UBS Arena Spotlight, Part 1: New York Islanders Take Game-Day Entertainment to a Whole New Level

UBS Arena Spotlight, Part 1: New York Islanders Take Game-Day Entertainment to a Whole New Level The in-venue team is building up to the club's 50th anniversary in 2022-23 By Kristian Hern ndez, Associate Editor

Tuesday, April 19, 2022 - 11:34 am

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Less than six months after the New York Islanders' first-ever game vs. the Calgary Flames, Islanders fans are already enjoying UBS Arena at Belmont Park in Elmont, NY. After multiple false starts, games played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and a global pandemic, the completion of this project has been a long time coming for NHL fans in New York. Now settled into the team's new home, the club's game presentation department is looking to mix the energy of Nassau Coliseum with the industry's latest in-venue technologies.

It comes down to the fan feeling at home, says Ryan Halkett, SVP, event presentation and production experience, New York Islanders. We're not changing our traditions and production model even though we're in a new building.

For a more technological look into UBS Arena, click HERE.

Planning Phase: Staff Sets Sights on New Arena With In-Venue Wish List From a geographical standpoint, the Islanders have come quite a long way. From 1972 to 2015, the franchise won four Stanley Cups and hung multiple banners for iconic players in the rafters of Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. The next three seasons, from 2015 to 2018, would be spent 27 miles west in Brooklyn's Barclays Center. During the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, the squad split their home games between Uniondale and Brooklyn. In the last season before heading to UBS Arena, the Islanders reached the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals in front of full-capacity crowds at the Coliseum.

The $1.1 billion UBS Arena is the new home of the New York Islanders at Belmont Park.

Nicknamed The Old Barn, Nassau Coliseum gradually became an antiquated relic of the organization's glory days. When it was time to say goodbye to it, most of the technology was obsolete and in desperate need of a refresh.

Whether it was an older type of playback, a smaller switcher, or not enough replay machines, says Halkett, we were very limited in what we could do. Our team pushed that [control] room further than it should have been.

Having dealt with the old-fashioned equipment in the Coliseum control room, Halkett and his crew knew what they wanted when they made the move to UBS Arena. Their wish list of hardware and software pushed the team to envision the desired in-game show.

[Nassau Coliseum] helped us understand the equipment and capabilities that we needed to put on the show that we wanted, he says. We did so much research when we were at the Barn as well as at Barclays Center.

New York Islanders' Ryan Halkett leads the in-venue entertainment for all Islanders home games.

While still working with the older technology, the game presentation department began scripting out ideas for this year's show. The practice not only presented a goal that the crew could shoot for but also provided ample time to become familiar with the elements that would be played out with a full arsenal of surefire technology.

We put different systems in place, so that, when we did get [to UBS Arena], we were a little bit more familiar, says Halkett. There are a lot of examples where the Coliseum was a great training and planning ground.

Technologically, the in-venue show is supplemented by a substantial amount of LED from Daktronics (15,000 sq. ft., 34 million pixels in total), IP- and HDR-capable workflows, and a high-quality projection system from Panasonic. On the LED side, 45 displays are anchored by a centerhung videoboard comprising 12 displays (eight main ones at nearly 26 ft. high x 34.5 ft. wide, four corner displays at 26 ft. x 3 ft.) at 5.9 mm. The four underbelly displays at 8 ft. high x 23 ft. wide are also at 5.9 mm. In the control room, Diversified brought together the production tools that allow the enhancements. Located in New Jersey, the system integrator has a long-standing relationship with the NHL club.

Helping out the Islanders was one of the first jobs that we've ever done at Nassau Coliseum, says Chris Sullivan, VP, business development, sports and live events, Diversified. We were really happy to be part of this entire project.

In a New Home: Game-Day Show Offers Familiar Elements, New Activations After more than four decades with the Islanders in Uniondale, the team's fans have become accustomed to a passionate game-day atmosphere. Its unique culture has become synonymous with the fanbase, and anyone who knows the history of the NHL knows that an Islanders game is a different environment.

A 12-display centerhung videoboard anchors the 45 LED displays at UBS Arena.

In UBS Arena, major focal points offer nods to the fans who make the Islanders who they are, including images of cheering crowds throughout the spacious concourse and the names of every season-ticket holder of this inaugural season on a wall. In the $1.1 billion arena, attendees will recognize features from the $32 million edifice in Uniondale: the fans' singing of the national anthem, the original goal horns, chants, the playing of an organ, and the beloved Blue and Orange Army in Section 329. In this special group of fans, this venue reimagines a treasured postgame ritual.

After wins, [The Blue and Orange Army] put on a big postgame parade that goes from their section to out of the building, Halkett explains. We could never showcase this [at the Coliseum] because we didn't have cameras that went into the back of the concourse. We had four cameras [one hard, one robo, and two wired], but now we have a 21-camera show [four hards, two wireless, and 15 POVs]. When you add in network feeds, we have

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/04/19/ubs-arena-spotlight-part-1-new-...
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