Talk of competition between MSG and Barclays Center has always been dismissed diplomatically by the two sides. MSG's mantra is, "The Garden is the Garden," while Barclays officials say there's plenty of room in the region for both. Not anymore.
In an interview on CNBC Wednesday about his plans for Nassau Coliseum, Bruce Ratner spoke about how he was surprised at the success the Nets and Barclays Center had in Brooklyn this year.
Nassau Coliseum on Thursday unveiled four plans for the renovation of the 41-year-old Nassau Coliseum and one of them came from the team that built Barclays Center. The proposal brought Bruce Ratner, Brett Yormark and Jay-Z to Long Island.
The Islanders are in the playoffs this season for the first time in six years (sound familiar?). They're moving to Brooklyn (sound familiar?) And Brett Yormark will be handling their marketing! (really familiar!) There will be more.
The NBA's David Stern and the NHL's Gary Bettman both gave rave reviews to Brooklyn as one reviewed the Nets first season and the other pushed for the Islanders to move a year earlier than anticipated.
Things keep getting better and better for Brett Yormark and Bruce Ratner. The Nets are in the playoffs and the Islanders are looking more and more like they will arrive in Brooklyn a year earlier than anticipated ... and as a playoff team.
Barclays Center announced Tuesday that the Islanders and the Devils will play a long-delayed preseason game next September 21 in Brooklyn. More important, there's word that the team may arrive in Brooklyn in 2014, a year earlier than planned.
Ever since the Islanders' 25-year lease with Barclays Center was announced in October, there have been rumors the team would love to make a move earlier and now that prospect has some traction. The Isles and Nassau County are in a dispute over money.
The Nets moved 13 miles east from East Rutherford to Brooklyn. The Islanders will move 22 miles west from Uniondale to Brooklyn. It's about money and the fan base. As Net fans have learned, new revenue can translate into more investment in talent.
With two pro sports teams set to represent Brooklyn, the Nets in a week, the Islanders in no more than three years, local papers and websites are covering the team enthusiastically, with news reports and sports reports alike.
They will still be the New York, not Brooklyn, Islanders when the move to Barclays Center, but have no doubt, this move is significant. Among other things, it means a new source of revenue for Nets ownership, ensuring a steady stream of profits.
The Nets and Islanders who shared Nassau Coliseum and an owner in the 1970's will again share an arena, starting in 2015-16. Bruce Ratner and Charles Wang, the Islanders owner, announced the deal Wednesday at Barclays Center.
Architecture critics were either going to love or hate Barclays Center. It's called the shock of the new and if anything, the Nets arena is "new." The latest review compares it to a frog but compares the new Garden to a disaster. So there's that.
From this moment on, there will be no shortage of drama. The arena opened on Friday. On Monday, night, the season ticket-holders will get their first view and if others want a peek inside, the...
When Charles Wang toured Barclays Center last week, it wasn't just a courtesy call. With the ice floor down, the Islanders owner was getting a look at what could await him if he decides to move his team 25 miles east from Nassau Coliseum.
The construction schedule for Barclays Center always had the oculus, the opening to the sky above the entrance plaza, and the ice rink among the last items on the contractors list. And this weekend, both were up and running.
Without any real promotion, and despite the strong possibility the game will be canceled because of labor trouble, Barclays Center has sold 7,000 tickets or half the arena capacity for the Islanders-Devils exhibition game on Oct. 2.
In the past, Bruce Ratner has been circumspect about whether he and the rest of ownership want the Islanders to join the Nets at Barclays Center. Not anymore.
B.D. Gallof who covers hockey for WFAN tweets Friday that the Islanders will either move to Brooklyn or somewhere far beyond the New York area.
Chris Botta, NHL writer for Sports Business Journal and once an Isles exec, reports that Brett Yormark is telling prospective sponsors that there is "better than 50%" chance that the Isles will move into Barclays Center once their lease at Nassau Coliseum expires in 2015.
The sightlines are awful for hockey. A big chunk of Barclays will be empty when the Islanders and Devils play a preseason game on October 2, labor problems permitting. You can't see one of the goals from seats at one end of arena. But conditions are so bad at the Islanders current home, the Nassau Coliseum, that the NHL is seriously considering Brooklyn.
The president of the Kontinental Hockey League, Russia's hockey league, announced Tuesday that his teams will play two regular season games in January at Barclays Center. The date and the teams have yet to be determined, but Alexander Medvedev said they will be top teams.
Earlier this month, Brett Yormark quietly gathered a group of potential sponsors at Barclays Center, gave them a tour of the site and introduced them to David Stern. And they heard a lot of news, including that the billion dollar arena could host the All-Star Game in 2015.
On a day when the Barclays Center Twitter feed pointed fans to the outline of a hockey pad on the arena floor, the commissioner of the NHL appeared to throw cold water on the idea of moving the Islanders to Brooklyn. The reason he cited was not the arena's limited capacity for hockey, but its location.
Islanders owner Charles Wang declined comment Sunday on whether Bruce Ratner or Mikhail Prokhorov had approached him about moving his hockey team to Barclays Center but admitted that he had visited the arena "recently" and found it "beautiful, a beautiful facility," and one he is "a little jealous of."
Thursday night, Bruce Ratner made a surprise appearance at the Nassau Coliseum to watch the Islanders and as if by Magic was interviewed by MSG's Howie Rose about how the Isles need to stay in New York. Then, Friday, Barclays Center announced that it had reached a wide-ranging deal with LIU that basically makes the Brooklyn arena the Blackbirds' home arena
