Hofstra University, the New York Islanders and UBS Arena have announced a partnership that will offer students internships with the team as a pathway into “the next generation of sports and entertainment leaders.”

Under the five-year agreement, Hofstra will be the official university partner of the Isles and UBS Arena. The agreement also offers students, faculty and staff at Hofstra special access to discounted tickets to Islanders home games. Also, full-time employees of the Islanders, UBS Arena and Oak View Group, the venue’s development and operating partner, will be eligible for graduate-tuition reimbursement to pursue a degree at Hofstra.

A handful of undergraduate and graduate students will be selected for paid internships to run annually from October through March, and possibly into the NHL playoff season, Terry Coniglio, vice president for marketing and communications at Hofstra, told Newsday in a telephone interview. Five interns from the Hempstead university’s schools of business and communication have already begun their work for the 2025-26 season, and the school is seeking a sixth.

“The interns are working in things like video production, game-day production, social media and on the operations side,” Coniglio said. “They’re helping get those segments together for in-between plays at the game.”

The arrangement will offer “unmatched, hands-on professional experiences” that will help develop students into “the next generation of sports and entertainment leaders,” Kelly Cheeseman, president of business operations for the Islanders and UBS Arena, said in a joint news release from the three partners.

These experiences will set “Hofstra students apart in a very competitive field,” Mark Lukasiewicz, dean of the university’s Lawrence Herbert School of Communication, said in a statement emailed to Newsday through a spokesperson.

“Working alongside professionals in sports media, public relations and production will give our students real-world experience and industry connections that build on the hands-on learning we deliver at Hofstra,” Lukasiewicz added.

Through the internship program, students “will not only gain invaluable business experience but also contribute to the success of two organizations that are important to Long Island’s economy and culture,” Janet Lenaghan, dean of Hofstra’s Frank G. Zarb School of Business, said in a similarly issued statement.

As part of the agreement, Islanders and UBS Arena executives will also appear on campus annually for guest lectures. The speakers and topics for the first of these lectures have not yet been determined, Coniglio said.

Other representatives from the team and the arena will also partner with university classes, where they will present problems they encounter working in the professional world that the students must research and attempt to solve, according to Coniglio.

The five-year partnership will provide Hofstra students, staff and faculty access to a “dedicated ticket portal offering preferred pricing” for select Islanders games in Elmont, the release states. 

The arrangement will also bring together the Isles mascots — Nyisles the fisherman and Sparky the dragon — and those that root for Hofstra’s students — Kate the lioness and Willie the lion — for campus and community events.

“I am very excited about this partnership with the New York Islanders and UBS Arena, and the opportunities it will provide our students,” Hofstra University President Susan Poser said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Collaborations like this prepare students for success and grow Hofstra’s network on Long Island and beyond.”

Nicholas Grasso covers breaking news for Newsday. A Long Island native, he previously worked at several community newspapers and lifestyle magazines based on the East End.