A Charles Wang line that once captured a rough stretch for the Islanders just resurfaced in a very different setting: ESPN’s Jeopardy!
On a recent episode of the show, which streams on Hulu, contestants were given the quote: "If I had the chance, I wouldn't buy this hockey team again." The expected response was: "Who are the New York Islanders?" and Peter Schrager, the NFL insider, got in with the right answer.
For Islanders fans who remember that era, the clue landed immediately. The quote goes back to 2009, when Wang was talking candidly about the headaches that came with owning the franchise.
At the time, a recent Ernst & Young audit had found that Wang had been losing money since buying the team and was $100M in the red over the previous years. Forbes also reported that the Islanders were worth $16M less than what Wang paid for them in 2000.
Wang became the majority owner in 2001 and spent the next several years trying to steady a franchise that was struggling on and off the ice. He gave Mike Milbury the freedom to swing big on trades, and the team made the playoffs in three straight seasons beginning in 2002, then again in 2007, before the wheels started coming off again.
His ownership era hit another major snag in 2011, when the Lighthouse Project was rejected by Nassau County voters. The plan called for a new arena, retail space and other development around Nassau Coliseum, and when it failed at the ballot box, the Islanders were left without a long-term home.
Wang could have moved the team to places like Kansas City or Quebec City, but instead he chose a temporary stay at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. It wasn’t a perfect hockey building, but it kept the Islanders in the New York metropolitan area while a more permanent answer was sorted out.
That path eventually opened the door for Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky to take majority ownership and help bring UBS Arena to Elmont, which opened in 2021.
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