NHL Panthers ownership has vowed that the club will "remain in South Florida" amid speculation that the franchise "could be on the move" with new arenas being built in Las Vegas and Quebec City, according to George Richards of the MIAMI HERALD. Panthers Vice Chair & Partner Douglas Cifu and team Owner Vinnie Viola wrote a letter to "stem rumors of relocation." They wrote, "As we close in on the one-year anniversary of our ownership of the Florida Panthers, we want to reiterate our commitment to Broward County, South Florida and our Panthers fans and business partners. ... Despite media speculation to the contrary, we have no plans or intentions to move this franchise." Richards notes the franchise is "trying to change its lease with Broward County and erase" an annual $4.6M bond payment. Cifu in a February meeting with the Broward County Commission said that the team is "losing $100,000 per day." The Panthers are "locked into a lease" with the county-owned BB&T Center through '28. (MIAMI HERALD, 9/18). In Ft. Lauderdale, Harvey Fialkov notes the relocation reports were "sparked by a statement that Cifu made" last month in which he said that the team was losing $30M a year and that the lease on the BB&T Center "needed to be renegotiated." Additionally, "throwing fuel on interested cities' fire was Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief hiring a consultant to look into the possibility of allowing the Panthers out of their arena lease and the opportunity to relocate." The results of that report are "expected in October" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 9/18).
IN THE RED: CBSSPORTS.com's Chris Peters noted the NHL "came out to strongly refute" reports of relocation, "especially when it concerned Florida, but it must be comforting for fans to hear it from the horse's mouth." What is "less comforting however is the owners pointing to the fact that the team and arena have been losing a lot of money." The ownership is "saying all of the right things now, but the situation in South Florida isn't great presently" (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/17).
