Though many of its opponents supported the larger West Side development program, they questioned the economic benefit of a stadium that would have spent much of its time unused, as well as the general premise of subsidizing a football team that generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for a private owner.

The rail yards were owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which originally negotiated privately with the Jets without seeking other possible buyers.

After Cablevision presented a rival proposal for West Side development without a stadium, public sentiment against an apparent no-bid contract for the Jets prompted the MTA to establish an open bidding process for the site.

On March 31, 2005, the MTA board voted to accept the bid from the Jets, even though the Cablevision offer included more cash up front.

Many Manhattan and West Side residents did not want the inconvenience, traffic congestion and resource drain that they believed the Olympics would bring to the already overcrowded city.

Cablevision's stance against the stadium proposal was cited as "a factor"[9] in the NFL moving its 2005 draft away from Cablevision-owned Theater at Madison Square Garden to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, ending a 10-year run of the event at MSG.

The controversy spawned a political ad war on local television, with rival campaigns financed by the owners of the Jets and Cablevision.

Silver, in particular, had vehemently opposed the project, saying it would divert money needed to rebuild lower Manhattan in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

[12] With the defeat of the West Side Stadium plan, Mayor Bloomberg and the New York 2012 campaign shifted their focus to the construction of a new Mets ballpark, Citi Field, as the centerpiece to the Olympic bid, but the 2012 games were eventually awarded to London.

[14] In reaction to the state representatives' decision to reject the stadium's funding, the NFL decided on August 11 to reopen the bidding for the game site of Super Bowl XLIV.