Sports in New Jersey

MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, Bergen County, home to the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets and the most expensive stadium ever built.[1]

New Jersey currently has four teams from major professional sports leagues playing in the state, although the Major League Soccer team and two National Football League teams identify themselves as being from New York.

Professional sports

The Prudential Center in Newark, home of the NHL's New Jersey Devils.
Red Bull Arena in Harrison, Hudson County, home of the MLS's New York Red Bulls.

The National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils, based in Newark at the Prudential Center, is the only major league franchise to bear the state's name. Founded in 1974 in Kansas City, Missouri as the Kansas City Scouts, the team played in Denver, Colorado as the Colorado Rockies from 1976 until the spring of 1982 when naval architect, businessman, and Jersey City native John J. McMullen purchased and relocated the franchise to Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford's Meadowlands Sports Complex under its current identity. While the organization was largely a failure on the ice in Kansas City, Denver, and its first years in New Jersey, the Devils would ultimately begin their rise to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s under the tenure of Hall of Fame president and general manager Lou Lamoriello, winning the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000, and 2003, and act as an annual fixture in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the majority of two decades. The organization is the youngest out of all nine "Big Four" major league teams within the New York Metropolitan Area and media market dominated in terms of ice hockey by the New York Rangers and Islanders prior to the Devils' arrival, but has ultimately been successful in establishing a visible and dedicated following throughout the northern and central portions of the state. In 2018, one of the Devils' fiercest rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, renovated and expanded their training facility, The Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone, in Voorhees Township in the southern portion of the state.[2]

The New York Metropolitan Area's two National Football League teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets, both play at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford's Meadowlands Sports Complex.[3] At completion, with a construction cost of approximately $1.6 billion,[4] the venue is the most expensive stadium ever built.[1] On February 2, 2014, MetLife Stadium was the host for Super Bowl XLVIII.

The New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer play in Red Bull Arena, a soccer-specific stadium located in Harrison immediately across the Passaic River from downtown Newark. On July 27, 2011, Red Bull Arena hosted the 2011 MLS All-Star Game.[5]

From 1977 to 2012, New Jersey had a National Basketball Association team, the New Jersey Nets. Also, WNBA's New York Liberty played in New Jersey from 2011 to 2013. In 2016, the Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA opened their new headquarters and training facility, the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex, in Camden.[6]

The Meadowlands Sports Complex is also home to the Meadowlands Racetrack, one of three major harness racing tracks in the state. The Meadowlands Racetrack along with Freehold Raceway in Freehold are two of the major harness racing tracks in North America. Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport is also a popular spot for thoroughbred racing in New Jersey and the northeast. It hosted the Breeders' Cup in 2007, and its turf course was renovated in preparation.

Major league sports

New Jersey teams

ClubSportLeagueStadium (capacity)EstablishedTitles
New Jersey DevilsIce hockeyNHLPrudential Center (16,514)19743
Metropolitan RivetersNWHLPrudential Center (16,514)20151
Sky Blue FCSoccerNWSLYurcak Field (5,000)20071

New York teams that play in New Jersey

ClubSportLeagueStadium (capacity)EstablishedTitles
New York GiantsFootballNFLMetLife Stadium (82,500)19258
New York Jets19591
New York Red BullsSoccerMLSRed Bull Arena (25,000)19940

Semi-pro and minor league sports

New Jersey teams

ClubSportLeagueStadium (capacity)EstablishedTitles
Trenton ThunderBaseballMiLB (AA-EL)Arm & Hammer Park (6,150)19803
Lakewood BlueClawsMiLB (A-SAL)FirstEnergy Park (8,000)19873
Somerset PatriotsALPBTD Bank Ballpark (6,100)19976
New Jersey JackalsCAN-AMYogi Berra Stadium (5,000)19984
Sussex County MinersSkylands Stadium (4,200)20150
Jersey ExpressBasketballABAWayne YMCA20050

New York minor league teams that play in New Jersey

ClubSportLeagueStadium (capacity)EstablishedTitles
New York Red Bulls IISoccerUSLMSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field (5,000)20151

College sports

Major schools

New Jerseyans' collegiate allegiances are predominantly split among the three major NCAA Division I programs in the state – the Rutgers University (New Jersey's flagship state university) Scarlet Knights, members of the Big Ten Conference; the Seton Hall University (the state's largest Catholic university) Pirates, members of the Big East Conference; and the Princeton University (the state's Ivy League university) Tigers.

Rutgers and Princeton athletics share an intense rivalry – stemming from the first intercollegiate football game in 1869 – though the two schools have not met on the football field since 1980. They continue to play each other annually in all other sports offered by the two universities.

Rutgers, which fields 24 teams in various sports, is nationally known for its excellent football and women's basketball programs, owning a 6-4 all-time bowl record and appearing in a National Final in 2007, respectively. In 2008 and 2009, Rutgers expanded their football home HighPoint.com Stadium on the Busch Campus, and the basketball teams play at Louis Brown Athletic Center on Livingston Campus. Both venues and campuses are located in Piscataway, immediately across the Raritan River from New Brunswick. The university also fields rising men's basketball and baseball programs. Rutgers' fan base is mostly derived from the western parts of the state and Middlesex County, not to mention its alumni base, which is the largest in the state.

Rutgers' satellite campuses in Camden and Newark each field their own athletic programs. The Rutgers–Camden athletic teams are called the Scarlet Raptors. The Rutgers–Newark athletic teams are called the Scarlet Raiders. The Scarlet Raiders and the Scarlet Raptors both compete within NCAA Division III.

Seton Hall, unlike Rutgers and Princeton, does not field a football team. Its men’s basketball team, however, is one of the Big East's storied programs, New Jersey's most successful representative in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament by number of wins, the state's only men's basketball program to reach a modern National Final, and plays its home games at Prudential Center in downtown Newark approximately four miles from the university's South Orange campus. The Pirates, while lacking as large an alumni base as the state university, have a large well of support in the predominantly Roman Catholic areas of the northern part of the state and the Jersey Shore. The annual inter-conference rivalry game between Seton Hall and Rutgers which alternates between Newark and Piscataway, the Garden State Hardwood Classic, has been renewed through 2026.[7]

Other schools

The state's other Division I schools include the Monmouth University Hawks (West Long Branch), the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Highlanders (Newark), the Rider University Broncs (Lawrenceville), and the Saint Peter's University Peacocks and Peahens (Jersey City).

Fairleigh Dickinson University competes in both Division I and Division III. It has two campuses, each with its own sports teams. The teams at the Metropolitan Campus are known as the FDU Knights, and compete in the Northeast Conference and NCAA Division I. The College at Florham (FDU-Florham) teams are known as the FDU-Florham Devils and compete in the Middle Atlantic Conferences' Freedom Conference and NCAA Division III.

Among the various Division III schools in the state, the Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks have fielded the longest continuously running collegiate men's lacrosse program in the country. 2009 marked the 125th season.

High school sports

New Jersey high schools are divided into divisions under the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.(NJSIAA) [8]'[9] Founded in 1918, the NJSIAA currently represents 22,000 schools, 330,000 coaches, and almost 4.5 million athletes. Sports are divided between 3 seasons (fall, winter, and spring).

Academies and clubs

New Jersey also features a collection of sports leagues, clubs, and academies for athletic training. Like many suburban communities, most New Jersey towns have individual leagues for America's most popular sports - baseball, softball, football, cheerleading, basketball, soccer, etc.[10]

Stadiums and arenas

VenueCityCapacityTypeTenantsOpened
High Point Solutions StadiumPiscataway52,454StadiumRutgers Scarlet Knights1994
Jadwin GymnasiumPrinceton6,854ArenaPrinceton Tigers1969
Louis Brown Athletic CenterPiscataway8,000ArenaRutgers Scarlet Knights1977
MetLife StadiumEast Rutherford82,500StadiumNew York Giants, New York Jets2010
Princeton University StadiumPrinceton27,800StadiumPrinceton Tigers1998
Prudential CenterNewark18,711ArenaNew Jersey Devils, Seton Hall Pirates2007
Red Bull ArenaHarrison25,189StadiumNew York Red Bulls2010

Other notable sports venues

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Esteban (October 27, 2011). "11 Most Expensive Stadiums In The World". Total Pro Sports. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Check out the Flyers renovated & expanded South Jersey training facility". Philadelphia Business Journal. February 22, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  3. ↑ New Meadowlands Stadium official website Archived 2014-10-09 at the Wayback Machine. New Meadowlands Stadium Corporation. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  4. ↑ Belson, Ken (April 8, 2010). "New Stadium, a Football Palace, Opens Saturday With Lacrosse". The New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  5. ↑ Bondy, Filip (July 28, 2011). "Manchester United's 4-0 Romp Over MLS All-Stars More Proof U.S. Pro Soccer Not Up to Snuff". Daily News. New York. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ Seltzer, Brian (September 23, 2016). "On the Beat: New Training Complex Brings Modern Feel, Promise". NBA.com. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  7. ↑ https://www.app.com/story/sports/college/2018/04/30/rutgers-seton-hall-basketball-garden-state-hardwood-classic/563768002/
  8. ↑ NJSIAA
  9. ↑ New Jersey High School News and Sports Archived 2009-04-18 at the Wayback Machine.. iHigh.com, Inc – The High School Internet Network. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  10. ↑ Jersey Club Sports - Have Fun. Play Sports. Be Social!
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