Petes attendance good news for city hall

When the Peterborough Petes slid into a self-engineered dive to end their Ontario Hockey League season, fans kept coming out at record high numbers.

That’s not the way it has worked in the past, which could be a good sign for both the Petes and Peterborough taxpayers.

The Petes are the anchor tenant of the city-owned Memorial Centre arena. The city will collect roughly $300,000 in fixed rent and seat licensing fees this season, plus half the proceeds from food and beverage sales and all parking revenue.

That represents more than a third of total annual Memorial Centre revenue. The city budgets just over $1 million a year for the aging facility. This coming year it expects to lose $50,000 on all events, including Petes and Peterborough Lakers games, concerts and other entertainment.

A strong season from the Petes and an extended playoff run can make a difference.

Last year the city budgeted to lose $60,000 overall. The Petes OHL championship run turned that into an $8,500 surplus.

While $68,500 shift is a tiny slice of the city’s $360-million budget, turning a profit on an event centre is positive news, something that hasn’t happened often here.

And it comes as the city considers building a new, larger and expensive replacement for the Memorial Centre.

Consultants are currently re-assessing potential downtown sites for a 5,300-seat, $107-million arena and entertainment centre. It’s been a long process and the projected price has continued to escalate, but the city could make a decision this year.

There is no guarantee the project will go ahead. If the cost increases again, or if finding and developing a downtown site becomes too big a headache, sticking with the Memorial Centre is an option.

This year’s Petes season will give supporters of a replacement arena reason for hope.

Annual Memorial Centre deficits have at times been much higher. When that happened it was almost entirely due to weak Petes game attendance during losing seasons.

And OHL teams are conditioned to expect dark years. Rosters turn over regularly as top players leave for professional hockey or age out. A few strong years followed by a downturn as the team rebuilds is common.

The current Petes team was a holdover from last year’s championship squad, but not quite as good. In January management decided it wasn’t good enough to challenge for the Memorial Cup so began trading older stars for young potential and draft picks.

The team did a nosedive and missed the playoffs, losing 22 of its last 31 games. But something surprising happened. The team set records for total and average attendance and had a string of sellouts right up to the dismal close of the season.

Petes management attributes that to changing the fan experience during games. More excitement and more things to watch in addition to the game.

“Every game should be a standalone, independent event,” is the way sales director Eric Ebenbauer describes it.

The tail end of one losing season is a small sample, but the strategy seems to be working. Season ticket sales were a record high this year and are on a faster pace at this point for next year.

A new, larger facility brings the threat of bigger operating deficits. If Petes fans can be counted on during the inevitable downturns in on-ice performance that becomes less a concern — and will make it easier for councillors, and taxpayers, to support investing heavily in a downtown centre.

OHL teams are conditioned to expect dark years. Rosters turn over regularly as top players leave for professional hockey or age out