New arena lease key to Petes’ future
Landscape of junior hockey has changed so much that 2003 deal no longer works, says Dave Pogue
The financial and competitive viability of the Peterborough Petes is at stake as they enter negotiations on a new arena lease, says the OHL club’s president.
On Monday night city council approved a motion to allow the Petes to begin negotiating a new lease now rather than wait another year as outlined in the 20-year deal set to expire in 2023.
The 20-year term was a condition required by city council to approve a $13 million renovation to the Memorial Centre in 2003. The deal was also structured, say the Petes, to assist the city in paying the annual $947,000 debenture payment for the renovations.
The business and competitive landscape of junior hockey has changed so dramatically since 2003 that the deal no longer works for the Petes, said team president Dave Pogue.
Some aspects of the deal were amended in 2017 to allow the Petes to keep about $350,000 annually of the revenue it generates under the agreement.
“Not too many businesses in any industry are functioning today the same as they functioned in 2003,” said Pogue. “I can guarantee the folks who put this agreement together in 2003, on both sides, felt at the time they had covered off what they could foresee happening. But a lot has happened in the Canadian Hockey League in the last 18 years that no one saw coming.
“I’m talking in line of expenses and the change in the business landscape. They didn’t foresee this. Not to their fault. It’s like any business. You can plan for the future but you can’t control the future. Case in point, pandemic. It’s a different world.”
Pogue said the Petes would have asked for early negotiations without the COVID -19 pandemic.
“COVID has just made the whole situation worse, for everybody. I’m not pinning this on COVID. We would have been driving this road with or without it. Unfortunately it’s just created an even more slippery slope,” he said.
The 2003 deal was struck with the anticipation a new building would be ready or well into the planning stages in 2023. City council was supposed to select a potential site for a new arena last year but the decision has been delayed. Mayor Diane Therrien told The Examiner she’s having second thoughts about a PMC replacement.
Pogue said he sees a new agreement as a bridge deal until there are concrete plans for a new facility. “I think everybody knows we can’t continue to function in this building for another 20 years,” he said. “I would say it’s a bridge to what I hope will be some plans and some consideration for a future facility of some sort. I don’t expect them to come out tomorrow and say, ‘All right, we’re ready to go. We have plans for a new facility.’ I get that but we need to keep moving ahead.
“The people who negotiated this in 2003, and the people in charge, felt by 2020, 2021 we’d be at a different point in looking at a new facility. Unfortunately, we’re not there. We have to come up with a way to bridge that but I caution that we also need to continue to plan for the future with a new facility.”
The amendments in 2017 allowed the Petes to reinvest the money with a goal of creating more revenue for both the Petes and city. Pogue said they achieved that goal by improving attendance and advertising sales. Last season the revenues generated for the city had returned to the pre-amendment numbers, he said.
Pogue also stated in a letter to city staff that the 2003 agreement served its purpose in assisting the city to pay for the renovations. That’s why it’s time to turn the focus to a new agreement that ensures the Petes remain viable.
“The utmost priority is to keep the Peterborough Petes in the city of Peterborough,” he said. “We feel they are that important. It’s economic viability that is extremely important right at the moment but it goes handin-hand with the competitive nature of the teams that are within our league. It’s one and the same.
“We have a job to be the curators of the Peterborough Petes. It’s our responsibility to keep the Petes viable and to keep the Petes as part of the fabric of the city of Peterborough. We think that’s extremely important and we feel there are a lot of people out there who believe that’s important. I have no reason to believe that it’s not important to the city staff and councillors,” he said.
Pogue found it encouraging that city staff recommended, and council agreed, to allow the Petes to negotiate early.
“It allows us to go into the room and be good negotiating partners,” said Pogue.