08-13-2008, 10:41 AM
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Fans heading to the Meadowlands Sports Complex can expect fewer hours for tailgating under new rules regarding alcohol and fan behavior.
Parking lots for Giants Stadium, the Izod Arena and the Meadowlands Racetrack will open five hours before events, instead of seven.
In addition, season ticketholders who are ejected from the stadium or arena will have their tickets revoked, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority announced Tuesday.
If the season tickets are being used by someone other than the owner, the owner will be sent two warnings. A third incident will result in revocation, said Dennis Robinson, authority president and CEO.
"This program is, plain and simple, about respect. Respect for oneself and one another," Robinson said.
Each team can decide whether to issue refunds for revoked tickets, he said.
The New York Giants and New York Jets play at the stadium, and the New Jersey Nets play at the arena. The teams did not immediately return calls seeking comment on their policies. Nearly all football seats are held by season ticketholders.
The authority also took steps to prevent harassment of women. Last season, security at the stadium's Gate D was increased at Jets games because hundreds of men would gather at halftime and demand that women expose their breasts. View-blocking banners will be hung on the spiral staircase to help eliminate the problem, which did not occur during Giants games.
Earlier this month, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell warned that spectators who misbehave would be ejected from stadiums and barred from coming back. The policy is aimed at conduct that the league said "detracts from the gameday experience."
It includes bans on disruptive behavior; signs of drunkenness; foul language and other misbehavior.
State Senate president Richard J. Codey, who demanded a crackdown at Gate D, commended the sports authority for its action.
"Consider this an idiot protection policy for those fans decent and mature enough to enjoy the event without getting trashed," said Codey, D-Essex. "For those that were used to overdoing it, hopefully now they will get home safely without endangering others and come to enjoy waking up the next morning and actually remembering the game."
Unchanged is the halftime cutoff for alcohol sales, said to be the most stringent in the NFL, and the limit of two drinks at each purchase.
The authority is also introducing a text messaging system that will allow fans to notify stadium management of problems.
Copies of the fan "code of conduct" will be posted and distributed. Among other items, it requires fans to sit in their ticketed seats and refrain from "foul or abusive language and obscene gestures and harassment of visiting team fans."
It states that, "Guests who engage in fighting, throwing objects or attempting to enter the field of play will be immediately ejected."
Parking lots for Giants Stadium, the Izod Arena and the Meadowlands Racetrack will open five hours before events, instead of seven.
In addition, season ticketholders who are ejected from the stadium or arena will have their tickets revoked, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority announced Tuesday.
If the season tickets are being used by someone other than the owner, the owner will be sent two warnings. A third incident will result in revocation, said Dennis Robinson, authority president and CEO.
"This program is, plain and simple, about respect. Respect for oneself and one another," Robinson said.
Each team can decide whether to issue refunds for revoked tickets, he said.
The New York Giants and New York Jets play at the stadium, and the New Jersey Nets play at the arena. The teams did not immediately return calls seeking comment on their policies. Nearly all football seats are held by season ticketholders.
The authority also took steps to prevent harassment of women. Last season, security at the stadium's Gate D was increased at Jets games because hundreds of men would gather at halftime and demand that women expose their breasts. View-blocking banners will be hung on the spiral staircase to help eliminate the problem, which did not occur during Giants games.
Earlier this month, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell warned that spectators who misbehave would be ejected from stadiums and barred from coming back. The policy is aimed at conduct that the league said "detracts from the gameday experience."
It includes bans on disruptive behavior; signs of drunkenness; foul language and other misbehavior.
State Senate president Richard J. Codey, who demanded a crackdown at Gate D, commended the sports authority for its action.
"Consider this an idiot protection policy for those fans decent and mature enough to enjoy the event without getting trashed," said Codey, D-Essex. "For those that were used to overdoing it, hopefully now they will get home safely without endangering others and come to enjoy waking up the next morning and actually remembering the game."
Unchanged is the halftime cutoff for alcohol sales, said to be the most stringent in the NFL, and the limit of two drinks at each purchase.
The authority is also introducing a text messaging system that will allow fans to notify stadium management of problems.
Copies of the fan "code of conduct" will be posted and distributed. Among other items, it requires fans to sit in their ticketed seats and refrain from "foul or abusive language and obscene gestures and harassment of visiting team fans."
It states that, "Guests who engage in fighting, throwing objects or attempting to enter the field of play will be immediately ejected."
Will it blend? That is the question.