Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

WILKES-BARRE TWP. — There is no place like home to generate revenue under the terms of the lease signed late Tuesday to keep the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hockey team at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza for another 10 years.

The deal ensures arena owner, the Luzerne County Convention Center Authority, has an anchor tenant in WBS Hockey LP to attract people to purchase tickets for the home games, park in the lot and spend money at the concessions.

The parties had been going back and forth in negotiations for months and came to terms on a host of specifics ranging from Zamboni purchases and advertising rights to parking fees and locker room improvements.

Neither side got everything it wanted, but came away satisfied, said Jeff Barrett, president and CEO of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

“It’s a fair deal for everybody,” Barrett said Thursday.

“We’re no longer in competition with the arena. We’re working together,” Barrett said, explaining how the new deal differed from past agreements.

Attempts to reach Gary Zingaretti, chairman of the Authority, were unsuccessful Thursday. Previously he said the authority and the Penguins were proud of the agreement.

As the main tenant since 1999 when the arena opened, the Penguins must maintain their membership in the American Hockey League and continue to be the player development team for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League

For each home game, the Penguins will pay $5,763 in rent. The AHL franchise has 38 home games scheduled for the 2019-2020 season with the home opener on Oct. 12 against the Utica Comets.

When the team isn’t skating at the arena, SMG can host events ranging from trade shows and monster truck competitions to concerts such as the Snoop Dogg & Friends Tour booked for Sept. 26. SMG manages the arena for the Authority.

The Penguins can set ticket prices for its games at the nearly 8,000-seat arena. It also receives all the revenue from the sale of non-premium tickets. The Authority has exclusive control of marketing and licensing for suite and club suite tickets and retains all the revenue from those sales.

The parties split a $1 surcharge on non-premium tickets. There is no surcharge on suite and club seat tickets.

Likewise, the parties split the per-vehicle parking fee for home games. The $1.75 fee, applicable for the first three years of the deal, is included in the ticket price. It rises to $2 for the remaining seven years. The Penguins receives 32 percent of the gross revenue from parking and the other 68 percent goes to the Authority.

A revenue sharing agreement for advertising in the inner bowl was among the terms of the deal. It gave the Penguins exclusive control of advertising in the inner bowl of the arena during the home games and set limits:

• The first $168,000 goes to the Authority

• The next $900,000 goes to the Penguins.

• The next one-tenth of the cost and installation of the ribbon board goes to the Authority.

• The next $100,000 is split with 20% to the Authority and 80% to the Penguins.

• Anything above and beyond the previous limit will be split 50-50.

In June, the Authority accepted the sole bid for the board from Outfront Media LLC. The company bid $585,919 for the LED system to encircle the interior lower level of the arena. It will be in place for the upcoming season.

Barrett said the advertising revenue amounts were historic numbers. The addition will increase revenues, he said. “It’s going to be a wow factor for the fans,” he said.

The Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township. Times Leader file photo
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL092917arena-2.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township. Times Leader file photo

By Jerry Lynott

[email protected]

Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.