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Could the NHL Islanders be leaving Long Island soon? Owner Charles Wang unhappy


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I know hockey is not popular here. However i found an intresting article about the current NHL Islanders Owner Charles Wang 'regret' buying that team but downplay rumors the team is trying to move from ong Island.

Here article from Newsday.

 

FYI. Newsday new owners is Cablevision, which also owns the Cross Town rival New York Rangers.

 

Isles Owner Wang regrets buying the team: Tries to down play rumors of Team Move

BY JIM BAUMBACH Newsday Staff writer | jim.baumbach@newsday.com

May 3, 2009

 

 

 

 

Frustrated with the pace of his Lighthouse Project and sick of sinking more than $20 million a year to keep the Islanders afloat, Charles Wang has a case of buyer's remorse nine years after purchasing Long Island's hockey team.

 

"If I had the chance," Wang said, "I wouldn't do it again."

 

One of Long Island's wealthiest residents, Wang says he has been taking a financial beating ever since he purchased the Islanders along with former Computer Associates executive Sanjay Kumar in June 2000. (Wang bought out Kumar in 2004.)

 

According to the team's annual audited financial reports that were viewed by a Newsday reporter last month, Wang has spent $208.8 million - an average of $23 million per year - to keep the NHL franchise operating since his purchase. That's after spending $74.2 million to buy the team and assuming $97 million in existing liabilities.

 

 

This year alone, Wang has provided $33.5 million in 12 payments, said a document provided by Islanders chief financial officer Art McCarthy. There's still two months left on their July 1 to June 30 calendar, but McCarthy hopes the incoming season ticket deposits for next season are enough to push back Wang's next payment until the fall.

 

"It's ugly," McCarthy said. "Plain and simple, it's ugly."

 

Wang: Wanted to save team

 

Still, Wang says he is proud that he was able to save the Islanders from leaving Long Island nine years ago, and that it was important to him that the Island's only professional sports team got a legitimate shot to succeed. Before Wang's purchase of the team, many area public figures asked him to step in - an action that the financial documents show has cost him close to $300 million.

 

"I knew going in," Wang said, "that I was going to lose money."

 

National Hockey League Deputy Commissioner William Daly said the league is aware of Wang's losses on the team. "His numbers are real," Daly said. "Yes, we're aware the Islanders lose money, a significant amount of money. And it goes back to the team's need for a new arena."

 

After buying the Islanders, Wang said he assumed - wrongly, it turned out - that Nassau Coliseum would either be refurbished or replaced within a few years. He says he wouldn't ever have envisioned entering his second decade as the Islanders owner with home games still taking place at the aging arena on Hempstead Turnpike.

 

"Never in my life," he said, "would I have anticipated this thing could be dragged out for seven, eight years."

 

Wang initially thought Nassau County government would subsidize the redeveloped arena. But after County Executive Thomas Suozzi told him that wasn't possible because of the county's financial state, Wang said they came up with the plan to privately develop the 70 acres of land surrounding the arena.

 

The Lighthouse Project - a $3.7 billion joint venture with RXR Realty chief Scott Rechler - has Suozzi's backing and is currently under review by the Town of Hempstead, where Wang says it is being held up.

 

Wang chooses his words carefully regarding Town Supervisor Kate Murray, but it's clear he's at his wit's end with what he characterizes as a lengthy period of waiting for feedback so that he can get started. Meanwhile, town officials have said the review process under way is normal, particularly for so large a project.

 

"The worst thing I really get upset about, I'll tell you, is she's never come to a briefing on the project," Wang said, referring to Murray. "Never."

 

Town of Hempstead: Project on fast track

 

Murray said the town has fast-tracked the project. Last week, environmental consultants hired by the town to review the developer's 6,500-page impact statement called for revisions, which they described as routine. The consultants say the developers hadn't adequately addressed some concerns outlined by the town, including garbage, tax revenue, traffic and noise.

 

"We've moved the state mandated reviews on this project as quickly as the law allows," she said. "If we were to violate the law, the Lighthouse Group would be held up in litigation for years to come."

 

Beyond its need for subsidies, the Islanders' value also has fallen during Wang's tenure. Forbes magazine recently said the team was worth $154 million; Wang bought it for about $170 million. The Islanders were once around 25 yars ago one of the NHL's most sucessful and profitable teams, winning 4 straight Stanley Cup Championships in the early 1980's.

 

 

"I don't like to lose the money, so therefore that's why I've said, 'This is it. I'm not going to play. Just tell me where I stand by the beginning of the next hockey season,' " Wang said.

 

If Wang does not have an answer by then, he said, "I'm not saying I'll move. I'm saying I'll explore all my options."

 

Potential landing spots for a relocated Islanders team that has already publicly expressed intrest are the following. They include Kansas City, where a new arena awaits an anchor tenant, Seattle, which recently lost it's NBA Team, the Sonics to Oklahoma, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and Willets Point, Queens, where officials have expressed interest in having the Islanders bulid a new arena next to the new Mets Stadium Citifield.

 

The reason the Islanders currently lose so much money - they're $95.2 million in the red the past three years, McCarthy said - is because their lease with SMG, which manages the arena, does not entitle them to revenue from concessions and parking and the Coliseum has limited suite possibilities. Their lease expires in 2015.

 

If Wang were to up and leave, he would be breaking that lease.

 

Officials with SMG did not return a call asking for comment.

 

Staff writers Eden Laikin and Bill Murphy contributed to this story.

 

c)2009 Newsday

 

any reactions?

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Kansas City Islanders....it's coming...

 

....a sad day for Long Island it would be.

 

Yup it would be sad for those loyal fans. The worst thing the NHL ever did was allow the Devils to move to the metro area in 1982. Being fair the NYC area does not need '3' NHL teams.:)

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Compared to the previous owners before Wang... Spano,Gluckstern,Millstein,etc he did a lot for the franchise. Biggest mistake was Milbury,the worst GM in the NHL,he made several bad trades.

 

Wang's partner Kumar is doing a long prison sentence in federal prison,how Wang remained unscathed through the whole Computer Associates scandal is beyond me. I believe all he had to do was pay a huge fine.

 

I grew up as an Islanders fan and those 4 straight years where they won the stanley cup will never be repeated.

 

If they do move I will still follow them no matter what. I hope they do move to Willets Point but that is a stretch.

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Hopefully dodgers syndrome won't claim another victim.

 

Though, if they do move, i'd require them to take xanadu with them (yes i know they are not really related). :)

 

- A

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