While the New York Islanders are making a second half push for the playoffs, it seems their future is being brought up. It was reported several weeks ago that the New York Islanders were set to sit down with the owners of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York to discuss the future for the Islanders. It has been reported by several media outlets over the last few months that the owners of the Barclays Center wish to opt-out of their contract with the Islanders. They feel they could make more money by having other events being held at the Barclays like concerts and such.
[Jon]
So, with that being said, the question was brought up as to where the future home of the Islanders will be? Well, for a while it seemed that the two places that had expressed interest in the Islanders was their former home, the new Nassau Coliseum, and the XL Center in Hartford. It seems now that there might be a new spot for the Islanders and it has the backing of a lot of people. According to an article from Bloomberg.com, there is now a supergroup of New York sports executives , which includes James Dolan and Fred Wilpon, are lining up to invest in a new arena for the Islanders in Queens, New York.
This proposed new arena is a joint agreement by the New York Islanders, Oak View Group, and Sterling Project Development. What should be noted is that James Dolan is an investor of Oak View Group and Fred Wilpon has control over the Sterling Project Development. When the talks first started to come up of the Islanders leaving the Barclays Center back in July, they spoke with the New York Mets about having an arena adjacent to Citi Field. However, now it seems that both parties are now looking at Belmont site in Elmont, New York as the new site for the Islanders.
This would make a ton of sense for the New York Islanders to do as they would be right in the middle of New York City and Long Island, so they won’t lose their fan base at all. Also it is very easy to get to this area by car or train, which was an issue for the Islanders when they were in Brooklyn. Even New York governor Andrew Cuomo is on board with the idea. It should be noted that NYCFC, the soccer team that plays in Yankee Stadium had also expressed interest in playing at that site.