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Nassau Coliseum shutting down leaving Islanders in the lurch

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TJ Tucker
June 16, 2020  (12:57)
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Bad news for the New York Islanders as the arena the team was supposed to play in while a new one is being built is shutting off the lights indefinitely. According to multiple reports, Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim Sports and Entertainment, which operates the arena under a lease from Nassau County, is shutting down the building while it seeks investors to take over operations and pick up the remaining debt on it.

The New York Islanders played at the Coliseum from 1972 to 2015 before moving to Brooklyn's Barclays Center. It then split its home games between the Coliseum and Barclay's Center in 2018 and 2019. However, the team was supposed to return to the Coliseum full-time next season for at least one more year until the completion of its new Belmont Park Arena.

According to reports, the team is refusing to comment on the situation at this time.

Onexim has told potential investors that it would turn over the lease on the building in return for assuming roughly $100 million in loans on the property. Prokhorov is worth $11.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

All four of the Islander Stanley Cups were won at Nassau Coliseum.