Union Bank of Switzerland, better known as UBS, has secured a 20-year arena naming partnership with the New York Islanders for the NHL club’s new arena at Belmont Park set to open for the 2021-22 season.
UBS is the world’s largest wealth manager and is involved in almost all major financial activities ranging from retail and commercial banking to investment banking, management and wealth management.
“This is just another major piece to the foundation of the Islanders, the arena in Belmont, Long Island, and the whole New York metropolitan area moving forward,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.
“UBS Arena will stand as a beacon of strength, resilience, achievement and community, and we look forward to celebrating this milestone with our loyal fans,” Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky said in a statement.
The $1.5 billion, state-of-the-art arena provides the Islanders with a first-class home for the first time since the very beginning of the organization’s existence back in 1972.
The Nassau Coliseum, which served as the Islanders’ original home until 2015, had received no major upgrades or renovations in its over-40-year history, forcing the team to move to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
After the relationship between the club and the Brooklyn venue soured, the Islanders returned home to the Coliseum to split its regular-season schedule last year and during the 2019-20 season. Before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the NHL, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the Islanders would play all of their games at the Coliseum next season.
In June, however, the venue’s billionaire operator, Mikhail Prokhorov, shuttered the doors of the Coliseum indefinitely until an investor takes over the lease while assuming the $100 million in debt — thus calling into question where the Islanders will play their games next season.
Upon the NHL’s restart on Aug. 1, the Islanders — along with the other qualified Eastern Conference teams — will begin their best-of-five qualifying tournament against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic effectively stopping on-site construction for nearly four months, UBS Arena is still on pace to open its doors for the 2021-22 season.
This story originally appeared on amny.com.
