Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which manages Barclays Center, has "concluded it’s no longer worth it to host" the Islanders, according to Scott Soshnick of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Sources said that the arena would "make more money" without the team. Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who also owns the building, has "since November been seeking an investor to take a stake in both." The sources said that a financial projection shared with potential investors earlier this month "showed the Islanders won’t contribute any revenue" after the '18-19 season -- a "clear signal that the team won’t play there." The team’s tenure in Brooklyn, which began last season, "has been rocky from the start." Average attendance has "fallen to 12,828, third-worst in the NHL." Fans have "complained about poor sight lines, and players say the ice is sub-par." The agreement between the Islanders and Barclays Center is "unusual, in that the arena pays the team" an average of $53.5M 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 '18-19 season (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 1/30). Newsday's Arthur Staple on Twitter reported it "doesn't appear that there's any plan" for BS&E to "send the #Isles packing." Staple: "Will they talk? Sure. But far from decided." Staple: "Talking to people I heard this phrase a lot: 'Non-story'" (TWITTER.com, 1/30).
IS NASSAU AN OPTION? Nassau County Exec Edward Mangano said that he has met with Islanders co-Owner Jon Ledecky to "discuss the team's possible return to its former home at Nassau Coliseum." On Long Island, Brodsky & Baumbach cite sources as saying that BS&E "would 'cooperate' if the team wanted to opt out of its 25-year license agreement with the arena." BS&E is also spending $130M to "renovate the Coliseum," which following construction will "have capacity for 13,000 fans for hockey games, 13,500 for basketball games and more than 14,500 for concerts." Sources said that the Coliseum can be "retrofitted at any time to add nearly 2,000 more seats for sports" (NEWSDAY, 1/31).
SAME OLD STORY: In N.Y., Peter Botte writes the Islanders have "no clearer a future locally than they did while languishing at outmoded Nassau Coliseum for the previous few decades" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/31). Also in N.Y., Larry Brooks asks, "For how long will this latest game of musical chairs last before the Islanders are left without one and the song playing is, 'Aloutte,' performed in French by a chorus from Quebec City?" There have been "no threats of moving out of the area" and "no hands out." But if the Islanders are "able to stake claim to land of their own," it would seem as if someone else would "have to chip in at least some money to construct what would become a third single-team arena within a 35-mile diameter." Brooks: "Does anyone expect the public to contribute so much as a nickel for the Islanders to relocate to Belmont Park or the Citi Field parking lot? Good luck to Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo if that’s the plan" (N.Y. POST, 1/31).
