Talk Of Renaming Hockey Team Fort Lauderdale Panthers
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Try this one on: Fort Lauderdale Panthers.
Fort Lauderdale City Hall is cool to the idea of taking the bed tax money from their tourist industry and give it to a team on the edge of the Everglades.
So part of the deal being talked about at the Government Center is to buy off pols by changing the name of Broward’s hockey team from the Florida Panthers to the Fort Lauderdale Panthers.
“That would be millions of dollars of promotion for Fort Lauderdale,” one person working on the deal said. “Every time that team was mentioned, Fort Lauderdale would be mentioned to. Talk about tourist promotion.”
One sticking point is that all mention of Sunrise be eliminated in promoting the team, something that city would not appreciate.
This one is a long way from happening but it is actively being talked about in the corridors of the Government Center and City Hall.
(An earlier version of this story moved on @buddynevins on Twitter)
February 18th, 2014 at 5:48 pm
“Millions of dollars of promotion” – now that’s delusional!!! Exactly how popular does this clown think this pathetic sub-PeeWee league team is??? Let’s see just how hard it is to get a ticket…
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/florida-panthers-seat-exchange-losing-lottery-tickets-201633720–nhl.html
Florida Panthers will give you a seat in exchange for losing lottery tickets
Feb 4, 2014 3:16 PM
February 18th, 2014 at 5:57 pm
Can we change it to Ft Lauderdale County too?
February 18th, 2014 at 6:52 pm
Stern let’s anyone know who listens that Dean, Dubose and Roberts are her sheep and in her pocket by virtue of being involved in their campaigns. That covers the two Fort Lauderdale Commissiners on the beach.
Seiler is the wild card. He wins reelection next year he goes Statewide. No need for him to be tied to a public bailout for a perineal losing hockey team.
At least the Panthers got good value for their 1000 bucks to Dubose at the end of January. He was such a team/panthers man at the Tourist Buerau meeting last week. He may be better than Perry at saying how high when Judy says jump.
I wonder if the Panthers have figured out yet most of their bad press is because of Judy Stern.
February 18th, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Are jack Seiler, Bruce Roberts, du Bose, dean trantalis, Romney Rogers so ignorant, uneducated, financially illiterate, and politically cowardly to fall for the lie that naming a sports team helps tourism and can hide the fact ft Lauderdale has the worst tourist development in the western hemisphere, Europe or anzus. After watching them this afternoon I’d say yes. Seiler is only interested in himself and the commissioners only care about the totally unrepresentative neighbor associations that used to be civic association n now are semi legal lobbying n political action committees for the most sadsack groups of old kibbizzers
February 18th, 2014 at 7:23 pm
http://mediatrackers.org/florida/2014/02/18/florida-panthers-exec-tied-broward-commissioners-shady-donations
is it me or does it always seems where there ate shady dealings with county commissioners Judy Stern is in the mix?
February 18th, 2014 at 8:19 pm
Normally, I’d have thought an idea “this good” could have only come from the Robert Walsh Advanced Institute for Thunking.
February 19th, 2014 at 8:25 am
The Panthers (or its parent company/subsidiaries) have paid a total of $331,000 since 1999 in profit sharing, of what at the time was estimated to be $76M. It would be cheaper to knock the arena down and sell the 140 acres to developers. I vow to vote against any County Commissioner that votes to approve even 1 cent to this corrupt organization. WHY WOULD A GUY BUY A TEAM THAT’S LOSING $30M A YEAR? Answer: he wouldn’t and he didn’t.
February 19th, 2014 at 9:19 am
How about renaming the team the Ft. Lauderdale Freeloaders? The team insignia could be a collection plate or a picture of a guy on the off ramp of I-95 with a sign asking for money!
FROM BUDDY:
You gave me a laugh. Thanks.
February 21st, 2014 at 11:38 am
If the arena was downtown where it should be, naming the team the Ft. Lauderdale Panthers might be a good idea. When team reps stood up in front of the county commission and said they weren’t making any money with all the other events at the arena, they should have been tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail. When asked about 2 recent sold-out Billy Joel shows, the team claims he was paid 4 million dollars. Really? Billy Joel gets 2 million a night for a 20K seat arena show? Really? Does Billy Joel know that? This arena has never been anything but a big money maker. The county commission that was in place when the arena was built gave away the farm to Huizenga. They gave him the management contract for the publicly owned building. Every subsequent owner since then has made money on the team and on the arena. Now, the current county commission is picking up where the original one left off. They’ve already got the keys to the farm. Why not give them the neighbors place too? This whole thing is just pathetic. We have a magnificent publicly financed arena that is one of the top grossing arenas in North America, making a ton of money, and because the county commission gave away the management contract to a tenant, the county is making next to nothing. Broward County taxpayers have been fleeced by a bunch of billionaires and the members of the commission(s) who are in their pocket. People should be in jail.
February 21st, 2014 at 12:10 pm
Maybe the county commission should go to http://www.thebbtcenter.com and read all about how it’s hosting over 200 events annually and consistently one of the top 10 grossing arenas in America with over 2 million people a year going through the turnstiles. And how does a team owner / tenant end up getting the $$ for naming rights on a publicly owned building? Okay, I’m done venting. Everyone have a nice day.
February 21st, 2014 at 4:27 pm
Let’s elect Duke as our next Broward County Commissioner!! Duke, please create a website with downloadable signature petitions – your county needs you!!
February 21st, 2014 at 11:20 pm
We at the FTL Collective support the name change (although we are biased):
http://www.ftlcollective.com/fort-lauderdale-panthers/
February 24th, 2014 at 1:39 pm
Let them move to that vacant arena in Kansas City that’s been trying forever to lure an NHL and NBA franchise. Then when they leave the county can get back the management contract for that building, hire an arena manager, and the taxpayers can start getting back their money rather than continue to subsidize a billionaire tenant who only occupies the building 41 nites a year.
March 1st, 2014 at 7:12 pm
http://www.local10.com/sports/should-broward-county-give-florida-panthers-80-million-bailout/24672600
… Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief … is all in favor of using taxpayers’ dollars to give the Florida Panthers hockey team’s new owners an $80 million bailout for free rent at the BB&T Center, a major move that many in the business community and numerous municipalities oppose. … The team has become one of Sharief’s biggest campaign contributors. Along with its lobbyists and related interests, it has poured at least $8,000 into her current commission race.
Bailout supporter Marty Kiar has received at least $8,000 from Panthers’ interests and lobbyists over the years, and has been benefited from fundraisers thrown by team lobbyist Billy Rubin. Commissioner Stacy Ritter won’t be voting because the Panthers hired her husband, Russ Klenet, as a lobbyist.
But the reigning queen of Panthers campaign cash is Commissioner Kristin Jacobs. … The Panthers, its lobbyists and interests related to the team have contributed at least $35,000 in the past couple of years to her failed campaign for Congress and her current State House race, making the team her single biggest money backer. … Jacobs is now supporting a bailout for the Panthers and also voted to use taxpayers’ money to buy the team a new $5 million scoreboard last year. …
March 2nd, 2014 at 9:01 am
Dear Buddy,
I also support helping the Panthers and I’ll tell you why. When a community like Broward builds a park, a stadium or an arts center using tax dollars, that’s a gift that we as taxpayers give to ourselves.
It improves our quality of life and helps attract more visitors who bring us more revenue. It gives Broward families an outlet for sport and cultural entertainment. it gives us another reason to be proud of our community. That also translates to dollars.
You don’t charge rent in an arrangement like that UNLESS the occupant can afford to pay it. And if so, the question THEN becomes how much and what’s the smartest way to collect it.
The arena only looks like they’re in the entertainment business. I’ve studied this.
In reality, ticket sales barely cover their expenses. Their profits which are unreliable come from parking and concession sales. They’re really in the parking and pretzel business.
You cannot sustain a business of that magnitude on that basis. You cannot achieve much, less sustain excellence, that way. Nobody will tolerate such an arrangement for long.
Charging rent in that scenario is a decidedly win/lose proposition for the arena. If they are profitable, and that must be demonstrated without question, let’s instead explore a win/win proposition where profits above a certain point must be reinvested in ways that produces outcomes Broward residents should want. Which are those?
More and better arena jobs. More lower priced events for Broward residents. Better transportation or other accommodation. Let the list grow.
We paid for that arena. Let’s be proud of it, let’s take ownership in it, let’s be partners of it, let’s enjoy it more and allow it to make Broward more inviting to tourists as well.
We need to stop being so stingy about everything. There’s money to be made in Broward if we’re smart about using it. Tourism and recreational activity, cultural or sporting, is smart business for Broward if done in the right ways.
Let’s improve quality of life throughout Broward AND increase tourism.
This isn’t just common sense, it’s dollars and cents.
Angelo
PS — I like the idea of renaming the hockey team also. The team should be named for the community that helps them most.