Islanders Have Winning Bid To Build New Arena At Belmont Park

The Islanders’ proposal to build a new arena at a site at Belmont Park was selected as the winning bid, according to sources and media reports. The team’s proposal beat out a submission from NYCFC, and calls for an 18,000-seat arena and more than 400,000-square feet of retail space and a 200-room hotel. The development is also being backed by Oak View Group and Sterling Project Development, a real estate firm run by Mets owners, the Wilpon Family. It is expected that Empire State Development, New York’s business development agency, will formally announce it has selected the bid at an event tomorrow at the Belmont Park racetrack.

The Islanders left Nassau Coliseum in ’15 to play their home games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. However the team has failed to attract a consistent fan base at the new venue, averaging just 13,101 fans per game last season -- third lowest in the NHL.