Islanders Are Said to Return to Nassau Coliseum for 12 Games

(Bloomberg) -- The New York Islanders will play 12 home games next season at the renovated Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, rekindling ties with Long Island fans ahead of a move back from Brooklyn, according to people familiar with the matter.

The remaining 29 matchups will be played at the Islanders’ home of the past three years, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Both venues are owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment.

If the Coliseum games are successful, the team could split time evenly between Barclays and Nassau in the following seasons until construction is completed on the Islanders’ new home in Elmont, New York, the people said. An announcement with Governor Andrew Cuomo is likely to be made on Monday, they said.

Islanders owner Jonathan Ledecky didn’t immediately return a text seeking comment on the deal. Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the governor declined to comment.

The Islanders won the rights last month to build a new arena at Belmont Park, a location that will bring the franchise closer to its traditional Long Island fan base. That move, expected in 2021 at the earliest, will mark the end of an unsuccessful stint in Brooklyn, marred by low attendance, hundreds of obstructed view seats and an unfavorable lease.

The Coliseum was the Islanders’ home from 1972 through 2015. The franchise won four Stanley Cup titles in a row from 1980 to 1983, a dynasty that has become a distant memory for many fans. The team has won just one playoff series since 1993.

Barclays became the Islanders’ home in the 2015-16 season. The franchise, owned by Ledecky and Scott Malkin, have the league’s worst attendance, averaging about 12,059 fans a game this season.

The National Hockey League had been against the Islanders playing games at the Coliseum, with a seating capacity of less than 14,000, but Commissioner Gary Bettman recently said he would re-evaluate the league’s position. Bettman can nix the plan to split time between Brooklyn and Nassau if he’s unhappy with the conditions of the Coliseum.

Prokhorov, who bought the NBA’s Nets in 2010, purchased the Coliseum in 2015. The building reopened last March after a $165 million renovation.

To contact the reporters on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net, Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Crayton Harrison, Rob Golum

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