Comptroller: Nassau Better Off Without NHL Season

It turns out hockey's return to the Nassau Coliseum may not be as welcomed as expected.

The same week it was announced that the National Hockey League had reached a tentative deal that would end the league's lockout, Nassau Comptroller George Maragos said the county "may be" better off without the NHL this season.

While the difference in loss of revenue is minuscule between having the season and canceling it, Maragos said other events that could be booked at the Coliseum if a full-season lockout were to occur would see a bigger crowd.

"If they do in fact settle, then the loss could be less than $500,000 because we would have the benefit of half of season," Maragos told Patch Thursday before the lockout was settled. "If they actually cancel the season, we may be a little better off because the Islanders are not a big draw compared to other events."

Maragos continued by saying that even if the entire season had been canceled, the county was looking at losses of $500,000 or less. The monetary losses are all in terms of ticket tax and Nassau's share of parking and concessions.

The estimates are based on a full season, in which the county would normally earn approximately $2.6 million in total revenues from the Coliseum, Maragos said.

But the Islanders are more than the sum of their parts. Long Island Association Chief Economist Pearl M. Kamer told Patch that the lockout also impacted nearby businesses dependent on the Coliseum crowd.

“That’s had an impact on the businesses around them: The restaurants, the hotels where people might stay overnight if they go to a game,” Kamer said.

The comptrolller said that Sunday's decision to end the lockout was important to the county because the Coliseum could not be booked while the NHL season was in limbo.

"[Due to] the lockout, which has been kind of month-to-month, it has not allowed the operator to book other events," Maragos said.

The timing of Sunday's tentative deal on the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NHL Players' Association, which still needs to be ratified by both sides, will allow for what experts are projecting to be a 48- to 50-game season.

No official word has been given on when the first game at the Nassau Coliseum will take place.