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Sports Ventures to Net Islanders in January

By Daniel J. McCue

It could be the deal that remakes the face of Nassau County forever, or just another example of a sports team being a high stakes financial investment by players interested solely in monetary gain.

The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale.

Whichever the case, the $195 million sale of the New York Islanders to an investment group known as New York Sports Ventures, is anticipated to be approved by the National Hockey League this coming January, and only time will tell if Nassau's residents will be left to grapple with the consequences or bask in the glow of success of the Island's only professional sports franchise.

"There's always uncertainty when change is in the offing," said Howard Milstein, who, along with Steven Gluckstern, is the driving force behind the purchase of the team, and is the chairman of New York Sports Ventures.

"But I think the key here is that with our purchase, you're moving toward a strong ownership group, an ownership that will be there at the games and will be concerned about winning.

"The other thing, of course, is that the Islanders are a tremendous unifying presence on the Island, and I expect they'll be even more so in the future," Milstein continued.

"I think what you'll see is a vast change in the way things are done as regards the Islanders," said David M. Seldin, New York Sports Ventures' president and chief operating officer, during an interview at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum last week.

"While it's highly unusual for ownership and control of a sports franchise to change in mid-season, I don't believe, once the deal is consummated, that it will be long before fans begin to feel a new day has dawned for the team and for themselves."

According to Seldin, who comes to Long Island after having helped establish the Jacksonville Jaguars in the National Football League, the partners in New York Sports Ventures hope to secure final approval for their purchase of the Islanders by the NHL's All-Star break in mid-January.

"It really is an auspicious time to be getting involved in professional hockey," he said. "I think the sport has never been healthier, with more and more people becoming interested in the game nationwide, and I think the continued great rivalries between teams like the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, and the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins, enure to everyone's benefit."

"Now, from our perspective, that makes hockey a very attractive venture for us," Seldin continued. "In addition, in terms of our specific interest here, the Islanders are a great historical franchise. They are the only club to ever bring a championship to Long Island."

While spending close to $200 million for a professional sports franchise with 60 to 70 employees besides the members of the team would seem to be a significant undertaking in and of itself, Seldin said New York Sports Ventures not only intends, but needs to hit the ground running to remake the team and remake the shape of sports success here on Long Island.

"It has to start with the fans feeling a renewed identity with the team and with the team making a greater effort to identify with its fans," he said. "It works both ways."

"In addition to what transpires on the ice, we also have to get involved with philanthropy, with area social programs, and with local civic activities and organizations.

"Those kinds of things are as important, if not more important, than the financial end of this thing. They are more important than winning and losing."

Though the partners are well aware that nearly 20 years have passed since the Islanders were Stanley Cup champions, they believe, according to Seldin, that the warm feelings for the team "are not gone, just covered over."

"What we need to do is reach out to our fan base and the residents of Nassau in general in a very demonstrative way," he said. "Since signing a letter intent to buy the team last summer, we've been doing a considerable amount of research, research that will continue well after we take over ownership of the team.

"What we're looking at is things like fan comfort issues, issues pertaining to the coliseum itself, and issues pertaining directly to the team.

"As with anything in life, some things we'll be readily able to address and some things not. Of course we realize that from the fan's perspective, tomorrow won't be soon enough for them to see the changes they want implemented."

Critical to the team's success, its future owners contend, is a complete redesign of the coliseum facility. David Seldin anticipated that the design and construction of an entirely new facility is something that would take between two to three years.

Asked whether it might be better to focus, say, on strengthening the team before razing and replacing the coliseum, Seldin demured.

"I think everything has to happen at once," he said. "In sports today, I don't think you can be successful unless you are successful across the board. If you don't have a certain level of success off the ice, you can't put a good team on the ice - and remember, teams are really conduits, conduits for fan money and broadcast money and sponsor money. And they expect a high level of return for that money."

But if the goal of the future owners of the Islanders is to make the team more profitable while enhancing its position in the hearts of area residents, equally important to many public officials is the team's place in oft-talked about "central Nassau County hub," a concept that links the coliseum to other area sports venues, to the retail mall along Old Country Road and to Hofstra University.

Asked about New York Sports Ventures' awareness of the Hub proposal before they committed to purchasing the Islanders, Milstein said that if anything, it was a key factor in his deciding to pursue the team.

"Working with local government, and working particularly with the county and the state governments has always been important to us, and the concept of the Hub fits very nicely into what we'd like to see happen in regard to the coliseum.

"Frankly, we think that a new, modern arena, an arena that's appropriate for the Islanders to play in, will be a great attribute to the Hub.

"While I don't think that we're ready to discuss the details yet, I can tell you that we'd like to see a redevelopment of the entire 70 acre site," Milstein continued. "that said, I think we have to discuss our desires and our plans with the government officials first, and get their input, before we go public with a proposal."

Asked about Seldin's feeling that "everything has to happen at once" in regard to New York Sports Ventures' acquisition of the team and the redevelopment of the property, Milstein agreed.

"We're hoping to reach a concensus with county officials in the very near future," he said. "My expectation is that we'll have a concrete proposal out there before the end of the first quarter."

Asked about talks between the county and the Islander's new owners, one learned public official, speaking on background, said he expects New York Sports Venture to take a very responsible position on the hub. "Basically, I think they are going to look at what's being done and then evaluate how it will effect their business. The outcome of that assessment will dictate what their involvement will be."

Residents of nearby Uniondale, East Meadow, and Westbury - not to mention Hempstead Village, Elmont and Garden City, will also likely want to weigh in on the development of the property. And if history is any indication, the impact the development will have on local traffic will be a high priority concern.

"Those kinds of concerns can only be addressed through a detailed analysis," said Gary Lewi, spokesman for New York Sports Ventures and a gentleman well versed in the issue having been involved with a number of development projects over the past several years.

"Obviously, we're talking about a development that will encompass staggered uses _ you're just not going to see a game scheduled to begin at the height of rush hour on the day that Hofstra is holding commencement exercises.

"But it's going to require a comprehensive study," Lewi continued. "It's not in our interest or in anybody's interest to create gridlock."

"The other thing you have to consider is the reality of what we are proposing," Milstein said. "Right now, the coliseum contains roughly 16,500 guest seats. What we're talking about is building a facility that has closer to 18,000 seats. We not talking about building a 50,000-seat football stadium here. So I don't believe we have to rethink the philosophy of the area, we just have to do something better."

Spokesman Lewi also attempted to put to rest the fears expressed by some locally that a revamped Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum would be renamed, perhaps to recognize a significant corporate sponsor.

"That's one of those areas that we definitely intend to proceed carefully in," he said. "The Islanders have always had a strong connection to our veteran community and I don't expect that to change. We recognize that some form of public tribute is appropriate and should be paid to those who endangered their lives to preserve the way of life in this country."

Returning to the issue of improving services to their fans, Seldin said the biggest lesson he learned from his experience with the Jacksonville Jaguars is that "fans matter."

"They're very smart. You can't fool them. And if you do the right things as a team, people will want to be associated with you.

"I think one of the keys you have to realize in managing a sports franchise is that people see teams as emblems of their community. A franchise can have a galvanizing effect - even on the non-sports fan - on how they feel about where they live.

"And," he added, "we certainly believe that a different type of facility would create a different feeling."

Though the Islanders don't now have a say in what acts or activities transpire at the coliseum when they are not on the ice, Seldin left a very clear impression that New York Sports Ventures might try to alter the basic arrangement now in place between the team, the county, and SpectaCorp which now runs the facility.

"I really can't comment any further on that though, as we're just at the point of beginning to understand those issues," he said.

"Ultimately," he continued, "I think fans and the community want many of the same things, and they are not 'rocket science' kinds of things.

"I mean, it comes down to 'How would I like to be treated as a customer?' You literally ask yourselves those kinds of questions. 'What would I like to see at the coliseum?' 'How do I want to feel when I buy a ticket?' 'How would I like to be treated?' 'What products do I want?' "What are things that will make the most difference to me as a consumer?'"

"I think one thing we're going to look very seriously at is bringing another sports team to the coliseum," Milstein said. "Right now, operating in something less than an optimal situation, the Islanders pump between $85 and $95 million into the Long Island economy. With a high powered, more hands-on management, I would expect those numbers to grow significantly over the next several years.

"At the same time, I think the overall economic picture improves even more greatly when you begin to think about bringing one or two more teams to the facility. So that is going to be one of our highest priorities," he continued.

Asked his take on the situation, Gary Hudes, president of the Nassau County Council of Chambers of Commerce, said, "I don't think that there's any question that a new coliseum would bring people in from all over the Island, from Queens, from Brooklyn and the Bronx into Nassau County and bring outside revenue into the area.

"If planned properly, there's no doubt that a larger venue, could draw conventions and other kinds of activities that the current coliseum just isn't made to facilitate.

"Right now," Hudes continued, "I think we're shut out of hosting certain events just because of the limited size of the coliseum. A perfect example of that is the upcoming series of concerts by Billy Joel. First they announced that it was going to be one night only, then they added a second show, then a third and a fourth - and I bet that there are still loads of people who would like to see him here in Nassau but couldn't get tickets. A larger facility would make that possible.

"At the same time, I think that it's important that New York Sports Ventures meet with the county, and meet with community and business groups to get a sense not only of what's best for themselves, but for what's best for all of us."

The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale.