Pats are taking REAL step toward improved leaseholder relations

New leadership has opened the door to a new era between the Regina Pats and Regina Exhibition Association Limited.

The first public sign came Thursday morning when the Pats — owned by Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group — made a joint announcement with REAL that the sides had signed a longterm extension to their lease agreement at the Brandt Centre.

The new deal expires following the 2022-23 WHL season.

It comes just a few months after Tim Reid replaced Mark Allan as president and CEO of REAL, which operates the facilities at Evraz Place, including the Brandt Centre, for the City of Regina.

It’s well-known the Pats and REAL have had a strained relationship over the years, leading to several acrimonious lease negotiations. That wasn’t the case this time around.

“Both sides reached out to each other when Tim came on board,” said Pats owner and QCSEG president Anthony Marquart. “He has been refreshing in terms of his desire to work with us. That has never happened before. There have been certain key people that have been great within REAL, but the former leadership really didn’t have an interest in working with us. Tim does and has. Our experience thus far with Tim is that he doesn’t just speak words, there are actions behind the words.”

The feeling is mutual.

“This wasn’t an easy startup, but I think the relationship has come a long way and Anthony deserves an incredible amount of credit for his leadership,” Reid said. “It was a real fair negotiation. I don’t think it was easy given the strains of the relationship that we’ve had in the past, but I’d say he met me more than halfway at least in his will to get this deal done.”

As a result, Reid sees an opportunity for a fresh start.

“I had the privilege of being the new guy to the table,” he said. “Anthony was the one who has been negotiating this for three years, in essence. It takes an incredible amount of strength to pull yourself out of a really contentious negotiation that I think historically venues and clubs tend to have — ours was no different — and say, ‘Let’s come at this differently.’

“On my end, I was keen for a relationship that would build to the future and I think Anthony wanted to believe it, but he had been engaged for so long (in past issues). He was the one that really needed to convince himself that this relationship had to be different and was going to be. If he wasn’t wiling to navigate to a positive end result, we would have continued to struggle in our discussions.”

The Pats reluctantly signed their previous lease in December 2016 so they could move forward with a bid for the 2018 Memorial Cup.

The parties had reached an impasse, which resulted in a desperate call to WHL commissioner Ron Robison, who’d stepped in to mediate previous lease conflicts between the two sides. The involvement of Robison and the City of Regina jump-started negotiations and led to an 11th-hour agreement before the CHL’S deadline to submit a Memorial Cup application.

“They had to step in because REAL and the Pats were at a standstill,” Marquart said. “This time around it wasn’t necessary. Tim Reid has been wonderful to deal with — and his staff.”