Beast of financial burden still in play

After four seasons the Brampton Beast are steadily growing their attendance, but still losing money.

The Montreal Canadiens’ ECHL affiliate averaged 3,106 spectators at home games last season, but projects to lose $750,000 in 2017-18.

So this summer the Beast are seeking investors to buy a 49-per-cent stake in the club as long as prospective buyers heed two important caveats: No one investor can buy more than 10 per cent, and all must live in the GTA.

While the team’s current owner, Gregg Rosen, lives in Kingston, proponents of the sale think local ownership will provide a path to profitability by increasing the team’s footprint in Ontario’s fastest-growing city.

As of the last census, 594,000 people lived in Brampton. Chamber of commerce member Tina Larsen says more of them would come to hockey games if fellow Bramptonians invested in the team and helped raise its profile.

“You bring that entrepreneurial view to a team and that’s a big benefit,” says Larsen, a construction business owner who is interested in buying into the Beast.

“(Profitability) is a small enough mountain that it can be climbed in a year or two.”

The Beast debuted in 2013 as part of the now-defunct Central Hockey League, filling a void created when the Ontario Hockey League’s Battalion moved to North Bay. When declining attendance prompted the Battalion to relocate, management cited Brampton’s demographics as an obstacle to selling hockey.

According to the 2011 census, 38.4 per cent of Brampton’s population is South Asian, compared with 32.9 per cent who identified as white.

But Beast president and GM Cary Kaplan says his club has never struggled to sell tickets across ethnic lines. After averaging 2,233 per game in their debut season, the Beast saw attendance climb to 2,572 in year two and 2,784 in 2015-16. Last season, the club filled the 5,000-seat Powerade Centre to 62 per cent of capacity.

“We find there’s a huge number of South Asian fans,” Kaplan says. “We can still do a better job, but there’s a huge cross-section of fans.”

The 49-per-cent stake that’s up for sale is based on an $8-million valuation, which the team reached when comparing itself to recently sold OHL teams.

But experts wonder how accurate that estimate is given the club’s struggle to grow its footprint in a region saturated with entertainment options, and to monetize other aspects of its brand.

The club has been unable to find a new naming rights partner for its arena. While Powerade’s name remains on the building and parent company Coca-Cola retains pouring rights, the beverage company’s deal ran out in 2015.

The City of Brampton signed a three-year, $1.5-million deal last year to sponsor the club, a contract assailed as a waste of tax dollars and redundant given the team already bears the city’s name.

Valuation expert Drew Dorweiler says neither of these factors means the team will never make money, but should signal to potential investors that profit is a long-term project.

“If you’re not concerned with (immediate) return on investment, that’s fine,” says Dorweiler, head of Montreal-based Dartmouth Partners.

“There’s a lot of non-economic benefits — reputation, bragging rights. But in valuation we don’t take those factors into account.”

The club doesn’t have a hard deadline on applications to invest, but says they have met with more than 25 interested parties over the last two weeks, and will likely have to choose from among a list of prospective minority owners.

Dorweiler says a naming rights deal could alter the value of a stake in the team. Revenue from a new agreement would be split between the team and Real Star, the company that owns the building. That money would help offset losses and mitigate the risk of investing in the team.

“That’s an upside to any investor,” Dorweiler says. “That’s hidden value.”