NY Islanders reveal eye-opening season-ticket renewal rate as fan engagement surges

The New York Islanders aren’t just trying to sell more tickets.

They’re trying to build a bigger, younger and more engaged fanbase and according to Islanders President of Business Operations Kelly Cheeseman, there are signs that strategy is working.

In a Q&A with former Islanders VP of Communications Chris Botta in Tuesday’s edition of Isles Fix, Cheeseman revealed perhaps the organization’s most significant business metric: 96% of its season-ticket base renewed from last season to this season.

Read the entire Q&A with Kelly Cheeseman HERE

“The biggest metric I can share with you is that we had 96% renewal with our season ticket base from last year to this season,” Cheeseman told Botta. “We also have a 30 percent increase in the female audience year-over-year at the NHL and for the Islanders.”

That growth comes as the Islanders continue to expand their marketing, content and in-arena presentation while also experimenting with ticket promotions designed to put more people in UBS Arena during traditionally slower stretches.

After Ilya Sorokin’s shutout in the home opener, the Islanders quickly rolled out discounted tickets for the remainder of the October home schedule. Cheeseman acknowledged that October has historically been a challenging month for attendance, with fans balancing baseball, football, the start of basketball season and other fall activities.

“Tickets are always hot for the home opener, hot on some weekends, but a little bit slower when people are into their fall scheduling,” Cheeseman said. “So it often takes a bit of a promotion to get people's attention and give them a reason, and this is a reason.”

Cheeseman said the shutout promotions generally move “a few hundred tickets” and that the Islanders are expecting as many as three sellouts this month. He also noted that the organization has isolated certain sections for discounts in an effort to protect season-ticket members.

The Islanders also supplied Botta with data showing significant digital growth during the 2025-26 season compared with the previous year. Impressions increased 2.85 times, engagements rose 2.5 times, app downloads climbed 54% and web users increased 42%. On the corporate side, Cheeseman said the organization expects to be up more than 10% across the board this year.

But the larger vision extends beyond this season.

“I'm thinking about the next five years,” Cheeseman said. “We've got to get younger with our next generation of fans as quickly as possible while making sure that we support our core fan base and take them with us.”

That strategy includes expanded player access, behind-the-scenes content, stronger social media, merchandise and the opportunity to market a younger core that includes Matthew Schaefer, Victor Eklund and Cole Eiserman.

For Cheeseman, the challenge now is turning that engagement into sustained attendance.

“The Islanders fan heartbeat is very healthy,” he said. “And now we've got to continue to take the heartbeat into the arena.”

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