Steve55
Registered User
Well, first off, the building sucked since the day it opened.
And they didn't "draw flies" or "struggle" in the 80s. They "only" drew about 15,700 in the 1980s... which was their capacity.
Keep in mind that 15,000 to 16,000 was EXCELLENT for the time period. The Montreal Dynasty and the Islanders Dynasty had about the same attendance numbers.
But sports as entertainment evolved. Times changed. In the 1990s, almost everyone had built newer, bigger arenas with massive revenue streams (Allowing the attendance in BOS, MON, TOR, VAN, PHI to go to 18000 to 23000.
And the Islanders were locked into a terrible lease, that didn't give them any of the new revenue streams (they signed it when ads weren't allowed on the boards or ice, and a couple scoreboards told time and score).
Now they "don't draw" in Brooklyn because all 10000 good seats are full and the remaining 4000 seats in that building are garbage.
If some crazy rich guy could buy the Mets & Islanders and build an NHL arena like Edmonton's new place in the CitiField parking lot, the Islanders would be a top 10 revenue team. Period.
But when you don't control your arena, you're screwed.
If Belmont RFP fails, the Isles may look at the Citi Field Parking lot as their No.1 option, although litigation will likely drag it out over the years. The difference is that Belmont may be solved quickly but that can also mean swift rejection since Isles have to win the current bid, while Citi Field parking lot is not up for an RFP