Scaled-down Nassau Coliseum still attractive to acts

A scaled-down Nassau Coliseum likely won't attract Rihanna or Beyoncé, but there still are plenty of acts that might want to play there.

Reducing the size of the Coliseum from its current 16,000 seats to 8,000-12,000 would put it into competition with Radio City Music Hall and the Theater at Madison Square Garden, which each has a capacity of about 6,000.

A scaled-down arena could be attractive to busy musical acts like fun. or Kelly Clarkson because it would allow them to sell as many tickets in one night at Nassau as two nights in a smaller venue. Carrie Underwood, who played Nassau in November, sold about 8,500 tickets. The show used a smaller-capacity configuration of 8,777 seats that night, according to Billboard magazine.

Nassau Coliseum has worked in smaller-capacity configurations for certain shows for years, usually moving the stage forward on the floor and using black curtains to conceal the empty sections behind it.