Charles Wang - New York Islanders

New York Islanders

Charles Wang is currently the majority owner of the New York Islanders hockey franchise, of which he had become a part-owner in 2000. He later bought out the share of business partner Sanjay Kumar in 2004, and acquired the New York Dragons Arena football franchise. He is the master developer of the Lighthouse, a property transformation of the Nassau Coliseum and surrounding 150 acres (0.61 km2). The project was to include a five-star hotel; condominiums; an athletic complex featuring four ice rinks, a basketball facility, and a state-of-the-art health club that would have served as the Islanders’ practice facility and also be open to the public. The development would also have included a sports technology center, open-air plaza, and conference center. The project was deemed to be too large by the Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, who made a counter-proposal that was about half the size of what Wang had originally intended. Wang balked at Murray's proposal, and decided to try to finance the building of a new arena for the Islanders with public funds, rather than paying for himself as part of the Lighthouse Project. In May 2011, Mr. Wang, along with Nassau County started an 82-day campaign for a $400 million bond to fund a new arena for the Islanders, as their lease on the Coliseum ends in 2015. On August 1, 2011, the proposal was defeated by a margin of 57% to 43%.

Wang initially had a willingness to spend money with the goal of making the Islanders competitive; however, recent team payrolls have only barely scrapped the cap floor. He also has a reputation for making decisions that go against conventional wisdom. Occasionally these unorthodox decisions, such as hiring Ted Nolan as coach, receive praise. Others inspire criticism that Wang is being contrarian for its own sake and not following logic or reason (i.e. retaining Mike Milbury as general manager of the Islanders despite numerous poor decisions and trades that were detrimental to the team).

Wang hired Neil Smith as the Islanders' general manager during the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, but 40 days later Smith was fired due to his unwillingness to adhere to the "management by committee" style of Wang. According to Smith, every decision he made had to be passed before a committee which included Wang and certain other non-hockey executives. Wang then gave the job to Garth Snow, who subsequently retired from his playing position as the team's backup goaltender. Wang said that "philosophical differences" were the basis for firing Smith. This series of personnel moves inspired a critical and incredulous reaction from hockey journalists.

On September 12, 2006, Wang and GM Snow signed goaltender Rick DiPietro to a 15-year, $67.5 million contract. The length of the deal, as well as Wang's signing of Alexei Yashin to a 10-year contract a few years before, have added to the controversy.

A Forbes article investigated why certain NHL franchises could remain profitable despite poor attendance and overall league unprofitability. They found that several league owners under-reported their cable broadcast revenue; they specifically accused Wang of excluding half of the $17 million paid to the Islanders for the 2003 cable broadcast season.

Wang has stated that he regrets buying the team and would not do so if he could choose again. Jeff Wilpon, the COO of Major League Baseball's New York Mets discussed the possibility of buying the Islanders from Wang and moving them adjacent to the Mets' home ballpark, Citi Field in Flushing, Queens. There were also reports that businessman Nelson Peltz wanted to buy the Islanders from Wang and move them to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. On October 24, 2012, Wang announced that the Islanders would move to the Barclays Center in 2015, after the end of their lease at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.