The New York Islanders has seen ticket demand skyrocket this month for the NHL franchise’s inaugural season at the under-construction UBS Arena at Belmont Park.
Following a record week of season ticket sales, the team only has 20 per cent of season tickets remaining at the 19,000-seat venue, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2021-22 NHL season.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the team was splitting home games between Barclays Center in Brooklyn and Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island.
The spike in sales could be down to the team’s first round Stanley Cup Playoffs win and by last month’s naming rights announcement worth a reported $275m (£216m/€237m) with the Swiss financial services company UBS.
Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky said: “As the team heads into the second round of the playoffs, the unprecedented demand for season tickets adds a new level of excitement about the team. The support from our loyal Islanders fans across the metro NY region has been tremendous.”
In addition, the franchise said it anticipates selling out of premium inventory by early next year after shifting more than one-third of its suite passes in the last two weeks.
Tim Leiweke, chief executive of Oak View Group, a partner in UBS Arena at Belmont Park, said: “We are thrilled to see this strong response to UBS Arena at Belmont Park, which will be the state of the art sports and music venue in the market.”
The Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoff semi final, with Game 2 to take place tomorrow (Wednesday).
The 2020–21 NHL season has been delayed until at least December 1, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of the normal October-to-April period.
Images: UBS
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