New York Islanders fans have found a new way to stretch game day into a full outing, and the best part is that the extra stop next to UBS Arena doesn’t cost anything at the door.
Belmont Park racetrack, freshly renovated and now open again, has quickly become a pregame hangout for Islanders supporters heading to home games in Elmont. The appeal is simple: on days when racing and Islanders home dates overlap, fans with tickets to that night’s game can get complimentary general admission to the track.
Belmont Park reopened Sept. 18 after a three-year, $555 million redevelopment, and the timing has given fans another place to go hours before puck drop. The free admission is offered through the Islanders’ game-day email, which provides a link and promotional code. Without the deal, regular admission is $7 in advance or $10 at the gate.
The response has already shown up in the numbers. According to Dickson, 205 Islanders ticket holders used the offer before the Oct. 10 game against Tampa Bay.
For some fans, the track visit is already becoming part of the routine.
Brooklyn season-ticket holders Michelle Aileen and Colleen Smith told Newsday they had been to Belmont Park three or four times before Islanders games this season.
"This is what we plan on doing now before every game," Aileen said.
There is one catch. The promotion does not cover parking, and fans also need to watch the rules around leaving cars in Belmont Park’s Silver lot during Islanders games. General admission parking is $8.38 in advance or $10 on race day.
Even with that wrinkle, the setup gives Islanders fans something a little different: an afternoon at the races, then a walk over for an NHL game. For anyone already making the trip to UBS Arena, it turns game night into a longer day without adding to the admission tab.
In Other News...
Islanders Face A Brutal Road Test With One Lineup Question Looming
The Islanders wrapped up practice at Northwell Health Ice Center with a long trip looming, a three-game Western Conference swing that begins in Dallas and asks plenty of a team still sorting out its forward mix. Pete DeBoer said Mathew Barzal, Cal Ritchie and Matias Maccelli will not travel, leaving New York to lean on the players available as it heads into one of the tougher stretches of the schedule.
Brayden Schenn has already slid back to center after Ritchies injury and has looked comfortable there alongside Emil Heineman and Victor Eklund, which gives the Islanders at least one line that seems to be settling in. The bigger question is how long they can keep that structure intact, especially with Ritchie sidelined by a lower-body injury and the lineup still feeling a little too fluid for comfort. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Still Stuck Waiting On A Real Mathew Barzal Update
The Islanders are still waiting for a meaningful update on Mathew Barzal, and for now the most important detail is the one they still do not have. Barzal remains sidelined with knee inflammation, leaving the club without its top playmaker and without a firm sense of when he might be available again.
There has been some small progress, with Barzal skating lightly on his own as the inflammation has eased, but he is still not close to returning. For a team trying to steady its lineup, the absence has become a lingering source of uncertainty, and the lack of a timeline only keeps that concern hanging over the roster a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Still Have Unfinished Business With Rantanen After Roy's Exit
Mikko Rantanens hit from behind on Alexander Romanov last season remains one of those moments that still lingers around the Islanders, especially because of how forcefully Patrick Roy reacted in the aftermath. Roy is no longer behind the bench, but the memory of that sequence has hardly faded for a team that took the incident personally and has had to carry the consequences ever since.
Romanov is now sidelined again, this time with a torn ACL, and the Islanders are heading toward their next meeting with the Stars without both the defenseman and the coach who made his feelings so clear. Even with the personnel changes, the game still carries a little edge for New York, which will be looking for a response that shows the group can absorb another setback and keep moving. [Read more 🡒]