Welcome NY/Brooklyn Coney Islanders!
- Thread starter kranmars
- Start date
In my opinion, the big winner here is Wang. Long Islanders lose and Brooklyn loses.
Long Island loses out in a huge way from lost revenue. But this is the repercussions from their vote. They didn't want to fund a new arena/complex/convention center.
On the Brooklyn side, I have a hard time believing they'll be able to fill the Barclays Center for Islanders games. You'll get a lot of Long Islanders who work in Manhattan to get to games after work but I just think it'll be much less than the convenience of having it in LI. Plus what about weekend games? Would LIers commute into BK on a weekend to checkout the Isles?
Plus, BK never struck me as a hockey town so I really wonder if they'll get any local proximity fans there. It's great that they get another professional team there. But they'll really have to put together a championship quality team to get much support.
Long Island loses out in a huge way from lost revenue. But this is the repercussions from their vote. They didn't want to fund a new arena/complex/convention center.
On the Brooklyn side, I have a hard time believing they'll be able to fill the Barclays Center for Islanders games. You'll get a lot of Long Islanders who work in Manhattan to get to games after work but I just think it'll be much less than the convenience of having it in LI. Plus what about weekend games? Would LIers commute into BK on a weekend to checkout the Isles?
Plus, BK never struck me as a hockey town so I really wonder if they'll get any local proximity fans there. It's great that they get another professional team there. But they'll really have to put together a championship quality team to get much support.
Well I will go more often. I live in the city. And even if I didn't, LIRR and subways make it very convenient, unlike Nassau.
Wang may eventually sell. He will not get his Wang's world, that is obvious. So maybe the rumblings about ownership groups being formed to buy the Isles had some legs, and was attached to some arena resolution.
I can only hope.
As a long-time Islander fan, I love this move. It keeps the team in NY, and within commuting distance for most of the fanbase (don't forget, the Atlantic Terminal on the LIRR is right across the street from Barclays Center). Nassau county had its chance to keep the team and the voters emphatically said, no thanks. Brooklynites, I think, will embrace the Islanders, as it gives them a hockey team to identify with as "their" team, just like the Nets are now their team.
The challenge will be in converting Brooklynites from the Rangers to the Islanders. There's never really been competition for the Brooklyn Hockey fan hearts. But as previous posters indicated it's as easy to get to Barclays as to MSG and plenty of LIers still go to Rangers games so I would hope that the majority of Islanders fans would stick with them in Brooklyn and then the Brooklyn based converts would be gravy. Barclays is walking distance from a lot of the Slope which is a pretty affluent area so there could be a bunch of walking distance fans and conversely there's a lot of bars/restaurants for pre/post game, unlike the Coliseum. The Atlantic Ave yards are not just a LIRR terminus but also a major point where almost every subway in and out of Brooklyn stops. I think the idea has lots of legs.
Yea, I'm not much of a hockey fan, but from a business perspective this seems like a good move.
Like mainman said, hipsters will definitely gravitate towards hockey. I think they already do from what I can tell.
Plus, people don't realize this but Brooklyn on it's own would be the 3rd largest city in America. It's population dwarfs the size of other professional sports cities. 3 million people! The Islanders don't even have to make it into a hockey town, just get a small percentage to care about hockey and they're golden. Huge untapped market.
Like mainman said, hipsters will definitely gravitate towards hockey. I think they already do from what I can tell.
Plus, people don't realize this but Brooklyn on it's own would be the 3rd largest city in America. It's population dwarfs the size of other professional sports cities. 3 million people! The Islanders don't even have to make it into a hockey town, just get a small percentage to care about hockey and they're golden. Huge untapped market.
LI (or what folks commonly accept as LI - Nassau and Suffolk, even though Queens and Brooklyn are part of the Island too) has more people than Brooklyn. I know guys who commute to NYC from Southhold to see the Rangers on partial season ticket packages. Don't discount tried and true LI Islander fans doing the same.
DieHard Johnny
Member
How does brooklyn lose? More games played = more work days=more wages=more taxes
Brooklyn Wins bigtime the Russians love hockey & will surely go to see pro hockey its their favorite sport
Coney ilsland, sheepshead, & brighton is loaded with ruskies that love hockey
Wang was smart to go to Barclays he gets brand new arena with added fanbase plus NY keeps a pro team in state.
All wang has to do now is get better players to rebuild rivarly w Rangers
DieHard Johnny
Member
How does brooklyn lose? More games played = more work days=more wages=more taxes
Brooklyn Wins bigtime the Russians love hockey & will surely go to see pro hockey its their favorite sport
Coney ilsland, sheepshead, & brighton is loaded with ruskies that love hockey
My russian girlfriend loves hockey wears her Rangers jersey alot! youll see alot of russian models -strippers attending games looking to hook a hockey player husband bigtime :woohoo:
Wang was smart to go to Barclays he gets brand new arena with added fanbase plus NY keeps a pro team in state.
All wang has to do now is get better players to rebuild rivarly w Rangers
upstate redman
Member
I will weight in since I am a huge hockey fan, and huge Islanders fan. I grew up on LI playing hockey and going to many games. I have even played at the Coliseum. I am mixed about this, on the one hand, I think it brings credibility to the organization, and a brand new arena that is not in KC or Canada. On the other hand, there is tradition on Long Island, and it was great as a native Long Islander have a team in the traditional suburbs of Long Island. I currently live in Manhattan, so for me, Brooklyn is easier than Uniondale, although, as I am currently in my last year of law school, and have no idea where I will end up, I might not be in NYC anyway.
I think for fans in Nassau, BK is easy to get to, in some ways, easier than NVMC since their is LIRR service. Parking at NVMC was expensive, but I guess so is multiple train tickets. Many people from LI commute into NYC for the Rangers, and I did it all my life for the Johnies, so I am sure people will do it for the Islanders. The Islanders fan base is underrated. The team and ownership has decimated it, but overall, Islanders fans are true fans, and very loyal. Mostly everyone I have spoke to is happy about the move and excited to venture to Barclay's.
I think for fans in Nassau, BK is easy to get to, in some ways, easier than NVMC since their is LIRR service. Parking at NVMC was expensive, but I guess so is multiple train tickets. Many people from LI commute into NYC for the Rangers, and I did it all my life for the Johnies, so I am sure people will do it for the Islanders. The Islanders fan base is underrated. The team and ownership has decimated it, but overall, Islanders fans are true fans, and very loyal. Mostly everyone I have spoke to is happy about the move and excited to venture to Barclay's.
You're optimistic on them being able to fill seats in the arena. I'm not. This team couldn't sell out Nassau Coliseum with a very dedicated fan base.
And be it as it may, Brooklyn is a hard commute within Brooklyn itself. Try getting from some of those areas and back when the public transportation is so spread out within BK.
I think Wang will sell the team. Your last sentence is what has escaped them for what seems like decades.
DieHard Johnny
Member
Wang was losing money bigtime with a real bad lease" the worst in sports" then was screwed big by nassau county
when they voted ag. his new arena.
I commend him moving to brooklyn bec. the colesium is a dump that was in bad shape & 30 yrs behind the times.
I love that he kept them in NY instead of moving to nj or kc.
Woody Johnson should have brought that nassau col & built the Jets a dome stadium there with the islanders but betrayed us Jets fans with nj again. Hes cursed w sharing a new giants std. who just won another super bowl !
And be it as it may, Brooklyn is a hard commute within Brooklyn itself. Try getting from some of those areas and back when the public transportation is so spread out within BK.
Yes, if you don't live on the D,N,B, Q,R,2,3,4, or 5 lines you'll have to change trains if you want to come right up outside the arena, though if you're willing to take a short walk you could take the A, C or G.
One other thing I learned today, Apparently Barclays will seat 1750 less fans for hockey than Nassau Coliseum so they have to sell less seats to a bigger audience.
http://deadspin.com/5954592/the-islanders-are-leaving-their-crappy-arena-for-a-crappy-hockey-arena