City Manager Says Deal With Warriors A Friendly One
Depending on how you look at it the deal is fair and follows league standards or the City literally gave away the rink.
No matter how you look at it the deal between the City and the Moose Jaw Warriors is done, the ink is dry and it is now public.
And according to the City Manager the 35 page agreement was a friendly deal with the team.
“I think the most important part of this one is we are truly grateful that we finished the negotiations. We came out with an agreement and for sure it is the main tenant in the building and it’s important to have a good relationship with them,” city manager Maryse Carmichael said in response to MJ Independent at the post Council press conference.
Under the terms of the five year agreement the Warriors will pay the City 12 percent of net ticket sales - paid for and also complimentary. Net ticket sales is defined in the agreement as the revenue from ticket sales less taxes and fees, plus ticket value equivalent (for complimentary tickets).
The agreement additionally allows the City to have one representative sit in on Warriors board meetings with no voting rights but as an observer only.
Carmichael said the new contract has some changes compared to the last contract.
Screenshot where the Warriors rental rate of 12 percent of ticket sales is agreed upon - MJ Independent photo
“There are some changes but when we compare to some other WHL teams, other buildings out West we made sure we were on par with them. What the other franchises have,” she said.
Previously Carmichael had told MJ Independent that she was using an outside consultant familiar with rink usage contracts to assist with the negotiations.
“The only thing I can tell you is I’ve used some external consultants that know the event management business. That know the interaction between cities and WHL teams. So they came and helped us negotiate with the Warriors,” she said in response to questions by MJ Independent in the February 26th post Council press conference.
Asked if she was worried about shifting the responsibility of paying for such things as the ticket takers and security from the Warriors’ financial responsibility to the City she indicated it was standard practice in the industry.
The agreement states “The City shall be responsible for all staffing costs during term.”
Payment Terms section C defines that the City is responsible for all staffing costs - something th Warriors were responsible for in the previous agreement
“It’s fairly common amongst WHL teams that the building looks after security,” she said.
In the previous contract the Warriors paid for ticket takers and event security the financial responsibility now rests with the City.
“There was some clean up of the language on there. There is a difference in the way we are calculating for advertisements. Advertising in the bowl itself is now fully the Warriors’ responsibility and they give us a flat fee.”
Section 6.2 assigns the Warriors the exclusive right to advertising and sponsorships in the bowl are with an annual $200,000 advertising license payment
The new contract calls for the Warriors to annually pay the City a flat $200,000 fee. In the past the agreement was a split of the advertising revenues and resulted in the City earning a slightly higher amount of approximately $240,000.
The new contract allows the Warriors to set the advertising rates and any revenues generate flow into the team’s coffers.
In the past the City split the advertising revenues with the Warriors.
The Event Centre staff is responsible for advertising and sponsorships outside of the bowl.
The effective date of the five year deal is September 1, 2023 set to expire August 31, 2028. The Warriors do have the option to request up to two one year extensions with proper notice to the City.