Meadowlands Arena

Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, the state-owned facility has been used as a rehearsal stage by major concert-touring music stars and by NBCUniversal for television filming. The arena is located on New Jersey Route 120 across the highway from MetLife Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack, next to the American Dream shopping and entertainment complex.

The arena, which opened in 1981, was originally built to accommodate the New Jersey Nets basketball team. In 1982, the relocated Colorado Rockies hockey team became the New Jersey Devils and joined the Nets at the venue. In 1985, the Seton Hall Pirates men's collegiate basketball team began playing its home games at the arena. In 2007, the Prudential Center opened in nearby Newark as the new Devils home arena. Seton Hall, whose campus in South Orange is closer to Newark than East Rutherford, likewise moved its basketball games there. The Nets remained at the Meadowlands for three more seasons before moving to Newark, where they played two seasons before departing New Jersey for Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The men's basketball team from Fordham University played four home games during the 2010–11 season at the arena.

Following the departure of all three of its major tenants, the arena continued to host occasional non-sporting events, such as touring shows and concerts, and other local events. The state-owned facility reported losses for 2013, and was projected to have $8.5 million in losses for 2015. On January 15, 2015, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) voted to shut down Izod Center, and have Prudential Center acquire hosting rights to events scheduled for the arena over the next two years in a $2 million deal.

Since closing, the vacant arena has been used as a rehearsal venue for large-scale touring concert productions as well as a sound stage for video and television productions. Since 2018, NBC has leased the venue to film prime-time drama series, including The Enemy Within and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector. It is also home to the crime drama series The Equalizer, starring Queen Latifah, and the TV programs Tales of the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: Dead City.

Construction on a new arena across Route 20 (now 120) from Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack began in 1977, with the arena's initial purpose being to serve as the primary home for the Nets who had moved from Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York to New Jersey. While the venue was being built, the Nets played their home games in Piscataway at the Rutgers Athletic Center.

The arena was designed by Grad Partnership and Dilullo, Clauss, Ostroki & Partners and was constructed at a cost of $85 million. Originally named the Brendan Byrne Arena, after the sitting governor of New Jersey, Brendan Byrne, the building opened on July 2, 1981, with the first of six concerts by New Jersey rock musician Bruce Springsteen. The Nets moved into their new home on October 30, 1981, and lost to their cross-river rivals, the New York Knicks in their inaugural home game. In 1982, the arena hosted the NBA All-Star Game. Then, it hosted the 1996 NBA draft.

Another motivation for building an arena in the Meadowlands was to potentially lure a National Hockey League team to New Jersey. Governor Byrne was a member of an ownership group that was looking to do so, and in 1978 businessman Arthur Imperatore purchased the Colorado Rockies and announced that he would be relocating the team to New Jersey. Unfortunately for Imperatore, the Rockies would be sold twice more before that finally became a reality. The newly renamed, John McMullen-owned New Jersey Devils played their first game at the arena on October 5, 1982, against the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the game ending in a 3–3 tie. Don Lever scored the first goal in the arena, which was the Devils' very first goal. In 1984, the arena hosted the NHL All-Star Game. The following year, the Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team began playing at the arena.

On January 4, 1996, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) announced a naming rights deal with Continental Airlines under which the airline, with a hub at nearby Newark Liberty International Airport, would pay the NJSEA $29 million over 12 years. As Continental Airlines Arena, it hosted the 1996 Final Four—the last Final Four to date that has been held in an arena specifically built for basketball.