Barclays Center Giving Islanders The Boot: Report

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Barclays Center in Brooklyn is getting set to ditch the New York Islanders, according to a report. The Islanders are not expected to contribute any revenue to Barclays after the 2018-19 season, which financial sources told Bloomberg is a sign that the National Hockey League team is going to stop playing at Barclays, Bloomberg reported.

Attendance numbers for Islanders games are the third worst in the NHL, according to ESPN's numbers. The agreement between Barclays and the Islanders is $53.5 million a year to the team and Barclays has control of all business operations, according to Bloomberg. If the Islanders cancelled the deal, it could leave after next hockey season, but if Barclays cut it off, the team would have to play through the 2018-19 season.

A spokesperson for Barclays Center, which is owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, said the center had no comment on the hockey team's fate. Requests for comment from the Islanders spokesmen and the NHL were not immediately returned. Bloomberg reported last summer that Islanders owners Jonathan Ledecky and Scott Malkin are interested in building a new arena next to Citi Field in Queens.

The Islanders moved to the Barclays Center for the 2015-16 season after playing at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island for more than four decades.

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said Monday that the the county would welcome the Islanders back.

"I have met with both Barclays and the Islanders and strongly believe there is a path for the Islanders to return to the New Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum where the best sight lines in NHL remain, improved attractive facilities for fans and athletes and room to add seats to accommodate the Islanders," Mangano said. "While the decision remains with the Islanders we believe Long Island fans will make the Islanders successful in the New Coliseum."

The path to the Islanders leaving Nassau began in 2009 when owner Charles Wang first proposed turning the Nassau Coliseum and the surrounding area into The Lighthouse–a massive project that would have created a new coliseum, office space, apartment buildings, a shopping center and more. That plan, however, was ultimately rejected by Town of Hempstead officials, who felt the project was too large for the area.

In 2011, a public referendum was held to decide if county taxpayers would foot the $400 million bill to build a new coliseum. That proposition was soundly rejected by taxpayers.

Wang moved the team to Brooklyn after the 2014-15 season. Shortly after the announcement of the move was made, Forest City Enterprises, which owns the Barclays Center, won a bid to redesign the coliseum. It is slated to re-open on April 5 with a concert by Billy Joel.

Photo via NY Islanders