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Nets GM makes pitch for NYI to play at Barclays Center
You're presupposing that the Islanders would not see concession revenues. That may end up being true (and generally is for most non-primary tenants in most arenas), but it all depends on what's agreed upon in the lease.
As for cutting out the most profitable seats, I would imagine that the lost revenue from the seats that don't exist or can't be sold could be offset by slightly higher prices elsewhere in the arena - New York is one of the few markets that can get away with to charge more for less
OK, let's presuppose he sees every dime of revenue on those 41 nights (tickets, concessions, suites, etc). Probably won't happen and I doubt Ratner let's them play there for free out the goodness of his heart, but just for argument sake. I'm not sure this is better than his current situation where he controls and collects the revenue for every event booked at the Coliseum. The location is better and perhaps the corporate support would see an uptick (although you're removing a lot of what are typically corporate seats in city venues and also, this is Brooklyn, not midtown Manhattan), but is that going to offset the loss of the other revenue streams?
Wang's position for the past decade is that he loses money and therefore can't put it back into the team. This was the rationale behind the entire Lighthouse project/mini-city. Is simply relocating to Brooklyn going to change that? The only way I see Brooklyn being remotely workable is if Ratner buys the team. However to date, Ratner hasn't expressed any interest in doing so and Wang hasn't given any inclination that he's willing to sell.
Again, unless Wang has somehow got Ratner interested in buying, I don't see how being a tenant is going to be a better situation for the team. Still just feels like he's trying to scare Nassau into bending over.
You're presupposing that the Islanders would not see concession revenues. That may end up being true (and generally is for most non-primary tenants in most arenas), but it all depends on what's agreed upon in the lease.
As for cutting out the most profitable seats, I would imagine that the lost revenue from the seats that don't exist or can't be sold could be offset by slightly higher prices elsewhere in the arena - New York is one of the few markets that can get away with to charge more for less
The Islanders would have slightly less seats than the Winnipeg Jets, who also have the entire MTS Centre concessions revenue available. The Islanders will NOT get all the Barclays' concessions revenue for all events. If they do, it'll kill the Nets financially. Even if they did, they would still have to charge at least approximately the same ticket prices as the Jets (average $82/seat). This may have been possible in their glory days, but not today. Imagine Los Angeles NBA with TWO "Clippers" teams. The Islanders are one of the two NHL Clippers.
The only way I see the Islanders working is if Ratner buys them, and they become part of a package like MLSE in Toronto. Maybe they could do the reverse of what MLSE does, i.e. make an Islanders season ticket mandatory for new purchasers of Nets seasons tickets.
Saying that the Islanders are cutting out 1/3 of the premium seats is not true. First of all just look at the layout of the building. All club seats and suites are positioned at either the center or other end of the building. The only seats lost would be "regular" seats.
Secondly, as long as the building is going to have a capacity of 15,000, if you wanted to have 15,000 seats in a symmetrical hockey layout, you would have to reduce the amount of seats at the center, and the good end of the horseshoe, so it really winds up evening out. The only thing youre "losing" is aesthetics of the building.
Finally, while revenues are lower in a tenant setup, so are expenditures. Yes, they dont get revenue from other building events, but they also will be playing in a new facility with 0 arena debt, as well as not having to pay to run or maintain the building. None of that, especially the arena debt, which for Barclays runs well over a billion dollars, is cheap.
That sounds a bit high. Some arenas are built for that much alone. Does that figure include other buildings also downscaled as part of the larger project?
NHL commissioner: Brooklyn may not be viable destination for Islanders, hard for fans to reach
NEW YORK -- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says Brooklyn may not be a viable potential destination for the New York Islanders because it's hard to reach for the team's fan base in Long Island and Queens.
Bettman reiterated Friday that the league ideally wanted the club to remain in Nassau County. The Islanders plan to leave outdated Nassau Coliseum after their lease expires in 2015.
Nassau voters rejected a $400 million referendum last year for a new arena.
Bettman said at an Associated Press Sports Editors meeting that the league was helping the Islanders explore their options "in the metropolitan area" and that moving the team to outside New York was not currently being considered.
was it ever officially stated that the horseshoe layout was permanent and not just for that one exhibition game?
No that was never made official. as a matter of fact, bruce ratner came out just the other day and flat out told us all in an interview that some adjustments would need to be made to make the arena alot less horseshoe layout like but these are adjustments that won't be a problem to make.
was it ever officially stated that the horseshoe layout was permanent and not just for that one exhibition game?
Quote:
Originally Posted by potvins4cups
No that was never made official. as a matter of fact, bruce ratner came out just the other day and flat out told us all in an interview that some adjustments would need to be made to make the arena alot less horseshoe layout like but these are adjustments that won't be a problem to make.
Perhaps they've already determined their move elsewhere. Markham?
Amazingly. there are many people on here who give off the impression that they would prefer the team to move to markham rather than brooklyn or queens.
Why would Bettman even have a say if the Isles moved to Brooklyn? And I did not know he had extensive knowledge of the Isle fan demographic, that they all lived in Nassau County.....
I do not think Bettman or the NHL could stop Wang if he did move the team to Brooklyn. Maybe Wang plans on changing the name to the New York (or Brooklyn) Americans.....
You're right, he didn't. Then again, he didn't exactly elaborate on how they would improve the seating either.
No, but he has met with the NHL, and apparently the league has no issues with whatever is planned given Prokhorov's recent comments regarding an agreement with the league. Bettman's latest comments don't raise the building as a problem -- only that it would be hard for some current fans to get to. True, but the trip is shorter than the one to Quebec, Markham, or anyplace else out of the area. It's not plan A, or even Plan B, but, as Bettman said, on some level, it is an option.
Quote:
There’s been talk of playing hockey here. Are you courting the Islanders to move over here?
Our arena, we reached agreement with the professional hockey league. Now we can play ice hockey here. But, for the time being, we don’t have a practical plan with any other teams for the time being. But we’ll see in the future.
You're right, he didn't. Then again, he didn't exactly elaborate on how they would improve the seating either.
Question for you. if your location is legitimately miami, fl why are you so against the team moving to brooklyn? do you not realize that brooklyn is our only real remaining option to stay in new york?
That horseshoe set up seems bush league if it were a permanent solution.
Come october 2nd we will see how bush league it really is. if the islanders move there and the 106 arena suites get sold out and the team is profitable, no one will care if it looks bush league or not.
Question for you. if your location is legitimately miami, fl why are you so against the team moving to brooklyn? do you not realize that brooklyn is our only real remaining option to stay in new york?
Simple, don't want a half-baked, half-assed 'solution'. Time for this organization to raise the ****ing bar in all aspects.
Nothing against the Brooklyn location, lots of positives to it (mass transit, media exposure, potential corp support, etc), but there are also a lot of cons (basketball only arena, tenant aspect, etc).
And no, Brooklyn is not the only real remaining option. It's not even being used that well as leverage.
Simple, don't want a half-baked, half-assed 'solution'. Time for this organization to raise the ****ing bar in all aspects.
Nothing against the Brooklyn location, lots of positives to it (mass transit, media exposure, potential corp support, etc), but there are also a lot of cons (basketball only arena, tenant aspect, etc).
And no, Brooklyn is not the only real remaining option. It's not even being used that well as leverage.
Come october 2nd we will see how bush league it really is. if the islanders move there and the 106 arena suites get sold out and the team is profitable, no one will care if it looks bush league or not.
I would care as a fan. I would also care if I were the NHL.
You want the league to look major league.
The way that setup looks, you will have no fans sitting close to the glass from the one blueline to the net. Thats ridiculous. Hopefully they figure out something more logical to keep the team in the area.
Why would Bettman even have a say if the Isles moved to Brooklyn? And I did not know he had extensive knowledge of the Isle fan demographic, that they all lived in Nassau County.....
I do not think Bettman or the NHL could stop Wang if he did move the team to Brooklyn. Maybe Wang plans on changing the name to the New York (or Brooklyn) Americans.....
Ha, I'm sure it's impossible because of some copyright reasons or whatever, but if they move to Brooklyn they should rename the team to the Brooklyn Brawlers.
