I want to see another Stanley Cup parade on Long Island. I want to drive past the Nassau Coliseum every day on my way to work, look at it with pride and say “That’s where my team plays.” I want to continue going to games, cheering for my team, wearing the jersey with Long Island on it.
Yeah, Michele Catalano is at it again, trying to convince people they should vote for a new stadium for the New York Islanders. (Previously on WCD.) It is a curious article, full of “I want” and “I won’t” and “I”, “I”, “I”. It is as if Catalano thinks Long Island and Nassau County revolve around Catalano and her wants; as if everyone should just give in and let her have her beloved Islanders, because…
…I don’t know how I’ll deal with no hockey. I don’t know how I’ll spend the next three seasons watching a rising, hopeful team knowing they’re going to leave in 2015.
The idea that other people have wants, too, and those wants include things like wanting to keep the money they’ve earned (instead of putting it into the pockets of team owners so people like Catalano can “…get in my car fifteen minutes before game time and be in my seat with a pretzel and Coke before the puck drops”) seems never to have crossed Catalano’s mind.
Meanwhile, the indispensable Field of Schemes links to an interesting Montreal Gazette article about the deal. The Islanders are projecting $229 million a year in revenue if the referendum passes and a new stadium is built.
Consider these numbers: If the Islanders, who had the lowest attendance in the league last season at 11,059 per game, sell out all 41 games in a 17,500-seat arena with an average ticket price of $65 – which would be among the highest in the NHL – and every fan spent another $50 a game on beer, hotdogs and souvenirs, the total revenue would be a mere $82 million. It would take a lot of concerts and other events to make up the difference in the Islanders’ projections.
This entry was posted on Monday, August 1st, 2011 at 3:14 pm and is filed under Politics, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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