YOUNGSTOWN PHANTOMS

YOUNGSTOWN PHANTOMS

Hockey deal

The Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League will begin play in October at the Covelli Centre. The city and the team signed a letter of intent last month with a final contract expected shortly. Some details in the letter of intent:

LENGTH: Five years. If the Phantoms leave the USHL for any reason, the contract is terminated. Also, if the overall attendance during the team’s fourth season, 2012-2013, is below 60,000 [an average of 2,000 a game for a 30-game season], the city can terminate the contract. The Phantoms can play a fifth season after termination if it pays $75,000 to the city. The two sides can extend the deal by mutual consent annually for up to five years.

RENT: $2,750 a game for attendance of 2,999 fans and under; $3,500 a game for attendance between 3,000 and 4,000; and $4,000 for attendance above 4,000. The rent will increase by three percent annually for the fourth and the fifth years of the contract. The Phantoms will pay $750 to the center for every game that doesn’t attract a crowd of at least 1,500.

FACILITY FEES: The center will receive 50 cents of each ticket sold for Phantoms games. If, after the second year, season attendance exceeds 45,000, the center’s share would be increased to $1. The city also would receive its 5.5 percent admission tax built in to the price of the ticket. The cost of tickets has yet to be finalized.

CONCESSIONS: The team will receive 15 percent of the gross sale of all concessions except for luxury suite catering and vending machine revenue. The city’s deal with Boston Culinary, the food and drink vendor at the center, calls for the center to receive 31 percent of the gross sale with the rest going to Boston Culinary. The team’s 15 percent will come from the center’s cut. The team will receive 5 percent of the gross sale of catering and nothing from vending machines.

LUXURY SUITE: The team shall receive a suite at no additional cost. That suite is the one currently occupied by B.J. Alan Co., the Phantoms’ parent company. The Phantoms would have to buy tickets to other events at the center. The team can sell two suites at the center to others and receive a 30-percent commission for that work.

PARKING: The Phantoms will receive 30 parking passes at the center for each hockey game.

OFFICE SPACE: The team can use office space that used to be occupied by the Youngstown SteelHounds, a former minor league team at the facility. The annual rent is $24,000 if the team’s annual attendance is at least 50,000 and $12,000 if the yearly attendance is less.

Source: Youngstown Board of Control