The Good Views and Bad Views About Barclays Center
Squeezing a 200-foot-by-85-foot rink into a space designed for a 94-foot-by-50-foot basketball court was bound to cause some issuesOn Oct. 9, when the Islanders open the regular season in their new home against the Chicago Blackhawks, the fans in Brooklyn will be able to agree on at least one thing: Barclays Center is not Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The real question is whether that is a good thing.
The Coliseum, where the Islanders played from 1972 to last season, was dark, cramped—and familiar. For those who saw Al Arbour’s teams win four Stanley Cups between 1980 and 1983, it was akin to watching Bruce Springsteen play a local dive bar.
Barclays Center was primarily built to house the NBA’s Nets, who have played there since 2012. So squeezing a 200-foot-by-85-foot hockey rink into a space that is normally occupied by a 94-foot-by-50-foot basketball court was bound to cause some peculiarities.
That it has—most notably the sections of seats at the west end, which have a steep viewpoint down toward the nearest net. Those notwithstanding, the arena still boasts some of the best seats in the NHL.
For hockey games, Barclays Center offers about 400 seats with obstructed views, in addition to a number of seats that have “limited views,” according to an Islanders spokeswoman. Any such tickets will be marked with that information, and in many cases, the limitations are negligible.
Those with obstructed views (most of which are on the west end) can catch all the action they miss on the massive scoreboard that hangs over the ice-one of several modern improvements over the Coliseum and its antiquated model.
To assess the problem areas, every seat was graded on a scale from 1 to 5 to determine pricing. When a view was obstructed or limited in any way, the corresponding seat was made “a little bit more affordable,” said Fred Mangione, COO of Barclays Center.
The overall affordability of Islanders tickets is, like anything, a matter of perspective. A lifelong Islanders fan might complain about the average price of $85 per ticket, but that ranks near the middle of the league’s pricing spectrum, according to a Barclays Center spokeswoman. (An NHL spokeswoman said the league doesn’t produce a comparative ticket pricing grid of their markets).
Barclays Center and the Islanders worked with the NHL to help determine ticket pricing, but they also reached out to the Long Island Rail Road and the team’s fans to help with other logistics.
It was actually the fans who insisted on 7 p.m. starts. “They said if they do have to come from Long Island to get here, ‘We’d rather leave work a little early,’” said Mangione.
Getting to Barclays is a bit easier than expected because, as Mangione said, the LIRR will “staff every night like it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup.”
For some fans, like 19-year-old Bridget Kelly and her father, Tom, getting to games has become more difficult. “I got to take a train that transfers at Jamaica to get to a game that was five minutes from my house [last year],” Bridget said.
Others don’t mind swapping their cars and a large parking lot for a short train ride. “That could be worse,” said Tom LoFaso, a member of the Blue and Orange Army fan group that now inhabits section 229 at Barclays Center. “It’s relatively easy and simple.”
For some, the commute is cheaper. According to the Blue and Orange Army’s Victoria Dee, a Roslyn Heights native who goes by “Mom” among Islanders fans, her senior fare on the train ($11.50 round trip) is a nice reduction from the Coliseum’s old $15 parking fee.
But she does have a few complaints. She was upset that she wasn’t permitted to walk from her seat down to ice level to watch her Islanders warm up before Monday’s preseason game against Washington. “That’s terrible,” said Dee. “We want to see them warm up. The guys know us. They throw us pucks. We had a good time [at the Coliseum].”
There is plenty of good news, though, particularly for the fans who couldn’t go another year using the Nassau Coliseum bathrooms.
“It’s weird,” LoFaso said of the Barclays Center. “I’m not used to having nice things. It’s really nice not having to wait a period and a half to use the bathroom.”
As for the unusual seating arrangements, here’s a look at some of the quirkier areas of the Islanders’ new home:
Section 201: Even in the upper level at Barclays Center, the west goal is obstructed in some areas, forcing fans to divide their gaze between the scoreboard and the ice.
“It’s kind of difficult to see the goaltending and everything and the action that’s happening on this side,” said Kevin Felicien, a Brooklyn resident who became an Islanders fan last year. “You kind of get used to it.”
Section 225: Center ice is always great, and while the television cameras could limit some views, there are some relatively inexpensive seats.
“We said we probably picked the best seats, because this is a bargain,” said Tom Agostino Sr., who paid $35 a ticket, per game, for a season package. Agostino was initially told he would have a limited view, but upon arriving, he was pleasantly surprised. “You can catch all the action.”
Section 229: If you remember the constant noise emanating from section 329 in the Coliseum, the faces and voices in this section will be very familiar. Only now, the Blue and Orange Army is competing with a larger, more cavernous building.
“The ceilings are higher, the sound doesn’t hold as much here, so we just got to step our game up,” said LoFaso.
This section, like several others, supposedly contains “limited views,” but LoFaso wasn’t complaining about his perspective.
“It’s really not that bad,” he said. “I can see the ice, both nets. That’s all I really need to watch a hockey game.”
Visiting fans should avoid Section 229.
Section 1: Fans in this section will be raised about 25 feet above the west end, with a unique view of center ice and the east net, where the Islanders will shoot during the first and third periods.
Unfortunately, the section has a blind spot that includes the entire west goal. So in overtime and in shootouts, when the Islanders are going west, fans in this section will spend some nervous moments glaring at the scoreboard.
The section is adjacent to the main exit, so at least these fans can easily catch their subway or train after the final horn.
Section 3: This corner area (sold as season tickets) is said to have “limited view” as it juts toward the ice, but it might also boast the best seats in all of hockey.
“Awesome view,” said Louis Weber of Staten Island. “If you’re a hockey fan, this is the best view in the building… No obstruction here. You can look out over the ice.”
What makes these seats appealing (as well as those in section 29 on the opposite side) is that they feel as though they’re floating over one corner of the rink. What’s more, the Islanders will be shooting at this end in overtime and during shootouts.
Glass seats: Because of the unique dimensions of Barclays Center, 150 front-row seats were raised 3 feet, which is unique to say the least.
“Normally when you sit behind the glass, you feel like you’re literally, like, sunk down, where you’re at eye level,” Mangione said. “Here, when you’re sitting there, you’ll literally be able to look down and see the puck and everything right in front of you.”
Draft Ops Ice Club: Those willing to pay around $300 can sit in private bleachers directly behind the west net in addition to being granted access to Calvin Klein Club (which has unlimited food), as well as the opportunity to become a Billboard Lounge member.
www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-and-worst-seats-in-hockey-1443832148