Opened in 2021, it is the home of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Nassau Coliseum and Barclays Center.

[11] In June 2010, FanHouse reported that Wilpon and his father, then-Mets owner Fred Wilpon, had begun working with real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle (who also worked on the renovation of Madison Square Garden) on a feasibility study of a new Islanders arena in Queens.

[14] On July 12, 2010, Hempstead supervisor Kate Murray announced an "alternate zone" created for the Coliseum property, downsizing the original Lighthouse Project to half its proposed size and making the project, according to then-Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and the developers, "economically unviable for both the developer and owner of the site".

[17] Meanwhile, a group led by Bruce Ratner (who had developed Barclays Center) secured an $89 million bid to renovate the Coliseum, aiming to host a minor hockey team as its main tenant, and have six Islanders games played there per season.

It was attended by New York state governor Andrew Cuomo, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, and officials, alumni, and current players from the Islanders.

[26] In February 2020, it was announced that beginning with the 2020 playoffs, the Islanders would temporarily return to the Coliseum for all home games before moving to the Belmont Park arena for the 2021–22 season.

UBS Arena formally opened on November 19, 2021, with a private fundraising event featuring rock band Chicago.

[37] The first Stanley Cup playoffs game at UBS Arena took place on April 21, 2023, when the Islanders defeated the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 5–1.

[39] The Professional Women's Hockey League's (PWHL) New York Sirens will hold some of its home games at UBS Arena starting on January 10, 2024.

The first college basketball game at UBS Arena was played on December 3, 2021, between the nearby St. John's Red Storm and the Kansas Jayhawks as part of the annual Big East–Big 12 Battle.

[43] The New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) moved its 2024 Commissioner's Cup championship game against the Minnesota Lynx to UBS Arena on June 25, as the Liberty's home arena of Barclays Center was set to host the 2024 NBA draft the following night.

There are also two "neutral site" events during the season, which culminates at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October to determine the PBR Team Series Champion.