{"id":200132,"date":"2026-04-17T00:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/200132\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T00:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:07:16","slug":"why-isles-attendance-increased-for-first-time-at-ubs-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/200132\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Isles attendance increased for first time at UBS Arena"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attendance for Islanders games increased year-over-year for the first time in the five-year history of the $1.1 billion UBS Arena despite the team’s late-season collapse and failure to make the playoffs<\/a>\u00a0for the second straight season. The boost, fans and team officials said, is due to the arrival of 18-year-old rookie star Matthew Schaefer,\u00a0a feeling of hope for the team’s future and new management.<\/p>\n

The Islanders averaged 16,439 fans per game during their 41-game home schedule at the 17,255-seat arena this season, a 2.87%\u00a0increase from last season\u2019s average of 15,979<\/a>, which was the lowest total of the team\u2019s five seasons in Elmont.<\/p>\n

Season-ticket holder\u00a0Mitchell Klee, 23, of Port Washington, said Schaefer’s arrival changed \u201ceverything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven’t had a superstar in God knows how long,” Klee said, “so I think it’s that.\u00a0Every jersey is a Schaefer jersey, which is cool to see. I feel like whenever he touches the puck, it’s always this huge deal and people are freaking out.”<\/p>\n

The Islanders sold out 21 of their final 24 home games\u00a0and had 26 total sellouts. The team\u00a0slumped in March and\u00a0fired coach Patrick Roy<\/a>\u00a0with four games left in the season, replacing\u00a0him with Pete DeBoer.<\/p>\n

Only\u00a016,918 fans attended the penultimate home game on Sunday, a 4-1 loss to Montreal that eliminated the Islanders from playoff contention, and\u00a015,231 attended Tuesday’s regular-season finale against Carolina.<\/p>\n

Klee acknowledged the disappointment of\u00a0missing the playoffs, but said,\u00a0“I think they’ve set the foundation” for success in the future.<\/p>\n

Schaefer said “it’s hard to explain” how much he has enjoyed his relationship with Islanders fans\u00a0after Tuesday night’s season finale.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s the most fun I\u2019ve ever had in front of fans,” Schaefer said. “It\u2019s the most fun I\u2019ve ever had playing hockey. When you come out and the fans are chanting your name and cheering behind us, it\u2019s the coolest feeling ever.”<\/p>\n

UBS Arena opened in November 2021 and averaged 17,085 fans per game\u00a0in the first season.\u00a0The Islanders experienced annual drops over the next three seasons, which fans said were\u00a0due to the team’s lackluster play and\u00a0traffic and transportation problems that have plagued the area. The Islanders have made the playoffs twice in the past five years. The transportation challenges remain but fans interviewed by Newsday said they are getting used to the commute and are more likely to tolerate the traffic to watch Schaefer and a winning team.<\/p>\n

“Like any Long Islander, we’re just so used to the traffic it’s par for the course,” said Kelly\u00a0Breslin, 52, of Medford. “You just got to deal. It’s what you do for the team.”<\/p>\n

Fans also pointed to the Islanders having a more\u00a0fan-friendly approach under new\u00a0general manager Mathieu Darche, who replaced former president Lou Lamoriello before the season.<\/p>\n

“A drastic change, even for season-ticket holders,” said Stacy Salomides, of Island Park. “They do a lot more for us. They’re bringing us in. They’re bringing the fans together. It’s been a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Matthew Schaefer Effect \"Islanders<\/p>\n

Islanders fans of all ages wear their Matthew Schaefer jerseys to UBS Arena. Credit: Jim McIsaac<\/p>\n

Kevin Strohm, a 52-year-old former Brentwood resident who now lives in New Jersey, said he went to about eight games this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne reason attendance is good this year? This young man [Schaefer]\u00a0right here,” said Strohm, pointing at the back of his 11-year-old son Nick’s No. 48 jersey. “And ownership does a very good job making these kids feel welcome and want to come back out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schaefer has blossomed into a star<\/a>, finishing with 23\u00a0goals, which tied him with Rangers Hall of Famer Brian Leetch for the most goals by a rookie defenseman.<\/p>\n

Schaefer’s arrival on\u00a0Long Island<\/a> required some luck. The Islanders won the NHL Draft lottery in May despite having only a\u00a03.5% chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The hockey gods smiled on us,”\u00a0Islanders director of pro scouting Ken Morrow said the night of the lottery.<\/p>\n

Islanders president of business operations Kelly Cheeseman<\/a> said the combination of Schaefer and an improved team has helped reverse the downward attendance trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew Matthew was a good player,\u201d Cheeseman told Newsday. \u201cBut I think there was still a debate at that point between Mathieu Darche and Patrick [Roy] whether he’s going to make the team. Then he makes the team, and he\u2019s doing what he’s doing, now he\u2019s breaking records. That\u2019s how it all works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schaefer scored his first NHL goal in the Islanders’ home opener against the Capitals on Oct. 11, which was a sellout. But attendance was sluggish after that \u2014\u00a0the next seven home games averaged\u00a0only 14,973 fans per game.<\/p>\n

In the 17 home games before the season-ending 24-game stretch, UBS Arena had a crowd below 15,000 eight times.<\/p>\n

Lauren Hindman is an assistant professor in Hofstra\u2019s sport management program who spent five years as the senior director of marketing for the Texas Stars, the Dallas Stars\u2019 AHL affiliate. Hindman said having a star player doesn’t always translate into\u00a0growing a team’s fan base and the key isgetting fans to connect with the player.<\/p>\n

“That’s where we really are seeing the Islanders\u2019 marketing strategy around Matt Schaefer<\/a> and Matt Schaefer’s personality pay off,” Hindman said.\u00a0“He is resonating with this fan base, and he is becoming someone fans feel like they kind of know. He’s not just the athlete under the helmet. He’s got a personality that fans have really gotten to see in a short period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"visualization\"\/New regime, new approach<\/p>\n

Darche, 49, was hired as the general manager in May to replace Lamoriello, who was criticized\u00a0for giving long-term contracts to underperforming veteran players. Islanders ownership wanted to improve the team’s relationship with the fans, and Darche has been taking a more fan-facing, personable approach to how he runs the team, something Islanders fans were not accustomed to under Lamoriello, who did little community outreach.<\/p>\n

Season-ticket holder Will Chiarucci, 35, of Bellmore, said the change has been refreshing.<\/p>\n

Chiarucci said he’s happy he isn’t “having to deal with the silence of Lou Lamoriello.\u00a0There\u2019s a lot of transparency within the organization with Mathieu Darche being here. Nothing’s hidden from anybody. The fan events have been really good this year, no doubt about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The events for season-ticket holders included a preseason barbecue at The Park at UBS Arena, which has become a popular spot for fans to hang out\u00a0before games,\u00a0where fans got to meet the players and a meet-the-team event on the day of the men\u2019s Olympic gold-medal game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fans\u00a0had the opportunity to skate on the UBS Arena ice, and on the new Isles + UBS Arena app they can earn points, which can convert directly to merchandise\u00a0and food. The Islanders also launched their “On The Island\u201d docuseries on YouTube, giving fans behind-the-scenes looks of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parking woes persist<\/p>\n

Fans have good things to say about UBS Arena, once they get inside. It’s getting there and back home that is the problem.<\/p>\n

The arena is\u00a0on the grounds of Belmont Park near the Nassau County-Queens border. It sits near the Cross Island Parkway and Hempstead Turnpike, about two miles north\u00a0of the Southern State and Belt Parkways and three miles south of the Grand Central Parkway.<\/p>\n

UBS Arena was built and privately funded by New York Arena Partners, which is a joint venture of the\u00a0Islanders, Oak View Group and Sterling Project Development, which is an affiliate of Sterling Equities.<\/p>\n

“You can go to any New York venue and most venues around the world, there’s not too many perfect ones,\u201d Cheeseman said. \u201cThere’s a lot we can improve on. A lot of it is just availability and more of it. But at the same time, can we do more? Can we do more with the Long Island Rail Road to build on that? That will help, because then you can alleviate some of the parking concerns. There’s a lot that goes on here, and we definitely have focus on fixing some of those things.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there’s certain things \u2014\u00a0there\u2019s only so far you can go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"visualization\"\/<\/p>\n

Breslin is a half-season-ticket holder who drives to games \u201cjust because I’m not a fan of taking the train all the time.\u201d She said the traffic becomes worst\u00a0when she hits the Cross Island Parkway near the arena\u00a0but overall \u201cit\u2019s not bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes on a Friday night game, that could be pretty taxing,” Breslin said.<\/p>\n

Bob Barker, the president of the local Locustwood Gotham Civic Association, has dealt with UBS Arena event-goers parking in the surrounding neighborhoods to avoid paying for arena parking. He said the issue has gotten \u201c75% better,\u201d as they have worked with local authorities to restrict parking on the streets in the area, but he said fans have gotten \u201cslick\u201d and are parking even deeper in neighborhoods. He said \u201cwe have to wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they built it, they didn’t take the community into consideration,” Barker said. “They just built it and said, \u2018OK, we’ll see what happens.\u2019 But now the impact of it is just a big burden to the community, where still a lot has to be done. After five, six years, we’re still working on this, how best we can navigate through this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Train pain<\/p>\n

The Elmont-UBS Arena LIRR station is also\u00a0about a half-mile away from UBS Arena. Shuttles are available to and from the station, but long lines have been an issue.<\/p>\n

Chiarucci takes the train to every game\u00a0after driving to Hicksville. He said the LIRR \u201chas been really, really convenient for a lot of the fan base.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheeseman encourages fans to take the train, despite the challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we’re ultimately helping increase train ridership, that’s a good thing,\u201d Cheeseman said.<\/p>\n

Josh Fisher, a 25-year-old season-ticket holder from Nesconset, said the shuttles were more reliable and frequent this season.<\/p>\n

“We knew coming into this, this was going to be a 5-to-10 year construction project,” he said.\u00a0“So I think people forget that sometimes, and need to be patient with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other fans have complained the swarm of pedestrian traffic to the train slows down cars trying to leave the Emerald Lot.<\/p>\n

Season-ticket holders\u00a0Rick Kern of Roslyn Heights and Ric Stark of Oceanside said that problem could be alleviated if a pedestrian walkway was built from the LIRR station over the lot and toward the arena.<\/p>\n

Kern, 60, said fans rushing to catch the train are\u00a0cutting in front of traffic, and that “could be a little dangerous, so my feeling is they really should do something.”<\/p>\n

The LIRR, contacted by Newsday, said building a walkway\u00a0would be up to the Islanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cLIRR property ends at the metal bollards just before the blacktop of the parking lot,\u201d MTA spokesperson Dave Steckel said in an email. \u201cPast that point is UBS property and they are free to pursue any future projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

UBS feels like home<\/p>\n

Chiarucci said he has been to every NHL arena, and said that UBS Arena is \u201chands down\u201d a top-five venue in the league. He noted how the team was \u201cin limbo\u201d 10-15 years ago, and \u201cwe’re very thankful\u201d to have a home like UBS Arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like this is kind of the first year it actually kind of felt like our stadium,\u201d Klee said. \u201cIt was kind of weird where it felt like we were playing in the stadium, but it didn’t feel like there was much life to it, even when they were winning games and they were in the playoffs and stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year has been the best year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsday’s Andrew Gross contributed to this story<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports’ general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday\u2019s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins’ teams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Attendance for Islanders games increased year-over-year for the first time in the five-year history of the $1.1 billion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,6821,10,49,51,50,14191,51963,33800,79472],"class_list":{"0":"post-200132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-headlines","10":"tag-new-york-islanders","11":"tag-new-york-news","12":"tag-new-york-state","13":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-state-news","15":"tag-oin","16":"tag-spadjacent","17":"tag-spdata","18":"tag-spenterprise"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}