#Islanders at Belmont: Team reveals its new arena name

“#Islanders at Belmont: Team reveals its new arena name”

July 23, 2020 | 1:34am

It’s a new era for the Islanders at Belmont.

Not just in name, as the team announced Swiss-based investment bank UBS secured the naming rights to its new arena on Long Island, but in the perception surrounding the team, too. Co-owner Jon Ledecky believes the new facility, coupled with a partnership with UBS, will help usher in top-level talent to the Islanders.

“What it does for us as a team, it takes the discussion away of agents telling their players, ‘Hey you don’t want to go play on Long Island because the Nassau Coliseum is a dump. And there isn’t a state-of-the-art practice facility,’ which we also have now,” Ledecky told The Post on Wednesday. “So, we’ve taken all those discussion points that were sort of burdening the Islanders fans. … We’ve taken all that away. And now that focus should be on trying to win that fifth Cup.”

The Islanders partnered with advisory firm Oak View Group for the project, and UBS Arena is expected to be finished in time for the 2021-22 season.

The move represents a departure from many of the team’s flaws in recent years. As such, the group believes UBS is the perfect partner to bring the Islanders into the future.

“If I would’ve gone to you and said ‘Hey, how would you like to go spend a billion-and-a-half-dollars, be the fourth arena in the marketplace, with a team that is the only team in the NHL that doesn’t have a home. That had a shrinking fan base, not a growing fan base at one point, that had been through more owners than I could count. … Are you in?’ Chances are good not many companies would say ‘I’m all in, let’s go,’” Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke told The Post Wednesday. “What we found in UBS is the right partner that is like-minded for us, which is ‘Don’t make a decision on today. Make a decision on tomorrow.’”

Ledecky wants to bring back the raucous atmosphere the Islanders grew accustomed to at Nassau Coliseum, but with a vastly improved infrastructure and game-day experience.

Simply put, the Islanders want a home-ice advantage fans can be proud of once again.

“If you build something spectacular in the world’s greatest marketplace, which New York is, then everyone will come and they’re going to want to be a part of it,” Leiweke said. “That’s our bet.”