Struggling hockey club turns to city for help
It’s a beast trying to make hockey survive in Brampton.
The OHL’s Battalion were forced to relocate to North Bay and now hockey’s economics are beating up on the Brampton Beast.
In a city of more than 500,000, the Beast are attracting an average of just 2,600 fans in a 5,000-seat arena, but general manager Cary Kaplan says the Beast are doing better at the gate than the Battalion ever did.
Losers on the ice and at the gate, the ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) team has run up about $4 million in losses over its three seasons at the Powerade Centre.
On Wednesday, the team asked for $1.5 million to cover losses for next season.
“It will stop the bleeding,” Kaplan told council.
He also asked the city to begin negotiations to buy the building from Realstar Group so it can get relief from the approximately $300,000 a year it pays in rent.
Council deferred those decisions until late February or early March so more financial information and feasibility studies can be produced.
“We are being cautious,” councillor Martin Medeiros told the Star.
Kaplan faces an ECHL deadline of Feb. 5 to file its financials for next season.
However, he got assurances from Mayor Linda Jeffrey that she will draft a letter to the ECHL on the Beast’s behalf for the Feb. 5 meeting. Kaplan hopes the ECHL will grant him an extension until council makes its decision.
“We will roll up our sleeves and work with you, but we need more information,” Jeffrey said.
The Beast’s break-even is around 4,500 fans a game, with single tickets going from $14 to $28. Naming rights could fetch an additional $600,000 per year.
Hockey in Brampton is “a hard sell,” councillor Medeiros said.
Not only are the Maple Leafs tough competition but Brampton has a high concentration of new Canadians and “hockey is not their first sport,” he said.
Councillors are concerned about the optics of supporting a private enterprise, especially in an environment where taxpayers are being asked for a 4.9 per cent tax increase.
Kaplan said the Battalion turned into a success in North Bay after they got several million dollars in support from the city.
“We need more time,” the GM told council. “We want to be here a long time. If we’re not here, nobody’s going to be here.”
Councillor Jeff Bowman said in an email the Beast produce economic spinoffs for the city, and the community goodwill they generate through appearances and charitable work “is fantastic.”
“We were only made aware of this issue last week,” he said, “so as a council and a city we need more information.”