Broward County passes Panthers lease agreement for BB&T Center
The Florida Panthers’ most recent attempt on a new lease deal with Broward County passed in a Tuesday vote of the Broward County Commission. The vote total was 5-3 in favor of the deal.
The financial package of the deal is worth a reported $86 million and the team could stay in South Florida until 2028 according to the Miami Herald.
The Herald detailed the lease agreement and its particulars.
The Panthers’ lease with the county runs through 2028 ,with the team getting almost all of the revenue created by the arena. The new proposal would lower the threshold for profit-sharing between the Panthers and county.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about the vote after Monday’s Board of Governors meeting in Pebble Beach.
“If you were to ask me how I thought a vote tomorrow was going to take place at the board level here, I wouldn't want to be presumptuous and speculate, and I'm certainly not going to do that to the Broward County commissioners,” Bettman said. “I'm hoping they make a good decision that will enable the Panthers and the BB&T Center to have a long period of stability and competitiveness, which will reflect well not just on the league but on Broward County and South Florida. But they're all going to have to vote their conscience tomorrow, and we'll respectfully await their decision before commenting."
The lease is for 13 years, but the team could opt out after eight years with a year’s notice and proven losses of $100 million over the next seven years, the Herald said.
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel the vote is the team's third request “in recent years.” The paper also reported this will bring the area’s public subsidy of the team to $342 million.
The Sun-Sentinel said the Panthers lost $36 million last year and $27.3 million the year before.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
