The Islanders opened their regular-season with a 4-3
loss to the Penguins on Saturday night before 11,457 at the
Nassau Coliseum, 4,840 short of capacity. In N.Y., Anthony
McCarron wrote that "many fans spent their time directing
angry catcalls at the Isles' ownership," which is currently
involved in a tenant dispute with Nassau County and SMG.
Fans also chanted, "We Want Spano!," in reference to John
Spano, whose bid for the team collapsed last year when he
pleaded guilty to fraud (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/11).
TV BLACKOUT: Fox Sports N.Y. did not air the team's
season-opener against the Pens, as it was in conflict with
the Devils-Blackhawks game airing on the main channel.
Industry sources said that MSG Exec VP Joe Cohen made an
"economic" decision based on the costs of producing the game
and "opening up another channel to air it." NHL sources
said that the Isles offered to pay the costs associated with
airing the game, but were "rebuffed by FSNY" (Raissman &
McCarron, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/10). In N.Y., Richard
Sandomir reported "quiet rumblings" that ad sales for the
Isles were poor and that "sponsors would get even worse
value if the games were shifted" to FSNY2 (N.Y. TIMES,
10/12). There are four more instances this month where
Isles and Devils games conflict on FSNY (N.Y. TIMES, 10/10).
It marked the first time in at least 11 years that an
opening night Isles game was not televised. MSG has
previously offered an overflow channel when three or more
games were being played simultaneously. Isles President
David Seldin said the team was "surprised and disappointed"
by the move (Steve Zipay, NEWSDAY, 10/11).
