With 6,000 fans and modest food and beverage sales, the Senators can be a break-even operation next yearGETTY IMAGES
The Senators for next season have "mapped out a safe seating plan for 6,000 at the Canadian Tire Centre, with fans bubbled in small groups, and with at least two empty seats plus a row between bubbles," according to Joe O'Connor of the FINANCIAL POST. Senators Owner Eugene Melnyk said, "I can assure you that even the Ottawa Senators, who don't have a great record of bringing fans in over the past few years, will have a sellout crowd." O'Connor noted with 6,000 fans and "modest food and beverage sales, the Senators can be a break-even operation." The objective "isn't trying to make a profit." Melnyk: "It's: can you survive?" Meanwhile, O'Connor wrote "contrary to the rumours that forever swirl around Ottawa," Melnyk is "not interested in unloading a team." He said, "Even though the value of the hockey team continues to increase, I am not interested in selling -- at any price." Melnyk "hopes to build a new arena in five years' time, and isn't counting on any government funds to help pay for it." He already "owns enough land in Kanata to keep the franchise right where it's been." Melnyk said that debt "accounts for about 33 per cent of the Senators' current valuation," which is a "hangover from the initial startup costs." He added that he is "not losing money" and the team has "cash reserves and the necessary cost structures are in place to weather the COVID-19 storm" (FINANCIAL POST, 10/15).
