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With the Nets/Barclays Center management taking over Islanders business operations --including ticket sales and marketing-- next month, Brett Yormark et al have launched a campaign to assure Isles fans that they will be "happy", with Yormark interacting with fans on Twitter and Tuesday releasing official images of what the arena will look like for hockey.
The concern began when NetsDaily transcribed a Russian TV interview with Yormark on June 7 in which he said he would like to add black-and-white, "the colors of Brooklyn," to the Islanders' palette. He also told RT that beyond catering to the Islanders' "hard core fans," management will "also need to understand what the new fan base for the islanders would like to see in Brooklyn." That evoked some concern and more than a little outrage from said "hard core fans," leading to a twitter promise from Yormark that "Islanders fans will be happy."
@mselss @IslesFan_Ben @JKLUBER @islandermania I promise you we will do the right thing. Islanders fans will be happy. I am listening.
— Brett Yormark (@brettyormark) June 8, 2013
That didn't satisfy everyone and a couple of days later, NetsDaily's sister site, Lighthouse Hockey, offered a tongue-in-cheek suggestion of how Yormark's plan could ultimately play out ... black-and-white television broadcasts of Islander games.
Then, on Tuesday, Barclays Center released an instagram montage of the Barclays Center with its hockey pad ... and a reminder to buy tickets for Brooklyn's first NHL game, an exhibition match between the Isles and Devils on September 21.
Here's a glimpse at #Brooklyn hockey! See it finished at the preseason faceoff b/w @NYIslanders & @NHLDevils on 9/21: http://t.co/Z1V8TK3VoY
— Barclays Center (@barclayscenter) June 18, 2013
The reviews, at least on Instagram, were universally negative.As CBS Sports described it, "not an ideal layout" with an off-center scoreboard and 14,500 seats, the smallest capacity in the NHL. Looks like the new business arrangement will need to do some tweaking before the Islanders move in, which could be as early as a year from this fall.
- A Good, Official Look at the Barclays’ Hockey Setup - Islander Point Blank
- PHOTO: Barclays Center hockey rink is not an ideal layout - Brian Stubits - CBS Sports
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Brooklyn, we have a problem: initial Islanders fan reaction to Barclays Center layout is not pretty - John Brennan - The Record