Three vie for naming rights at the Chevy

By David Skolnick

Local Chevrolet dealers are no longer interested in paying for the name of the downtown arena.

YOUNGSTOWN — The city is in discussions with three local companies, one “more serious” than the other two, for the Chevrolet Centre’s naming rights.

The city will meet with that “more serious” company next week to further discuss the issue, Mayor Jay Williams said.

“One has expressed an ongoing and increased interest compared to the other two,” he said.

The mayor declined to name the three companies, but said all were “local players with national presence.”

B.J. Alan Co., owner of Phantom Fireworks and the Mahoning Valley Phantoms junior hockey team that is playing 21 of its home games at the Chevrolet Centre, is among the three companies.

B.J. Alan made a proposal for the naming rights about a month ago, said Bruce Zoldan, its owner.

B.J. Alan isn’t the “more serious” company because it isn’t meeting with city officials next week.

“We have an interest,” Zoldan said. “As a company, we have to make a business decision as to what the value [of having the naming rights] is for our company. We made a tentative offer, but we’re not sure it’s high enough to be accepted by the city.”

Zoldan declined to discuss the company’s proposal to turn the Chevrolet Centre into the Phantoms Centre. He also said he wouldn’t be offended if the city went with another company.

Because of declining revenue and a struggling economy, General Motors didn’t renew its contract for the center’s naming rights when it expired Sept. 30. GM paid $175,000 in cash annually for three years and provided four vehicles a year to the city for the naming rights.

Shortly thereafter, the city began negotiating with local Chevrolet dealers on a one-year deal for less than the $175,000 paid by the corporation.

Eric Ryan, the center’s executive director, said in early October that a contract with the Chevrolet dealers was imminent.

But Williams said Tuesday that deal “did not pan out,” and the dealers were no longer in the running for the naming rights. Just like General Motors, the local dealers are facing financial challenges.

The dealers will continue to buy advertising space inside the center, Williams said.

The amount of money offered for naming rights is an important factor, but not the only one, Williams said.

The length of the deal and contract stipulations are also key, he said.

“It’s a very complex and nuanced process,” Williams said. “It’s a fluid process.”

Williams said he’s optimistic a naming rights deal can be finalized before the end of March. The serious negotiating hasn’t yet happened, he said.

Also, the city is in discussions with the ECHL, formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League, about bringing a team to the Chevrolet Centre — or whatever the city-owned facility will be renamed — for the 2009-10 hockey season, Williams said.

The Phantoms signed a one-year deal to play at the center after the Youngstown SteelHounds, which played its home games for three seasons at the facility, was kicked out of the Central Hockey League on June 2 over a financial dispute.

Williams wants a minor-league hockey team at the center preferably with local ownership, with Zoldan and/or Herb Washington, whose company operated the SteelHounds, involved. But Williams said he’s open to having a team owned by someone from outside the area.

With the national economic problems, it would be very easy to lose money on a hockey team at the center, Zoldan said.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not interested in fielding a team.

It depends on local interest in hockey, Zoldan said.

“By the end of December, early January, if we see the interest and can get a couple of thousand, 2,500 a game [at Phantoms’ games] then it would make sense to look at a higher level” of hockey, Zoldan said.

Zoldan recently purchased a luxury suite at the center. Such suites average between $30,000 and $40,000 a year.

skolnick@vindy.com