The Peterborough Petes and the City of Peterborough have finalized a new deal for arena revenue sharing.
Petes’ president Dave Pogue and Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett signed off on the amended agreement Friday morning at the Peterborough Memorial Centre — the longtime home of the Ontario Hockey League franchise.
The deal was amended in principle in February and both sides spent all year finalizing the agreement which will see the Petes retain more of their earned annual revenue.
It’s expected the Petes will receive about $315,000 more in arena revenues. The city was averaging about $1 million annually in revenues from areas such as parking, food and beverage and ticket sales.
“We’ve got a great business plan put together and we will be putting these added funds to our shared funds to use very soon to help continue to create a more successful team on and off the ice,” said Pogue.
Among the highlights of the new deal include:
- The Petes’ operating expenses will be decreased by reducing fees the club pays in several ticket areas, and by altering the advertising revenue sharing mode;
- The Petes will receive five per cent of gross revenues from food and beverage sales at home games;
- One-time contributions to the Petes to reduce operating costs;
- The Petes and City will share the cost of new screens on the existing video board.
Late last year, the Petes said that unless a new deal was negotiated, the 61-year-old franchise would run out of money and have to be sold within four to five years.
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“The way the industry and the league has changed significantly over the past few years, it was paramount we were able to do this,” said Pogue.
City council voted unanimously in favour of the amended agreement.
“We look forward to working with them to ensure they are financially as healthy as we can assist them to be,” said Bennett.
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