THE FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
The Broward County Civic Arena ("Arena"), now known as the BB&T Center, is a multipurpose sports and entertainment venue owned and financed by Broward County. The Arena is managed by the Arena Operating Company, Ltd. ("AOC"), a subsidiary of Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, LLC. (SSE) and affiliate of the Florida Panthers professional hockey team, on behalf of the County pursuant to the terms of an Operating Agreement.
The Florida Panthers Hockey Club, Ltd. ("Panthers" or "Team"), a member of the National Hockey League ("NHL") and also a subsidiary of SSE, has agreed to play all of its home hockey games at the Arena through a License Agreement with Broward County and the AOC. The Board previously approved amendments to this License Agreement at its meetings on March 2, 2004 (Item No. 40), and most recently on December 8, 2015 (Item No. 67).
The NHL has requested that the Panthers play one of its 2018-2019 season home games in Helsinki, Finland. The game would be against the Winnipeg Jets and is currently scheduled to be played on November 1, 2018. To accommodate this request from the NHL, the Panthers have requested that the County amend Article 17 of the License Agreement to allow for a one-time waiver of the requirement to play all home games at the Arena. |