Menu
Facilities

Ratner Discusses Nassau Coliseum Plans, Prospects Of Islanders Leaving Before '15

Forest City Ratner Chair & CEO Bruce Ratner on Friday said that he will "remake Nassau Coliseum and the surrounding 77 acres of blacktop into a sprawling sports and entertainment complex that will become a destination for county residents for generations to come," according to Robert Brodsky of NEWSDAY. Ratner said, "This will become one of the greatest arenas in the world." Ratner added that he "hopes to relocate" the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islanders' AHL affiliate, to Nassau Coliseum "after the building is renovated." The move "would require an agreement" with Islanders and Sound Tigers Owner Charles Wang. The Islanders are scheduled to move from the Coliseum to Barclays Center in '15. The Sound Tigers currently have a contract to play in Bridgeport, Conn. The team said on Friday in a statement, "The Sound Tigers love being in Bridgeport and absolutely plan on spending at least the next seven AHL seasons here." Ratner "shot down speculation that the Islanders would leave the Coliseum early." He said that it is "'highly likely' the team will remain for two more years." Ratner "plans to have professional lacrosse, boxing and Arena Football League games at the scaled-down, 13,000-seat Coliseum." He is "negotiating with the Atlantic 10, Big 10 and Pac 12 college basketball divisions to hold tournaments" (NEWSDAY, 8/17).

SPECTACULAR BID: On Long Island, Randi Marshall wrote under the header, "How Forest City Ratner Won The Coliseum Contract," noting the company "won the bid with a final lease that gives the county 8 percent of all gross revenue." County officials said that "in the end, it was the financial impact on the county that became the deciding factor." Officials also said that they "tried to focus" finalists Forest City Ratner and Madison Square Garden Co. "in the final weeks on limiting the county's expenses, particularly for utilities and maintenance, taking ownership and control of the arena as early as possible, and giving the county revenue even before a newly renovated arena opened." John Gowell, an attorney for Nassau County, "encouraged both finalists to consider committing to additional revenue payments before and during construction." Gowell said that Ratner "agreed, while MSG ultimately did not." Gowell: "Part of that is strategic, since we wanted to have a developer that's willing to put skin in the game on Day 1, even when it's going to cost money. The Forest City team was much more aggressive." Businessman Bert Brodsky, who was involved in some of the later discussions about the project, said that the "difference between the two finalists came down to 'flexibility.'" Brodsky: "Barclays wanted this project, even to the point where as an example, [Nets and Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark] said, 'I'll move to Long Island.' They bent over backwards to get it" (NEWSDAY, 8/18).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
: FORBES.com's Tom Van Riper wondered with the Nassau Coliseum renovations planned, "Why do the Islanders need to move at all? Couldn’t the proposal be expanded just a bit to meet NHL standards?" With the Islanders "now showing strong signs of improvement, a rebirth in Nassau County would seem to carry the largest potential upside" (FORBES.com, 8/16).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2013/08/19/Facilities/Ratner-Nassau.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2013/08/19/Facilities/Ratner-Nassau.aspx

CLOSE