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Not even the team's home arena wants the New York Islanders anymore. Bloomberg reports that Barclays Center in Brooklyn is planning to part ways with the 44-year-old NHL franchise after the 2018-19 season. Sooner, if the team can find a new venue in which to play.No one is commenting on the story, but the devil is in the details:Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who owns the building and the Nets, has since November been seeking an investor to take a stake in both. As of earlier this month, a financial projection shared with potential investors showed the Islanders won't contribute any revenue after the 2018-19 season -- a clear signal that the team won't play there, the people said.The reason, you probably figured already, is money. Prokhorov has concluded that the Barclays could make more money without having to be burdened with NHL hockey. As Bloomberg notes, the Isles are third-worst (and dropping) in home attendance in the NHL over the past two seasons after moving from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Barclays could make more money from concerts and such.Plus, the arena was not constructed with hockey in mind; the sight lines are said to be poor, as is the typical condition of the ice. And fans from the heart of Islander country (near Nassau) have complained that Brooklyn is hard to get to for games.There has been talk of building a new arena near Citi Field in Queens, and there's always the Coliseum—which Prokhorov also owns, and renovated for $260 million—as a potential landing spot. But how likely is that? Well, the Coliseum is at least a 75-minute drive from Manhattan, and it's said that the new Islanders ownership doesn't want to move the team back to that part of Long Island. Queens seems optimal. But there's nothing there, at least right now.NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says that the Islanders are committed to (greater) New York City. The New York area has shown over the past four decades that it can support three NHL teams, although the New Jersey Devils aren't exactly turning them back at the turnstiles, either. Islanders fans would miss them dearly, but would the NHL be better off with the Islanders relocated to another municipality entirely?[Bloomberg]
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