By John Sleeper
Herald Writer
EVERETT — Everett could seal a deal for a minor league hockey team this week.
Western Hockey League commissioner Ron Robison said Monday that the league and the Everett Public Facilities District are close to a lease agreement for the Everett Regional Special Event Center and hockey arena. Also, he said, the question of who will own the team is near a resolution.
"We are very, very close to getting everything finalized and hope to make an announcement very soon," Robison said.
Don Hale, executive director of the Public Facilities District, said the PFD board will be presented with a lease signed by league officials at a meeting Thursday. The board oversees operations for the arena, planned for construction at the southwest corner of Hewitt Avenue and Broadway.
Still, some hurdles remain. Demolition of buildings on the site continues despite a pending lawsuit over the arena’s location. And the hockey lease is being finalized in the shadow of the financial failure of a minor league team in Tacoma.
Lease talks between the PFD and the league have gone on since fall, when the PFD chose to pursue a WHL franchise rather than one from the West Coast Hockey League. Hale and Robison said the parties have agreed in principle on lease terms, and Hale said he was confident the board would look on the terms favorably.
"I think it’s a very good lease," Hale said. "It’s a good organization. We’re pretty excited to get a really quality franchise. We think very highly of the Western Hockey League."
Bill Yuill, owner of the WHL Seattle Thunderbirds, holds the right of first refusal regarding ownership of the Everett expansion franchise. Yuill said Monday that negotiations are ongoing with three Seattle-based groups to either buy the Seattle franchise or to assume ownership of the Everett team.
WHL bylaws prohibit Yuill from owning both teams, so he either will sell the Thunderbirds or sell his rights to the Everett team to one of the three interested groups.
Yuill left open the possibility that he would sell the Thunderbirds, but said it would be a financial risk.
"I would be leaving a good arena lease if I leave Seattle, a longtime advertiser base, a longtime season-ticket base and a market of 3 million people," he said. "I would be going to an area that’s never had this experience before. We’ve got to find, No. 1, adequate advertisers to support the operation. We’ve got to find adequate season-ticket holders to support the operation. The only thing we have in hand right now is that we understand what the terms of the lease are in Everett."
Plans are for an Everett team to begin play in the new 8,000-seat building in September 2003. However, a legal dispute between Citizens for a Better Arena and the PFD could still derail those plans. In February, the PFD filed a lawsuit in Snohomish County Superior Court, hoping it would declare invalid an initiative by the citizens group to block construction of the proposed $62.5 million arena at the Hewitt Avenue site.
Another issue, as far as Yuill is concerned, is the economic viability of an Everett franchise, especially after the WCHL’s Tacoma Sabercats folded this week after losing a reported $750,000 in the last two years. The question is how much of a barometer Tacoma is to the Everett market.
Yuill said the news from Tacoma made him nervous about starting a franchise from the ground up, but that the proposed Everett arena would be a stronger venue for hockey than the cavernous Tacoma Dome.
Robison agreed, adding that the WHL is more stable than the WCHL.
"The Western Hockey League has had a 25-year history in Seattle," he said. "We think, with the addition of Vancouver and having a team in close proximity to Seattle — in Everett — we don’t have any difficulty with it. We know our league is capable of drawing a very solid, loyal fan base very quickly. Although there’s work to be done, we feel very confident that we can be very successful in that market."
Yuill said he was confident that all parties can clear the barriers for Everett to obtain a team.
"We’re there," Yuill said. "We’re on the goal line. It has to get done and it will get done."
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