Hofstra to play Kentucky in first sporting event at new Nassau Coliseum
Jeffrey Hathaway, Vice President and Director of Hofstra Athletics speaks to the press during the Pride's men's and women's basketball media day on Thursday, October 22, 2015. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Hofstra men's basketball team will play perennial national power Kentucky in the first scheduled sporting event at the renovated Nassau Coliseum in December 2016, according to records obtained by Newsday.
"Obviously, we're very excited about it," Hofstra athletic director Jeffrey Hathaway said.
Nassau Events Center, the Brooklyn-based company that is spending $260.5 million to overhaul and downsize the Coliseum, announced Kentucky's involvement in the first Coliseum game last March. The Wildcats' opponent was not yet determined, NEC officials said at the time.
Hofstra's involvement was revealed in contracts Newsday obtained this week from the University of Kentucky in response to a public-records request. The game contract between Kentucky and Hofstra was signed Oct. 28.
The Hofstra-Kentucky game is scheduled to take place Dec. 10, 2016, with the contract between NEC and Kentucky saying this game potentially could turn into a college basketball doubleheader aired on one of ESPN's television channels.
NEC spokesman Barry Baum said Kentucky coach John Calipari pushed for Hofstra to be Kentucky's opponent "because he wanted to help raise the profile of the local school."
"Ever since my good friend Joey Dunleavy was an assistant for coach [Willem "Butch"] van Breda Kolff, I've been a fan of Hofstra," Calipari said in a statement. "Great school, great tradition and history."
NEC, which is run by the same company that operates Barclays Center, took control of the Coliseum on Aug. 1 and broke ground last week. A clause in the Hofstra-Kentucky contract calls for the game to be moved to Barclays Center if the Coliseum is not ready.
"Kentucky needed a fallback option because it makes its schedule far in advance," Baum said. "We're planning for the Coliseum to open in the winter of 2016 but if we happen to miss that Dec. 10 date, the game will still be played and it will be played at Barclays Center."
According to the contracts obtained by Newsday, Kentucky will receive a $350,000 appearance fee from NEC to play this game. Hofstra will receive $25,000 from Kentucky.
NEC, which holds a 34-year lease for the Coliseum from Nassau County, will keep all revenue from television, tickets, food, beverage, signage and sponsorship and a portion of Kentucky merchandise sales, according to the game contract.
Jim Baumbach is an award-winning investigative reporter at Newsday, where he has worked since 1998. He spent two decades in the sports department, where he covered every professional team and league, including events such as the Super Bowl and World Series.
