The Seating at UBS Arena Is Perfect for Islanders Games
UBS Arena has enough seating to accommodate over 17,000 people for the New York Islanders’ games. With nearly 3,000 more seats than Nassau Coliseum and four different levels of seating, you would think that there would be some bad seats. However, there are not. Every single seat at UBS Arena has an unobstructed view and makes you feel close to the ice, no matter how high your seat may be. After all, UBS Arena’s slogan is, “Made for Music, Built for Hockey.”
Seating in the 300’s
I am a season ticket holder and have what are usually considered the worst seats in the house. My tickets are for the ninth row in section 316. In other words, the last row in the highest section located by one of the rink’s corners. In Nassau Coliseum, sitting in the last row was not ideal. The ceiling and banners would obstruct your view and you felt far away from the ice. Barclays Center was even worse. It was notorious for having horrible seating for hockey games — and having steep stairs.
However, at UBS Arena, last row seating is great. The ceiling is low enough to replicate the noise of the Coliseum. But it is high enough where it does not interfere with your line of view when watching the Islanders play.
UBS Arena was also designed to be wide instead of tall. The logic behind this decision was that it would make the highest seats feel much closer to the ice than they actually were. And as someone who has sat in the highest seats for every Islanders’ game so far, I can say that goal was accomplished.
The Metal Wall
One of the many cool features at UBS Arena is the wall in the back of the 300’s section. It is made of metal with slits in it and makes a very loud noise when banged on. Fans sitting in the upper section will hit this wall to cheer for the Isles and get the crowd going. When people come to Islanders’ games and hear it for the first time, they always talk about how cool it is and how much they love it.
Writing about the metal wall does not do it the justice it deserves. It is one of those things that you need to experience in-person. While it is such a simple feature, it truly adds so much to the atmosphere at UBS Arena and enhances the experience of sitting in the upper bowl.
I am a huge Islanders fan and love spreading my passion for the team here at Drive4Five. Along with writing, I also co-manage the Drive4Five TikTok and Facebook accounts.
