UBS Arena averaged 16,558 for the 40 regular-season Islanders games this season, or “96% of the arena’s 17,255 capacity"Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
The Islanders “experienced an uptick” in second-half attendance at UBS Arena after
the hiring of coach Patrick Roy in January and the team's late-season push to make the playoffs, according to Laura Albanese of NEWSDAY. Attendance was “down nearly 5%” past the midway point of the 2024 season, and the numbers “were the lowest” in the three-year history of the arena. UBS averaged 16,558 for the 40 regular-season Islanders games this season, or “96% of the arena’s 17,255 capacity.” That is 153 fewer fans per game than last season, and 527 fewer fans per game since the arena’s inaugural season in 2021. But over the final 12 home games of the regular season, the Islanders averaged 17,195 fans per game with 11 sellouts, resulting in an attendance "average increase of 5.43%" compared with the first 28 games. Both home playoff games against the Hurricanes were also sellouts. Before Roy's hiring, the Islanders averaged 16,075 fans per game, with half of those 22 games being sellouts. In the 18 home games with Roy behind the bench, the Islanders “drew 17,150 fans on average," including 16 sellouts. The Islanders were one of just seven NHL teams to “see an average attendance decline for home games" (
NEWSDAY, 6/20).
