports Authority now expects the debt to be retired in 2025, costing taxpayers a projected $226 million when all is said and done. This is approximately 2.8 times the original $78 million dollar cost for the construction of the stadium, which debuted in 1976.
New Jersey, like many states in the U.S., is facing significant budget shortfalls with the states' nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services projecting a deficit of that may top $10 billion in the next fiscal year. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
