By Rich Myhre and Theresa Goffredo
Herald Writers
In looking at Everett for a possible expansion franchise, Western Hockey League officials saw a new 8,000-seat facility in a desirable U.S. market with a history of strong support for local sports.
Taken together, these factors made the final decision as easy as a breakaway shot into an empty net.
Meeting Tuesday in Calgary, Alberta, the league’s 19-member Board of Governors voted unanimously to allocate an expansion franchise to Everett, beginning play in the 2003-04 season.
The Everett franchise – as yet unnamed and without an owner – would become the WHL’s 20th team and allow the league to divide into four five-team divisions. Everett will be in a division of United States teams that includes Seattle, Spokane, Tri-Cities and Portland.
WHL Commissioner Ron Robison said some remaining issues must be resolved, “but we feel those matters will get completed very quickly.” One is a lease agreement with Everett for use of the proposed downtown arena, scheduled for completion in 2003.
“This was not just a case of Everett wanting a team and so Everett got a team,” said Bruce Hamilton, president and general manager of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets and the chairman of the league’s Board of Governors. “We have a huge list of cities that want these teams. But a lot of research has gone into this, and the demographics of that area are excellent.”
“(Everett) fit our expansion criteria perfectly,” Robison said.
Despite the WHL’s optimism, the $50 million arena project still has hurdles to clear before it can be built, Everett City Councilman Bob Overstreet said Wednesday.
“What is the impact of the economic slowdown and is this the proper time to go ahead?” Overstreet asked. “That’s the bigger question than what league should play there.”
“We certainly need to look at the impacts of what 20,000 to 30,000 layoffs from Boeing will be and how that ripples through,” Overstreet continued. “We’re not committed into granite that we’ll build one or that it’s the right thing to do.”
The city also is continuing to negotiate with some landowners who have refused to sell buildings on the arena site.
The project is largely funded by a state sales tax rebate, funneled through the special facilities district created to manage the arena. Don Hale, acting executive director for the district, said there is a possibility that the state could go back on the tax rebate, but Hale said that would be like “shooting themselves in the foot.”
If the center is built, the state initially would receive about $3.5 million from Everett on the sales tax from construction of the project. Once the center is operating, the state would continue to get “very significant” sales tax returns from the concessions and tickets the center sells. In return, the state would give Everett about $560,000 in rebate money, Hale said.
“Rather than taking any money it’s going to add significant amounts to the state,” Hale said.
The WHL clearly sees Everett as a potential profit center.
The proposed facility, which also would house concerts and other entertainment events, “is ideally suited for the type of attendance needs we have as a league,” Robison said. “We expect to average 6,000-7,000 fans per night, and we think the facility being designed is perfect for the WHL.”
Another question involves ownership of the team. Because the league grants territorial zones within a 50-mile radius to its teams, the Everett team will infringe on the Seattle Thunderbirds’ area. To resolve that conflict, T-birds owner Bill Yuill – a resident of Medicine Hat, Alberta – will have first option to buy the new Everett franchise. He would then have to sell his interest in the T-birds.
Yuill has yet to announce his decision, “but we know he has a very strong interest in pursuing the opportunity in Everett,” Robison said.
Even if Yuill decides not to buy the Everett franchise, “there won’t be any problem putting an owner in place there,” Hamilton said. “We’re not worried about that at all. I’ll put it this way. We would never have granted this (franchise) if we were not 100 percent confident that it would work.”
League officials see a natural rivalry developing between Everett and Seattle, as well as between Everett and the other three American teams. Also, the WHL is adding an expansion team this season in Vancouver, British Columbia, which should offer another attractive rivalry for Everett.
The success and stability of the Everett AquaSox baseball team “was a big part of our thought process,” Hamilton added. “The general sports interest (in Everett) provides an indication that there is a good, strong fan base for attending sports events.”
The WHL is a junior league for players age 16-20, “and our business is developing players for the National Hockey League,” Hamilton said. Each year, several of the league’s top players earn promotions to the NHL.
WHL ticket prices in U.S. cities generally are $10-15, Hamilton said, with usual discounts for children.
The WHL was competing with the rival West Coast Hockey League, which has a team in Tacoma, to be the anchor tenant of the proposed arena. The city council voted last week to negotiate only with the WHL for a building lease.
Robison would like to see Everett’s team structure in place by next September, or one year before the team starts play. “That leaves a year for identification and scouting of players, making marketing plans, and things like that,” Robison said. “It really takes 12 months, so by September of 2002 they should have all of that determined.”
Hale, the public facilities district director, called the WHL “a very good fit” for Everett.
“They are the very cream of the hockey crop,” Hale said. “The league has youngsters learning the finer points of the game. Young people at the top of their game.”
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