Generals Fan
2003 - 2004
2003 - 2004
|
|
2003 - 2004 |
|
|
Menu
Photos News Links |
April 26, 2005 Hockey team posts schedule, seeks funds City Manager Ed Kitchen will make a recommendation about whether Greensboro will continue to run the hockey team. BY LARRY KEECH and MATT WILLIAMS Staff Writers GREENSBORO - There are still uncertainties about who will own and operate the Greensboro Generals during the 2004-05 season, but the ECHL has the hockey team on its schedule. "We wouldn't be releasing a schedule if we weren't convinced that any of the 30 teams weren't going to operate next season," ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna said Tuesday, when the league released its 2004-05 schedule. Art Donaldson, who purchased the franchise in 1999, leased it last summer to Greensboro businessmen Bill Black and Don Brady for one year. In turn, Black and Brady secured an agreement with the city of Greensboro to operate the team for them while they sought to enlist additional investors. Although the 2003-04 Generals posted a 40-30-2 record, their attendance for 36 home games declined from an average of 3,416 the previous year to 3,217. That figure ranked 21st in the 31-team league. With the one-year lease nearing an end, Black and Brady are still seeking additional investors, but City Council members have expressed concern about continuing to underwrite the team financially. The league still recognizes Donaldson as the club's owner. The Generals' operational viability for the 2004-05 season is likely to be determined in the next two weeks. The Greensboro Coliseum's budget for fiscal '04-05 is scheduled for discussion in a council meeting next week. Matt Brown, the coliseum's managing director, will represent Donaldson and the Generals at the ECHL's annual Board of Governors meeting June 9-11 in Atlanta. In a budget request submitted to City Manager Ed Kitchen by the coliseum, Brown included money for the team's operation. However, he also provided an alternate budget if Kitchen recommends against the city running the team for a second season. Brown said he hopes to announce a one-year contract extension for coach Rick Adduono soon that will remove the coach from the city payroll and further negate the risk factor for the city. Kitchen said he will make a recommendation to the council on whether the city should operate the hockey team in his proposed budget, which will be released June 1. At that point, the council can decide to accept or reject his recommendation. "I wouldn't read anything into the schedule," Kitchen said. "I will have a recommendation in my budget." Even though running the team this past season may have saved the coliseum money in potential lost revenues, council member Sandy Carmany said many of her constituents just don't want the city to operate a sports franchise, and she doesn't think there are enough votes on the council for the city to run the team. Council member Don Vaughan said he would like to see a business plan from Brown before making a decision. "If it's a good plan and its good for the coliseum, I would be in favor of it," Vaughan said. McKenna said it would be unusual but not unprecedented if the Generals were unable to operate after the schedule had been released. The commissioner said there would be no financial penalty other than forfeiture of the franchise and repayment of any letters of credit that had been posted to the league. "The only franchise we've lost after the schedule was released was Arkansas last year," McKenna said. Last summer, the city set aside $150,000 in an account that the league can seize if the coliseum doesn't meet its financial obligations to the league. In addition, Donaldson still owes the ECHL more than $1 million in franchise fees. Attempts to reach Donaldson and Black for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful. While Black and Brady continue to search for prospective investors, Brown has been taking steps to ensure that the team that is the coliseum's primary tenant stays afloat. Brown drew encouragement from a 2004-05 ECHL schedule that designates more favorable weekend dates for home games than last season's schedule. Friday/Saturday dates have increased from 13 to 17. There also will be more games on Thursday nights. The coliseum also has enlisted members of the Greensboro Merchants Association and the Greensboro Sports Council in a campaign to increase season-ticket sales by 500 over last season's total of 566. "The campaign is under way with a goal of selling two season tickets each to 260 businesses,"~ Brown said. "We're well on the way to getting renewals on last year's season tickets, and we've sold 85 new ones to individual fans. If we can meet a goal of a season-ticket base of 1,200, it will be important in defining the future of the team and triggering the effort to find new investors." Contact Larry Keech at 373-7080 or lkeech@news-record.com Contact Matt Williams at 373-7004 or mwilliarns@news-record.com |