Newfoundland Growlers' James Melindy hoists the Kelly Cup after winning the East Coast Hockey League championship at the Mile One Centre in St. John's on June 4, 2019.Jeff Parsons/The Canadian Press
Sports fans in St. John’s are on the edge of their seats awaiting news on the future of two professional sports teams that play out of the city’s Mile One Centre.
A long-term lease agreement has not yet been reached with the St. John’s Edge of the National Basketball League of Canada and the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL.
Discussions over rent and shares of concession revenue at the arena have continued through the summer between the two teams and St. John’s Sports and Entertainment, which operates the arena for the city.
With Growlers’ games scheduled to begin in October, it’s still unclear if this season will be the team’s last in St. John’s, just one year after the new franchise captured the ECHL’s Kelly Cup and brought home the city’s first professional sports championship.
Growlers owner Dean MacDonald and St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen both cancelled news conferences called to address the situation this week, and both parties say they will continue negotiating before making further comment.
Disagreement between the two camps has been widely covered in local media. MacDonald has accused the city of not supporting sports franchises, while the city says it wants the teams to cover a fair share of Mile One’s operating costs.
Negotiations appear to have picked up after the City of St. John’s released some details of its latest offer in a statement Monday. The city says it offered the Growlers a 50 per cent reduction in nightly rent but would not give the team full control of food and beverage revenue.
“Council understands the many benefits of having sports teams which provide entertainment opportunities and community spirit for residents and the region, and economic benefits to the downtown during game nights,” the statement read.
“The goal is to keep anchor sports team tenants at Mile One at a fair and reasonable cost to the teams and to the taxpayers.”
The statement said discussions with the St. John’s Edge are also ongoing.
MacDonald is not commenting this week, but speculation has been building since he was photographed touring an arena under construction in Trois-Rivieres, Que. MacDonald told media in St. John’s at the time that he was in Quebec exploring options.