Barclays Center Is Kicking Islanders Off The Ice

National Hockey League

Bloomberg January 30, 2017

By Scott Soshnick

Cited

'Brooklyn’s Barclays Center Is Dumping the Islanders'

Cited

'Arena would make more money from concerts, other events Islanders attendance is third-worst in NHL this season' 

This is a bad sign for the National Hockey League. The largest market in the United States, and the second franchise cannot make it in Brooklyn?

Surprising, but the Islanders play in a basketball arena. Notice the car in the stands. An answer appears to be placing franchises in good hockey markets with modern, actual hockey buildings.

Emptynetsports.com

Cited

'After two years and countless complaints, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center has concluded it’s no longer worth it to host the New York Islanders.

The arena, which is already home to the NBA’s Nets and one of the world’s top-grossing concert venues, would make more money without the National Hockey League team, according to people familiar with the facility’s financials.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who owns the building and the Nets, has since November been seeking an investor to take a stake in both. As of earlier this month, a financial projection shared with potential investors showed the Islanders won’t contribute any revenue after the 2018-19 season -- a clear signal that the team won’t play there, the people said.' 

Cited

'What’s more, the Barclays-Islanders agreement is unusual, in that the arena pays the team an average of $53.5 million a year in exchange for control of business operations, which includes revenue from ticket and suite sales.

The lease can be terminated by either the Islanders or arena management. If the team cancels, it can leave after next season. If Barclays Center nixes the deal, then the Islanders’ tenancy would end after the 2018-19 season. Then the question becomes: Where will the Islanders play?'
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A new local arena would not be ready in time. Options include, renting a building from one of the other two metropolitan NHL clubs in New York, or moving to Quebec City, or another city. In my opinion, it is extremely unlikely the League would let this classic, yet significantly tainted franchise move to Canada. The National Hockey League is very hesitant to place a franchise in a foreign country like Canada.

Additional January 31, 2017

'Islanders discussed possible Coliseum return, Mangano says'

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