Tombstone
Born: September 6, 2001 – AF2 expansion franchise.1Tsai, Michael. “Islanders to kick off in 2002”. The Star-Bulletin (Honolulu, HI). September 7, 2001
Folded: October 2004
First Game: March 30, 2002 (W 50-47 vs. Fresno Frenzy)
Last Game: July 31, 2004 (L 58-38 @ Bakersfield Blitz)
ArenaCup Championships: None
Arena
Neal Blaisdell Center (6,443)
Opened: 1964
Marketing
Team Colors: Red, Yellow & Black
Ownership
Owners: Charles Wang and Kimberly Dey
Background
The Hawaiian Islanders arena football team was a Honolulu-based entry in Arena Football 2 (AF2) the small market developmental spinoff of the original Arena Football League. The late Billionaire Charles Wang, then owner of the NHL’s New York Islanders, owned the team along with his daughter Kimberly. The AF2 franchise derived its name from the elder Wang’s hockey team.2Tsai, Michael. “Islanders to kick off in 2002”. The Star-Bulletin (Honolulu, HI). September 7, 2001 At the time, the elder Wang also owned the New York Dragons in the top-level Arena Football League, along with another 2002 AF2 expansion franchise, the New Haven Ninjas.
The Islanders played at the Neal Blaisdell Center, a 6,500-seat auditorium near downtown Honolulu.
On The Carpet
The Islanders were reasonably competitive in AF2 50-yard indoor football setting. The team’s best season was 2003, when they won their division with a 10-6 record and advanced to the 2nd round of the ArenaCup playoffs. They lost to the eventual champion Tulsa Talons in the quarterfinal round.
The End
The Islanders’ revenue was paltry in comparison to the team’s steep operating losses. By the end of the team’s third season in the summer of 2004, the club had $5.5 million in cumulative losses. But Charles Wang’s daughter Kimberly and his son-in-law Charles Dey, who handled the day-to-day operations of the club, acknowledged the team brought in just $651,000 in revenue in 2004. In the summer of 2004, Charles Wang issued a deadline for the team to secure $525,000 in corporate commitments for the 2005 season by September 30th or he would fold the team.3Kaneshiro, Jason. “Islanders faced with ultimatum”. The Star-Bulletin (Honolulu, HI). August 21, 2004
The ultimatum was apparently unsuccessful, as the Islanders folded in October 2004. Wang’s other AF2 club, the New Haven Ninjas, folded after one season in 2002. Wang sold off his primary indoor football investment, the New York Dragons, in 2008 shortly before the Arena Football League declared bankruptcy and ceased operations.
Trivia
Charles Wang later brought his son-in-law Chris Dey, the GM of the Hawaiian Islanders, to Long Island to work in the front office of the NHL’s New York Islanders. He served as the NHL team’s President from 2008 until 2010.
In Memoriam
Islanders owner Charles Wang died of lung cancer at the age of 74 on October 21, 2018. New York Times obituary.
Links
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