Hurricanes Owner Peter Karmanos "has swept out three of
his top executives and will take over daily oversight" of
Gale Force Holdings, the parent company that manages the new
Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena and NHL team, according
to Ned Glascock of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. Karmanos
announced yesterday the dismissals of Gale Force COO Dean
Jordan, CFO Jon Kennedy and VP Sims Hinds. Hinds is
expected to be named Exec Dir of Raleigh's AFL Cobras on
Thursday. Glascock reports that the timing of the
restructuring, just a few weeks after the opening of the
arena, "fueled speculation that Karmanos is unhappy with
arena ticket sales, vexing traffic jams and other problems."
Karmanos, who said he knew for "two or three months" that a
change would be made: "There's nothing wrong with the
performance that they're being punished for. I just felt we
needed to restructure. I wasn't happy with the situations
at work, and I needed to get more directly involved."
Karmanos, who works out of his Compuware offices in Detroit,
said that he "plans to be in Raleigh two or three days a
week to run Gale Force." He said he will "take over
negotiations" with NC State Univ. (NCSU) on selling the
naming rights to the arena (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 11/17).
PROS AND CONS: Karmanos said that "poor turnout" at
Hurricanes games "was no factor in his decision" to dismiss
the execs and that traffic jams have contributed to the low
figures. Karmanos: "Our attendance is right where I thought
it would be." The team is averaging 13,729 at the 18,730-
seat arena (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 11/17). Karmanos
acknowledged that Gale Force Holdings is responsible for
installing burgundy seats at the arena instead of NCSU
Wolfpack red seats. Noting the controversy, Karmanos said,
"We screwed up. ... I'm not going to ruin our relationship
with [NCSU] over a $600,000 item. We will replace them --
done" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 11/17).
JORDAN ATTRIBUTES BURNOUT: Dean Jordan said that his
departure "boiled down" to what he called "burnout."
Jordan: "I'm very proud of what we accomplished. I don't
think anyone has any comprehension what it took to get the
[arena] open." But Glascock writes that Jordan, who joined
Gale Force in June '98, "didn't always make friends with an
elbow-throwing management style in a city more accustomed to
back-slapping." Glascock notes that "morale" at Gale Force
"has been low" as of late, and a "handful of key employees
had threatened to quit because of Jordan." One replacement
has already named, as Gale Force VP/Finance & Administration
Mike Amendola will become CFO (NEWS & OBSERVER, 11/17).
LET'S WATCH SOME HOCKEY, Y'ALL: In Ottawa, Ken Warren
examines the expansion of the NHL into the southeast and
writes that both the Hurricanes and Predators have been
offering "university" teaching sessions where fans can learn
about the game. The Hurricanes' program, which costs $100
to attend, includes lectures, videos explaining the rules,
game tickets and a graduation event (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 11/17).
