As the New York Islanders await the opening of UBS Arena, fans are beginning to get a taste of what is to come through tour opportunities. I got to experience one of these tours and see the progress for myself.

The concrete floor of ice level has been poured, corporate partnerships with bars and scoreboards are coming to light, and seats are expected to be installed very soon.

It was incredible to see how much work goes into the process of construction, and it was a great sneak preview for what is to come next season. As the hype for UBS Arena grows, here’s a review of my tour.

Main Lobby

Although my look at the main concourse and lobby was brief, I could already tell that it is far more spacious than Nassau Coliseum. This concourse will rival some of the best buildings in the NHL. The layout for the grand entrance of the arena is also in place, as you can see in this picture. Fans will walk through a set of doors where escalators and a staircase will take them up to the lower bowl.

Between the upper and lower bowls is the suite level. A series of escalators will take you to that level after going left from the main staircase. We weren’t able to see much to the right of the stairs, but we can assume that there will likely be a bar or club area in that area, as well as some views of the ice. Take out all the construction materials and you could get a taste of how much larger this concourse is than the Coliseum’s.

Heineken Terrace

One of the more recently unveiled features of UBS Arena is the Heineken Terrace, announced after the arena’s new sponsorship deal with the beverage company. The agreement made the company the official beer and seltzer sponsor of the Islanders, and with this new deal came its own area. The Heineken Terrace will be one of two outdoor terraces in the arena. The area is very spacious, despite the ongoing construction. Most recently, the arches and steel framing of the terrace went up.

In addition to the indoor section, there was also an outdoor deck that led toward the grandstands of the Belmont Racetrack. Even if you weren’t outdoors, the views of the nearby park are fantastic. It may not have been the most scenic part of the tour, you could get a sense of how much space fans can get when on the terrace.

Seating Bowls

I saw both a view from the top of the lower bowl and from the entrance of the upper bowl. However, the upper bowl view is what impressed me the most. It didn’t feel high at all. The sightlines look great for where they are. We couldn’t go into the upper portion of the bowl, but it looks like you’ll be right on top of the action as well.

The lower bowl is still a work in progress. There are still sections of retractable seats missing, but that will have to wait until the concrete floor is finished drying. The upper bowl is just about done and is waiting for workers to install the seats.

But check out the right side of the arena. Hovering over the home team’s endzone will be the Tailgate Bar. You can spot it where the concrete slabs get thicker over the large gap in the lower bowl. There will also be a set of projectors above the seats in the upper bowl, which happens to be section 329

Even though UBS Arena is still a work in progress, the tour was a great taste of what’s to come. It was brief, and somewhat limiting in what I could see, but what I saw was definitely worth it.

In fact, the arena will likely see some major changes soon. The frames for the chairs will be fully laid out for installation, the scoreboard will likely be built after the floor is ready, and the furnishing of the arena will begin soon.

Overall, the arena is still an eyesore at the moment. However, UBS Arena will become the best arena in the National Hockey League, and the tour is just a preview for the future of the New York Islanders.

Matthew Page

I am a first year student at Hofstra University and an avid Islanders fan. I have been writing for Drive4Five since March 2020. My family has been season ticket holders for the team since 2016, and hockey is my favorite sport. As I expand my knowledge in the field of Journalism, I am writing to express my love for the Islanders and the NHL.