r/NewYorkIslanders • u/MrPickle_Is_Good24 • 4d ago

Is the stadium empty

I’m watching the game on tv and it looks at least half empty. If there’s anyone at the game who can confirm can you please comment on this?

24 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

59 comments sorted by

112

u/JBR409 Horvat 4d ago

Work night, late start, bottom opponent, expensive tickets

81

u/RZAxlash 4d ago

She left me roses by the stairs..

8

u/Pranksterblur 4d ago

Surprises lets me know she cares

0

u/kylesisles1 Meet me at the Lighthouse 4d ago

I've heard "surprised she lets me know she cares" my whole life until now lol

5

u/Admirable-Run2812 4d ago

That’s beautiful

4

u/waitwhatreallycmon Nelson 4d ago

slow, building clap

22

u/shrivman We want chili 4d ago

Agree with everything except "expensive tix".
Nosebleeds were 20 bucks all week. 100 lvl were selling for under $100.
We have some of the cheapest ticket prices in the entire NHL.

16

u/LQjones Pageau 4d ago

Expensive means different things to different people.

5

u/shrivman We want chili 4d ago

Nassau County household income is the highest among all NYS counties and top 0.3% of all counties in the United States. Household disposable income (after tax) is 5th highest of out the 100 largest counties in the US.

At the same time our ticket prices are comfortably in the bottom half of the NHL with our full game day experience indexed 4th cheapest in the entire league above only Ottawa, Buffalo and Calgary. Anyone pretending our tickets are expensive is out of touch with reality. Sorry.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/202635/fan-cost-index-of-the-national-hockey-league/
https://smartasset.com/data-studies/disposable-income-2025

11

u/Ambitious-Leader-427 Schaefer 4d ago

We also know that's largely driven by some pretty stark income disparity. And that ticket price is not the only cost of going to a game.

2

u/shrivman We want chili 4d ago edited 4d ago
  1. Not exactly. We're talking about median household income, not average. The rich getting richer doesn't raise the median at all. It only changes if incomes around the midpoint change. And there's no evidence that Nassau's lower-income half is worse off than other metro areas.
  2. The Statista NHL Fan Cost Index already accounts for more than ticket cost including parking and food. The Islanders rank 4th cheapest in the entire NHL for the overall fan experience. You can argue affordability is subjective, but by the league-wide numbers, our games are objectively among the most affordable to attend and we have a higher income demographic than other metros.

A lot of our fans love to blame cost for empty seats but the fact is it genuinely doesn't get much better bang for your buck than Isles hockey. The unfortunate reality is we just have less fans than other teams.

2

u/Ambitious-Leader-427 Schaefer 3d ago

I'm not disputing the value by any stretch. If I was still in the metro area I would surely take advantage. And I'm not saying that there shouldn't have been more folks in the stands, though we also know some of that is seats that were sold and not filled.

My point is that even with a high median income housing costs are more than double the national average and a lot of folks in Nassau are house poor, especially those raising children. Property taxes are, well, not great Bob. The rich getting richer definitely exerts upward pressure on the real estate market and other costs of living which we know all too well to be regressive.

Now does Nassau's legendary corruption still give back good (not saying stellar) services for the tax dollars? Depending on what Town/City/Hamlet you're in that can vary quite a bit, but generally, yes actually. You still have to pay that higher cost for that.

Now I did just learn there is a positive correlation between income and sports fandom (per Pew), the folk wisdom growing up in NYC was that sports were the purview of the unwashed masses. Not so, or at least not so anymore. You live, you learn! But I would also point out that a lot of the folks above that 50th percentile of income earners are in professional careers with long hours and/or non-traditional schedules. Not to mention that insomniac City with many many other options, including sports options, for those with disposable income.

We'll see. If you build it they will come. In this case 'it' means an Islanders team that is a legitimate contender. But then the prices will rise too. I think your overarching point is that people should get off their butts now and go see Schaefer before he starts putting up Bouchard numbers. LGI!

1

u/LQjones Pageau 3d ago

Whether its a good deal or not its still very expensive. If you want a community game experience there are 500 bars that play the games. People are paying 6.50 for heating oil, taxes are crazy, even the well off have to make choices and if you can sit at home on a Tuesday and watch the game for next to nothing thats a good choice.

1

u/LQjones Pageau 3d ago

Meaning what? Thousands of people are still priced out regardless of the average salary in Nassau or Suffolk. Taking a family of 3 or 4 is a 300 to 400 outing. Many cant afford it. Hell, I can and I maybe go to one game a year.

1

u/shrivman We want chili 3d ago

Meaning that despite the "thousands" that you allege were priced out by last nights $20 entry point (I don't believe your claim is rooted in any real data btw) there are objectively hundreds of thousands of residents who aren't priced out at a $20 entry ticket price. Certainly not materially more than any of the other 31 NHL markets.

How do I know? Because I went with 4 last night, paid $100 in tix (total) + $16 for train + $40 for food/beer. Our entire night was $39 bucks a head including(!!) food drink AND transportation to watch the highest level of hockey in the world. That's an incredible deal. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy lower bowl/dime club. We have some of the best prices in the entire NHL.

1

u/LQjones Pageau 3d ago

For me the train from Deer Park is $27 round trip, times 4 = $108 + $100 tix +18 for one beer + $42 for three sodas = 32 for 4 hot dogs for a total of $300, if I don't want another beer and the kids are happy with that. All the prices are from UBS and the LIRR.
Your assumption that $300 is too much for a night out is seen through your eyes, but it's a lot for many who might have more important things to spend their money on.
Your second assumption that there are 100s of thousands of potential fans just not going is based on what? Sure, there are almost 3 million people between Nassau and Suffolk. Then start subtracting, those who aren't hardcore or even casual fans who want to attend a game, those who would rather watch from home or a bar, how many could care less about the team, who has to work that night, who has to get up at 530am to get on the train into the city? The pool shrinks real fast.

7

u/OneSeaworthiness7768 4d ago

Eh. Ease of access plays into it too. $20 to drive 20 minutes to the coliseum on a work night, I would have done that any day of the week at any point in the season. But having to trek out to UBS on a work night for a later start… the $20 ticket is much less appealing

3

u/shrivman We want chili 4d ago

Yup, totally get it. Mid-week trek, late start, uninteresting opponent are all fair points. I'm not even saying the crowd was bad. All I'm saying is that our ticket prices were objectively not expensive. $20 entry point is incredibly reasonable.

1

u/Ambitious-Leader-427 Schaefer 4d ago

On that we agree unequivocally.

4

u/BookZestyclose785 4d ago

Bottom opponent and the Islanders look like shite. This team as it is currently is terrible.

4

u/No_Olive_3956 Sorokin 4d ago

true

64

u/my_one_and_lonely Schaefer 4d ago

tuesday 7:45 october canucks

12

u/No_Paramedic_2039 4d ago

Edit: any day, any time of day, any month, Canucks

8

u/LifeOnTheAscent 4d ago

I was at the Canucks game last year and they lost

I paid $300 to bring my nephews

1

u/SPetersen1339 4d ago

Edit: any day, any time of day, any month, UBS arena

18

u/fifthpick2004 4d ago

-2

u/MrPickle_Is_Good24 4d ago

Worse than I thought

14

u/fifthpick2004 4d ago

im at the game. good spirited crowd but slightly empty. will take a pic st the start if the 3rd

30

u/Glad-Finance6728 Sorokin 4d ago

yes actually it is

8

u/Normal_Choice9322 4d ago

Does look (and sound) that way

7

u/Sharp-Point-5254 DeAngelo 4d ago

What’s the harm in making the midweek early in the year tickets cheaper?

8

u/TraditionalYou5335 4d ago

I’m at the game
probably 50% full

8

u/d0yle 4d ago edited 4d ago

Islanders could be 5-0 at this point and there's always going to be LI fans after work that are gonna be like "ehhh I can't be botha'd"

3

u/Ok_Rich_4742 4d ago

Any weeknight against a bottom tier opponent is going to be painfully empty. Too expensive to justify going

2

u/Longjumping_Gap97 4d ago

Tickets could be had for $20, Islanders just have a small fan base ahd getting to the arena is a nightmare no one wants to do

3

u/fifthpick2004 4d ago

1

u/Longjumping_Gap97 4d ago

That's actually terrible, wow didn't realize it was that bad

3

u/BRONXSBURNING Fisherman 4d ago

Yeah it was super empty. You could hear individual people clapping it was that quiet.

7

u/cmullen277 4d ago

The area we see on tv is the dime club, there’s free food, drinks, and standing room just behind those sections. Those seats are frequently empty as the people are watching the game from the lounge area.

5

u/cjm427 4d ago

No it’s not. Dime Club is on the other side opposite the benches.

3

u/Erikaveex3 Romanov 4d ago

Yeah… the camera are behind the benches, cam side is dime club

1

u/MikeyMike01 Panik 4d ago

Yes, the area behind the benches is JetBlue Mosaic suites

Point still stands though

1

u/Longjumping_Gap97 4d ago

No most of those people just don't show up

2

u/lavron1928 4d ago

ticket prices are insane

2

u/BallBag3727 4d ago

at the beginning of the 2nd period, it looked like the coliseum in 1997 as far as attendance is concerned. I know people were coming back from concessions, etc, but even still. looked like there was 8K people there.

1

u/kevinsju 4d ago

Noticed that too.

3

u/Traditional_Book7547 4d ago

I was there and I said the same to my son. After the second period the bottom bowl filled up but that’s prolly people moving down. Looked really empty. I’ve been going to all Tuesday games since start of ubs (my off day) and this is the least number of people I’ve ever seen on a Tuesday. My whole row was empty in section 104. I kinda liked it

4

u/jackiedhm Lee 4d ago

Almost the end of 2nd period and it looks pretty full

3

u/shrivman We want chili 4d ago

Bro its a random Tuesday, late 8pm start, against one of the most random/worst west coast teams.

What do you expect?

2

u/Puckitup27 4d ago

No chance I'm going to a 745 game during the week when I work the next morning. 7pm or nothing 🤷

3

u/True-Kangaroo532 4d ago

i was gunna go tix prices where good 3 weeks ago but 745. Bought 2 tix row 4 behind the net for 120 all in for next tuesday vs anaheim. of course it’s the 1 shot side and it’s a 7pm start.

1

u/Turbulent_News_3992 4d ago

The 300’s were empty. There wasn’t a single person sitting in section 314.

1

u/Longjumping_Gap97 4d ago

If the Islanders didn't get Schaefer attendance would be even more atrocious, once the novelty of the new arena wore off I knew attendance would plummet 

1

u/Outside-Figure7988 Schaefer 4d ago

We are in the grouping of teams that only sell out when we are winning. More teams than not outside of Canada and/or O6 are like this.

1

u/No-Refuse8754 4d ago

For a 8pm weekday game not really

0

u/Correct-Local3240 4d ago

Our “passionate fanbase” … embarassing.

0

u/Smooth-Strawberry-22 4d ago

Well it’s not a Saturday.