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New Jersey Nets Eye Brooklyn

The good news from New Jersey is that their NBA franchise has agreed to extend its lease at the Continental Airlines Arena for five years, allowing them to continue playing at the Meadowlands Arena through 2012-13. The bad news is that they plan on crossing the river, moving into Brooklyn, New York as early as 2009-10, said Nets chief executive Brett Yormark Monday.

Authority president and CEO George Zoffinger said the Nets are welcome to stay in New Jersey. "If Brooklyn doesn`t get built, we hope to strike a long-term deal to keep them in New Jersey," he said. The projected net income to the state is $350,000 the first year, he said. He also noted that the deal is the best the two sides have ever had, and should fairly benefit both sides.

Since buying the team in 2004, Nets owner Bruce Ratner has tried to move to the Brooklyn arena. The arena, to be designed by architect Frank Gehry, is part of a larger, $4.2 billion Atlantic Yards project of Ratner`s. If they move, the Nets would be the first major professional sports team in Brooklyn since the Dodgers left in 1957. The project includes an 18,000-seat arena, apartments, office buildings, stores and a hotel.