An NHL spokesperson confirmed that Nets CEO Brett Yormark and Barclays Center developer Bruce Ratner "met with NHL officials at the league office in Manhattan recently." On Long Island, Katie Strang noted the Brooklyn arena "arose as an attractive option" for the Islanders after Nassau Coliseum voters rejected a financing plan to build a new Nassau Coliseum. An NHL source defined the meeting as "very general and conceptual in nature." Earlier this month, Yormark indicated that Barclays Center "was a viable option for the team" (NEWSDAY.com, 8/19).
SECOND TIME'S THE CHARM: On Long Island, Neil Best reports the second season at New Meadowlands Stadium began last night "with changes" after the facility opened in '10 "to mixed reviews from football fans." Most prominent among the changes "is a nearly 50 percent rise in the number of men's room urinals, primarily on the upper 300 level, where long halftime lines were a persistent problem" last season. Another complaint had been "backups on escalators that made it difficult to exit quickly," and NMS CEO Mark Lamping said that "permanent signage will direct fans to underutilized stairwells, which should help." Fans also "will be permitted to walk around the north end of the stadium, which was closed to pedestrians last season to keep them away from the service entrance" (NEWSDAY, 8/22).
NO OLYMPIC MOVEMENT: The BBC's David Bond reports an "independent investigation has upheld the decision to award" the London Olympic Stadium to English soccer club West Ham following the '12 Games. The inquiry "came after allegations that a director of the Olympic Park Legacy Company was paid by West Ham during the contest" with EPL club Tottenham Hotspur. But forensic accountants from Moore Stephens "decided that was not relevant to West Ham being named tenants." Still, Tottenham officials "want a judicial review and, despite having their first request rejected, are due to present evidence again at an oral hearing at the High Court on Wednesday" (BBC.co.uk, 8/22).
WALK DOWN THE ROAD: New Queens Park Rangers Owner Tony Fernandes "has admitted that the club's long-term future lies away from their cramped Loftus Road stadium, which has the smallest capacity (18,682) of any" EPL facility. QPR has played at Loftus Road for nearly 95 years, but Fernandes said, "It's early days but of course it would be great to get a bigger stadium and that's certainly in my mind" (London INDEPENDENT, 8/22).
