UBS Arena: What we know about the Islanders' new home
After bouncing around between different home arenas for the last half-decade, the Islanders finally are getting a home of their own.
UBS Arena at Belmont Park is set to become the Islanders’ new permanent home beginning Nov. 20, 2021.
The move will come after several seasons of the Isles not having one true home arena. The team left Nassau Coliseum, its home since 1972, and moved into Barclays Center for the 2015-16 season, but soon split their home games between there and the Coliseum.
Here are more facts and figures about UBS Arena.
Capacity
UBS Arena is expected to have a capacity of 17,250 for hockey games, 18,000 for basketball games and between 15,000-19,000 for concerts.
There are 38 Belmont suites, 88 UBS Club Boxes, 18 Spotlight Suites and five clubs: the UBS Club, the Spotlight Club, the Dime Club, the Hyundai Club and the Verizon Lounge.
The arena has 68 guest-facing restrooms, including 12 designed for families and the most women's restrooms among all NHL arenas.
When it opens
The targeted opening date of UBS Arena is Nov. 19, 2021, for a private concert. Watch a live feed of the arena's construction here.
First NHL game
UBS Arena at Belmont Park will host its first NHL game on Nov. 20 when the Islanders face the Flames. The Isles opened the 2021-22 season on a 13-game road trip over five weeks to allow for construction to finish.
Islanders ticket pricing
The Islanders announced their season-ticket pricing plans on Sept. 30, 2020.
In the lower bowl, season tickets run from $250 per game — a limited number of seats along the glass — to $75 per game. In the upper bowl, the prices range from $29 to $82 per game, with some standing-room tickets available at $25. Premium and club season tickets will be available starting at $189 per game with additional benefits such as first access to concerts, food and non-alcoholic beverages. There are no personal seat licenses or multiyear commitments required.
Seat-selection priority is based on tenure, meaning season-ticket holders dating to the Islanders’ inaugural season in 1972 get first dibs.
Construction costs/funding
UBS Arena cost $1.1 billion to build. It is the centerpiece of a $1.3 billion development project at Belmont Park which also includes a 200-room hotel and 340,000 square feet of retail space. Construction on the hotel and retail space have not yet begun.
New York State owns the 43-acre plot of land at Belmont Park, while the arena is privately funded by New York Arena Partners, a joint venture between the owners of the Islanders, former Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon and Oak View Group, an arena development company.
The arena encompasses 700,000 square feet, including 80,000 square feet of premium space, a 23,000 square foot space for the Islanders and an 11,100 square foot space for performers.
It took 9,700 tons of steel, 750,000 bricks, 12,000 light fixtures, 93 different types of tile and 43 different paint colors to build UBS Arena. There are 9.7 miles of cooling pipe to keep the ice frozen, two miles of heating pipe under the floor and 55,000 lineal feet of copper embedded into the floor (to help create the ice floor).
10,000 gallons of water were used to create the ice surface.
More than 100 miles of data and technology cables are wired throughout the arena, which will have Verizon Ultra-Wideband 5G coverage.
The arena has 731 televisions and 40 LED boards throughout, as well as 45 HDR-capable LED scoreboard displays from Daktronics totaling more than 15,000 square feet and 34 million pixels. The scoreboard at center ice has 1080p resolution, and each of its four sides measure 42 feet by 27 feet.
Naming rights/sponsorships
UBS, a Switzerland-based bank, and New York Arena Partners agreed on a 20-year agreement for the arena naming rights on July 22, 2020.
The Islanders and Northwell Health agreed to a 10-year sponsorship deal for the arena on Oct. 6, 2020. Northwell Health, which also sponsors the Islanders’ practice facility in East Meadow, influenced the health and safety precautions — air circulation and ventilation, sanitization, employee checkpoints — being developed for UBS Arena.
Transportation
The LIRR has built a stop at Elmont, the first new, full-time station to be added to the system in nearly a half-century. The stop officially is named Elmont-UBS Arena Station after the MTA Board on Nov. 17 unanimously approved a $1.75 million, 10-year deal giving naming rights for the new station to New York Arena Partners.
Trains will stop at the station as well as the existing Belmont Park Station and Queens Village Station on event days only, but LIRR officials plan to eventually offer round-the-clock service.
Eastbound Hempstead branch trains are scheduled to begin servicing the new station beginning Saturday for the Islanders' home opener. Westbound service is expected to begin next summer.
There will be electric shuttle buses that will run between Elmont-UBS Arena Station and Queens Village Station to the arena, as well as from parking lots at the site to the arena.
The Islanders and the developers of UBS Arena entered into a partnership on Feb. 25, 2021, with Boston-based XL Fleet, a company that aims to create charging stations for 1,000 electric vehicles at the Belmont Park site. Project details have yet to be finalized and parking areas across the 43-acre site are being evaluated.
UBS Arena will be one of the first entertainment venues to offer license plate recognition technology at its on-site parking garage. Instead of manually inputting plate information on a website or app, a guest's plate is scanned when they enter the garage and pull their parking ticket. They can then scan a QR code on the ticket to pay, thus bypassing the pay station lines.
Food & drink
UBS Arena will have several Long Island-based selections among its concession offerings. The arena will have two outdoor terraces, including the Heineken Terrace, 8 bars which face the bowl, 13 food markets and six concession stands.
Among the confirmed local vendors: burgers and fries from The Harrison in Floral Park; brisket, burnt ends and pulled-pork sandwiches from Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque; and blue-and-orange bagels from Blue Line Deli & Bagels in Huntington.
The arena will also be the home of the New York debut of Big Chicken, a fast-casual chain started by former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal. It will be the only place you can get "The Islander," a fried chicken breast topped with Buffalo sauce, cream cheese and blue cheese and served on one of Blue Line's aforementioned blue-and-orange bagels.
Other fare includes Cereal Milk soft-serve from Manhattan bakery Milk Bar and Italian-style salumi from Sausage King of New York. UBS Arena also will offer street tacos, sushi, seafood, Chinese food, pizza, cheesesteaks, chicken tenders, ice cream, burgers and pretzels; plus halal, kosher, vegetarian and gluten-free fare.
Beverages will include canned cocktails, spiked seltzers, beer and soft drinks.
Food markets at the arena will have self-checkout, mobile ordering and other cashless payment technology.
Concerts
Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group, said on Oct. 6, 2020, that the venue had "40 dates on hold" for concerts and live entertainment in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The initial first concert announcement was The Weeknd on April 7, 2022, as part of his "After Hours World Tour." However, the show was canceled in October 2021 after the Grammy winner decided to move the entire tour out of arenas and into stadiums.
Here are the concerts confirmed to be happening at UBS Arena:
Harry Styles: Styles will perform the first concert at the arena on Nov. 28, 2021, the final night of his "Love on Tour" show. Tickets aee on sale at Ticketmaster.com.
Eric Church: The country singer will perform at UBS Arena on Dec. 4, 2021, as part of his "The Gather Again Tour". Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.
Genesis: The progressive pop-rock band from England returns with its comeback tour, "The Last Domino?" on Dec. 10. Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.
Imagine Dragons: The group will make its lone stop in the tri-state area on Valentine's Day 2022 when they play at UBS Arena as part of its 2022 Mercury Tour. Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.
New Kids on the Block: The group, with guest acts including Long Island Music Hall of Fame hip-hop duo Salt-N-Pepa, Rick Astley and En Vogue, will play at UBS Arena on June 30, 2022, as part of The MixTape Tour 2022. Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.
Roger Waters: The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, a co-founder of the legendary progressive-rock band Pink Floyd, will bring his pandemic-postponed "This Is Not a Drill" solo tour to the arena on Aug. 13, 2022. Tickets are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.
Sustainability
UBS Arena aims to be carbon-neutral by 2024, which would make it the first arena on the Eastern seaboard to do so.
The arena is on track to be LEED certified, as well as having a LEED certified pest management plan and green cleaning policy.
The building will have low-flow plumbing, reducing water consumption by 40% compared to similar-sized venues.
The lights (which are 100% LED within the building) will have occupancy-sensor technology, automatically turning off when not in use.
The arena will use compostable paper products, and there will be two streams of recycling and composting in all guest-facing locations.
75% of the food ingredients at the arerna will be sourced withiin a 300-mile radius and will be based on seasonality. The arena's concessionaire, Delaware North, is partnering with local and regional vendors to source products that fit the state's Taste of New York program. Ingredients will be sourced with credible certifications and eco-ratiings including USDA Organic, Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch rating, Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade-certified coffee.
UBS Arena and Delaware North will partner with local food pantries and the Rock and Wrap It Up program to donate surplus food.
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