Saturday, November 27, 2004
The work stoppage is affecting the city and surrounding businesses.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- There's no ice on the rink, but the National Hockey League lockout has left the Igloo mighty chilly.
SMG, the company that manages Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena, hasn't turned on the heat, hoping to save money and employees wear jackets and use space heaters until the sun warms the building.
"We're doing everything we can to keep our costs down," Jay Roberts, general manager of the arena, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in an article published Friday. Roberts declined to say how much it costs to operate the arena but some estimate it costs as much as $5 million a year.
Since the Pittsburgh Penguins aren't playing, they're not paying rent; Aramark Corp. isn't selling food and isn't paying anything either.
The NHL is allowing sports venues to schedule events 45 days out, but managers haven't had much luck.
"We're doing our best to book shows, but either the show is out touring or it's not, and it's very rare where I can say: 'Oh wow, now that I don't have hockey, I can go book something else,"' Roberts said.
Not worth the trouble
The only people on the rink this fall have been figure skaters during U.S. Figure Skating's Skate America event in October.
Roberts said the arena barely broke even and managers likely wouldn't have gone to the trouble if there wasn't a lockout.
As of Friday, nine of 41 scheduled home games had passed. The players union and owners haven't negotiated since early September and both sides will likely make another proposal before canceling the season.
Besides SMG, the city and businesses that benefit from Penguins games are also in a bind.
Pittsburgh could lose as much as $850,000 this year and as much as $1.7 million if the hockey season were canceled, city Treasurer Richard Fees said.
Meanwhile, businesses around the arena, including hotels, restaurants and retail shops, also miss hockey fans' cold hard cash.
The Greater Pittsburgh Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that hockey fans spend $14 million a year on items other than tickets.