On December 20, 2017, a development team led by the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders said that it will invest $1 billion in private funds to transform Belmont Park into a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment destination, including construction of an 18,000-seat arena that will bring the hockey club back to Long Island. The Islanders moved to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in 2015 after playing more than 40 years at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. The team plans to break ground on the year-round arena in the spring of 2018 and open the building in 2020.