NEWARK — The Prudential Center in Newark beat out the Izod Center in East Rutherford as New Jersey's busiest concert arena, placing 23rd in the world — and sixth in the United States — on Pollstar's list of 2012's top arenas.

Thanks to sold-out concerts by Bruce Springsteen, Carrie Underwood, Radiohead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Rock reported it sold 402,313 tickets to nonsports events last year. That’s an increase of more than 42,000 from 2011, when its paid attendance of 359,696 resulted in a ranking of 30 worldwide, 11th in the United States and second in New Jersey.

"The Rock is now recognized as one of the best arenas in the world, for acoustics, fan comfort and easy access," Devils Arena Entertainment Chairman Jeff Vanderbeek said.

Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, which opened Sept. 28, debuted at No. 32, with paid attendance of 356,512 for just three months of operations. The strong showing was fueled by Jay-Z’s 8-concert opening celebration and Barbra Streisand’s two-night stand.

The special events surrounding the Barclays opening skew its numbers, officials say.

"It’s a new facility and people want to go to new facilities," said Wayne Hasenbalg, president and CEO of the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority. "You’re going to have that wow factor in the beginning. The question is the staying power, the endurance factor."

The Izod Center, operated by the sports authority, ended up at 56th worldwide and 23rd in the country, with 270,289 tickets sold during 2012, about 125,000 fewer than in 2011, when it ranked 24th worldwide with 395,353 tickets sold.

Hasenbalg said the East Rutherford arena presented many events — such as college graduations — that don’t meet Pollstar’s criteria.

"This particular ranking doesn’t necessary portray how well the facility is doing in an overall sense," he said. "From a financial sense, it’s fair to say its about the same, if not slightly better, than the year before."

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Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City ranked 96th worldwide, with paid attendance of 125,677.

The nation’s leading concert industry publication, Pollstar compiles its rankings from figures provided by the venues for the number of tickets sold to concerts and family shows — such as the circus — between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2012.

Prudential’s 2012 total doesn’t include the more than 30,000 who attended two sold-out Rolling Stones concerts in December, officials said.

Topping the annual ranking is the O2 arena in London, which reported paid attendance of 1,577,180. The Staples Center in Los Angeles and Madison Square Garden ranked 7th and 16th globally, and first and second in the United States. Their paid attendance was 565,162 and 453,894, respectively.

Hasenbalg noted that New Jersey has three venues in the top 100, giving it an edge in the metro area’s arena wars.

"If you add up the New Jersey numbers against the New York City numbers, we’re doing pretty darn good," Hasenbalg said.

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