So, as everyone knows by now, the vote on Long Island regarding financing for a new arena did not go the way that Isles fans wanted. By a margin of over 21,000 votes, Nassau County residents rejected the 30-year, $400,000,000 bond--perhaps the first time in Islanders history that such a contract was not taken. (I kid, I kid) Understandably, hockey fans in the New York area--including Rangers and Devils fans--are frustrated, while at the same time, there is a lot of joy in markets like Quebec City and Hamilton, who see the Islanders as a potential franchise that could come to their city. All of that consternation and wishful thinking over a vote that, as I have realized over the last twelve hours, does not necessarily mean anything for anyone.
First, there is the vote itself. Even though this was set up to help the vote come out in the other direction by the Islanders and County Executive Edward Mangano, the fact remains that only around 15% of eligible voters actually cast a ballot. That means the 88,000 or so votes against the deal represent the will of just 9% of the population--though that also means that only 6% of the population cared enough to vote yes. Attached to that is the fact that the vote was hardly the be-all-end-all scenario that supporters made it out to be. Any deal still had to get past a skeptical legislature and a very hostile NIFA that had a laundry list of complaints about it. Even if all 154,000 votes had been "yes," it only would have taken four "no" votes from NIFA to kill the entire thing.
Second, there are a pile of possible options for keeping the Isles on the Island without public financing from Nassau County. We all remember the Lighthouse Project, which was Wang's original plan to build an arena with his own money. It is possible that Wang simply buys the land, builds a new building himself and keeps the profits rather than leasing from the County as the voted-down deal would have had. It's also possible he moves the team to Brooklyn or Queens with the help of the Mets or Nets; the NBA team deal is more likely since the Nets used to share a building with the Devils anyway and even though Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov does not want to buy the Islanders, his building has a rink that is NHL-ready.
Finally, there is the one point everyone is missing: time. This is not the situation that the Thrashers were in or the Coyotes are in, where a move is impending NOW. The lease that the Isles have with Nassau County is through 2014-15, and Wang has already stated that he intends to honor that lease. That's four years. Four years is an eternity in the business and sports worlds, and in that time any number of unforeseen possibilities could come up. Perhaps there will be a development in Suffolk County, or in New York City itself. Perhaps the residents of Nassau County change their minds. Perhaps Wang decides to just stick it out in the current building in hopes that a team that succeeds on the ice is the only change that needs to happen. Perhaps...well, perhaps anything. Four years is what the Islanders and their fans have to figure out how to keep the team on the Island.
Of course, it remains a possibility, and admittedly a stronger one with the rejection of this referendum, that the team does leave Long Island. However, even that might not be the massive disaster that Islanders fans and their friends think. Quebec City won't be the new destination for the team--the odds are good that their market will already be filled with the Coyotes franchise come 2015. Other markets have issues--a team in Hamilton would be fought to the end by the Maple Leafs and especially the Sabres; Seattle has little in the way of arena infrastructure, while Kansas City has a rink but no one who wants to put a team in it, and the NHL is unlikely to move another team that far after already having to deal with two long-distance relocations. The odds are good that if the Isles do move, it's to a place that won't disrupt the entire format of the league--Hartford, Connecticut. This is actually somewhat good news for Islanders fans, because it means that even in the "worst-case scenario" the team is less than 100 miles away from its current location.
So, chin up, Islanders fans. All hope is not lost.
0 comments:
Post a Comment