This afternoon, the Islanders introduced new minority owners Jonathan Ledecky and Scott Malkin to the media.
During the course of the press conference, the topic of Barclays Center seating came up. In response, owner Charles B. Wang said that it is being looked at and that they added 200-300 seats for the teams most recent game a couple weeks ago which Wang thought had a great view of the ice. The seats were added at ice level behind the net on the "bad" side of the ice.
This is something that definitely should be looked at. Although, I am not sure how much can be done at this stage. Wang said during the press conference that there were over 15,000 seats in the arena which are good for hockey which is incorrect. The arena can seat over 15,000 for hockey but the actual amount of seats for hockey that can be considered not bad is closer to 14,000-14,500. The MTS Centre in Winnipeg is the smallest capacity arena in the NHL holding a maximum of 15,004 people.
I think a rink next to Citi Field would have been the best compromise for the Islanders. It could have been a hockey friendly arena, and more fans from Nassau and Suffolk would visit. But NYC said no to another 500 M arena on taxpayers' dime.
ReplyDeleteEven though Brooklyn move had to be done, I think the fan base will go through a major change in the next decade.