New York Sen. Joe Addabbo laid his Jets-to-Queens cards on the table
New York Sen. Joe Addabbo just made many friends by speaking quite bluntly about the New York Jets.
Although Addabbo acknowledges it’s a longshot, the New York Senator wants the Jets to move back to Queens. More specifically, he’d like to see the organization make its new home in Willets Point, per Legal Sports Report.
“I don’t know if that’s the hurdle you can’t overcome to realize the revenue and jobs that would come with bringing the Jets back,” Sen. Joe Addabbo recently said. “The Jets coming back to New York would be monumental.
“This is a huge, Herculean longshot, I get that. But I hate missed opportunities,” he added.
Addabbo, a Democrat, has been a huge backer of the legalization of New York online sports betting, which launched in early January 2022. The chair of the NY Senate’s racing, gaming and wagering committee fully admits the idea is a far-fetched one at the current time, but he’s nonetheless made a few more fans with the statement.
There are countless Jets fans who’d love to see their team return home to New York.
“If you’re building a stadium—and I know it’s only 25,000 seats—but if you’ve got that kind of incentive to build a stadium, if the opportunity is there with the land and the expiring leases, why miss this opportunity?” Addabbo said. “They’d have their own stadium, a newer, more technologically-advanced stadium, with all-new amenities and everything. To go into a brand-new stadium as the New York Jets and the marketing behind it, that just blows it out of the water. And the original residual effect, at least to me, in terms of online sports betting … Imagine if New Yorkers actually got to bet on an actual New York football club called the New York Jets. I think it’s that much more of an enticing business that we would have for online sports betting.”
The New York online sports betting piece of this puzzle is definitely a worthwhile side factor, as the Empire State’s legal sports gambling handle has shattered records this past year.
The Jets, founded as the AFL’s New York Titans back in 1960, commenced its football program at the Polo Grounds and played their home games there until 1963. From there, the Jets called Shea Stadium (in Queens, NY) their home for the next 20 seasons.
Since 1984, the Jets have played their home games in Northern New Jersey. From 1984 to 2009, the franchise called Giants Stadium home, while operating its headquarters out of Hofstra (NY) until the 2008 season, when they moved to Florham Park, NJ, where the team currently resides.
Of course, MetLife Stadium, which opened in 2010, is the home of both the Jets and New York Giants.
“Personally, it pains me to see the Giants and Jets called the ‘New York Jets’ and ‘New York Giants,’ — even with the Giants having ‘NY’ on their helmets — playing in Jersey. It pains me,” the senator said.
Although it is most definitely a long shot, the Jets (or Giants) can technically opt out of the current 25-year lease with MetLife Stadium in 2025 if they give New Jersey the necessary 12-month notice. Of course, such a drastic decision would mainly be up to Jets Chairman Woody Johnson and Vice-Chairman Christopher Johnson, among others.
The 7-4 New York Jets (a squad that plays in New Jersey) are currently prepping for the Minnesota Vikings, who they’re set to meet on the road in Week 13 NFL action.
