New York Islanders: Barclays Center Brett Yormark Three Years Too Late

Three years ago the New York Islanders made the move from their traditional home in Nassau into a brand new facility in Brooklyn. And now the Barclays CEO admits the transition wasn’t a success.

When the New York Islanders announced that they’d be moving from the Nassau Coliseum, their home for the last 42 years, and head to Brooklyn the fanbase wasn’t pleased. They had to roll with it, but they weren’t pleased.

After former majority owner Charles Wang’s Lighthouse Project was rejected by the county the move was inevitable. At least they were staying in New York and even technically on Long Island.

But technicalities won’t bring in fans. Especially when you make no overtures to said fans. The switch from suburban Long Island to urban and heavily gentrified Brooklyn was going to be a shock.

No longer could fans drive and even tailgate before games. They were going to have to commute by train. And as most of you can attest the LIRR isn’t the most reliable public transportation system.

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Economically Doesn’t Work

So it should have been no surprise that the New York Islanders move to Brooklyn wasn’t going to be smooth. We all saw it coming, but it seems that Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment CEO Brett Yormark was surprised. Speaking with the Sports Business Journal, Yormark had the following to say:

"On the Islanders’ business struggles at Barclays Center: The economics just don’t work. It’s a Long Island team trying to create a fan base in Brooklyn, and to date it has been met with very modest success and not at the numbers we have hoped."

We all knew the transition was going to be hard. And that’s before you add the obstructed views of the playing surface, having no signs that the Islanders even play there, and just the general atmosphere that the Isles aren’t welcomed here.

The economics don’t work because Barclays has been poor in its execution of welcoming a lost and traveling fanbase through its doors.

Remember that in the deal that brought the New York Islanders to the Barclays Center, Barclays took over the Islanders business operations. Operations like marketing.

The Islanders were responsible for icing a competitive team on the ice. And for a season and a half of that, they delivered. In 2015-16 they had their second 100 point season. For the second half of last season, they went 24-12-4 to miss the playoffs by a single point.

Next: Three Better Roster Builds At Forward

All this and it turns out the Isles will play at the Barclays Center next season according to Newsday’s Jim Baumbach. So Yormark will get another year to figure it out before the Isles leave for Belmont.