Charles Wang, owner of professional hockey team New York Islanders, is planning to sell the team, according to a report by Bloomberg. The Islanders have not won in the playoff series of the National Hockey League (NHL) since Wang bought and acquired it in 2000. Wang is from China and owns a software company. He assumed principal ownership over the Islanders after the 2000 purchase.
The New York Islanders currently ranks No. 26 among 30 teams in the NHL. The team is valued at $195 million. In the 2012-2013 season, the Islanders earned $61 million in revenue and suffered $1.2 million in operating losses, Forbes magazine wrote.
Wang stated that he will "listen" to offers for the team and has seen several individuals and groups showing their interest to buy. However, he is merely "listening" to the offers and it is not conclusive whether any transaction will be finalized. The actual potential buyers remain unknown.
Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire and owner of the Brooklyn Nets, was asked if he plans to buy the New York Islanders. He replied through his spokesperson Ellen Pinchuk, who said that Prokhorov did not change his mind when he last said that he was not interested in owning a second sports team. The Islanders is bound to transfer into the Barclays Center in 2015, which is worth $1 billion and partly owned by Prokhorov. Wang leased the Barclays Center for 25 years for the Islanders.
MLSE former head Richard Peddie said that that the New York Islanders lack a sales force and a marketing force. Comparisons were made with other money-making hockey teams that operated under one ownership. According to Yahoo! Sports, the Islanders has been losing money in the past seasons, amounting to tens of millions of dollars each year.
The move to Barclays Center seems to be a viable option to improve the status of the team, experts said in a report by CBS Sports.