As you have no doubt heard by now, the Broward County Commissioners voted 5-3 in favor of the Panthers $86 million request for relief. You can get full details of the deal here, along with reaction of the deal courtesy of the Miami Herald’s George Richards. However, the question now is, what does this all mean, and how does this affect us?
First of all, and most importantly, the Panthers are not going anywhere in the near future. The Panthers got their financial aid, and in return they gave a hefty financial promise to keep the team in South Florida. There is an opt out eight years in, but it will cost $72 million, or about $10 million more than the Panthers total player payroll for 2015-16 per General Fanager. The buyout price falls every year thereafter until the lease expires in 2028. Simply put though, it’s a lot of money.
There are people out there who will cry, “But there’s an out clause! This team can still move!” This is true, and yes, anything can happen if the will is there. However, I think it’s pretty clear that the will to break the lease and move is, in fact, not there. The Panthers would have to payback a rather large sum of money just to opt out in eight years, after having already lost an even larger amount of money in order to do so. They would also be subjected to heavy penalties if they tried to break the contract or declare bankruptcy before the opt out date. Vinnie Viola and Doug Cifu are smart, successful businessmen, and smart, successful businessmen do not agree to conditions like this if they intend to leave.
This, of course, does not solve all of the Panthers problems. They are losing many more dollars than they are receiving in this deal, so there is still a shortfall. A $36 million loss is not pretty, and is not easily erased. However, this is clearly a step in the right direction, and will likely afford the Panthers some maneuvering room they did not have before.
So take a breath, the team is not leaving town any time soon.
In addition, the NHL has made two promises: the Panthers get an All-Star game sometime in the next seven years, and a $1.5 million investment will be made in local youth hockey. This will be the second All-Star game hosted by the Panthers at BB&T Center. This comes on the heels of the 2015 NHL Draft, also the second of its kind held by the Panthers at BB&T Center. The Draft was a great event to have in the area, brought some tourist money in, one would have to imagine that the All-Star Game will offer a similar boost. Not to mention, it will also be a lot of fun.
However, I am particularly interested in the NHL youth hockey investment. If you have not noticed, South Florida hockey players are a thing, and we are starting to see area prospects gain notoriety. The most notable at the moment is Shayne Ghostisbehere, a native of Broward County and currently on call up with the Philadelphia Flyers. There is also Jakob Chychrun, son of former Panther Jeff Chychrun, a native of Boca Raton and former member of the Junior Panthers, who is slated to be one of the top picks in the 2016 NHL Draft. (Though we will kindly look past his… decision to play for Team Canada internationally). There is also Randy Hernandez, a Cuban-American prospect from Miami who joined the US National Team Development Program this season, and will be eligible for the 2017 NHL Draft.
The increase of money would be a huge boon to hockey in Florida, which boasted the most participants of any state in the Southeastern district during 2014-15. Florida had 12,505 registered players in 2014-15, only 2,648 were age 12 or under though. This investment will hopefully grow that number.
Overall, this is a win for hockey in South Florida. Beyond the obvious goal of bringing the Stanley Cup to South Florida, the other big goal is entrenching the roots of the sport as well. Keeping the Panthers in South Florida will keep the door to interest in hockey open, and the increased support of youth hockey can help stoke the interest from there.
