The league hopes to have answers from its 31 teams by mid-June at the earliest.getty images
The American Hockey League canceled the remainder of its 2019-20 season on May 11, and despite the 20% percent hit in revenue across the league for missed games, the league office isn’t worried about teams’ stability or financial sustainability, according to President David Andrews.
“This is not the American Hockey League of 10 or 15 years ago when I spent a lot of time putting out fires for teams who were at risk,” said Andrews, who added that the collective health of all 31 teams is “very good.”
Still, despite the solid footing, questions remain as to what the league’s makeup could look like in the fall. Andrews posed a scenario that if local health guidelines in certain markets delay fans from returning to games until March next season, for example, then “I think a number of teams would determine that for the 2020-21 season, it just isn’t viable for them to participate,” he said. “Faced with a business that makes no sense for a period of time, I think we would allow teams to make that decision and sit it out.”
He elaborated that such a decision, which would need to be approved by the AHL board of governors, wouldn’t necessarily call into question a team’s financial sustainability. Instead, it would be a reflection about the business sense of continuing to operate and thus spending millions of dollars with minimal — or no — revenue.
Added Robert Esche, president of the Utica Comets, “The financial wherewithal of all of the clubs is probably the strongest it has ever been.”
AHL spring meetings are typically around this time, and in a normal year, teams would now have to formally commit to participating in the upcoming campaign, Andrews said. Those meetings are also when the league’s regular-season schedule would begin to solidify. However, amid COVID-19 and the season’s cancellation, the meetings haven’t occurred yet.
Andrews suggested that a date asking for teams’ commitment for 2020-21 and a normal season start time in October would be delayed until mid-June at the earliest. An undetermined trigger date would then likely be set for if a team determines it needs to bail on the season. Andrews stressed, however, that there is no sign of any clubs choosing not to participate, adding that he didn’t think it was likely to happen.
The league is currently building out a normal, 2020-21 schedule for October through April. Additionally, it is modeling scenarios for start dates in November, December and even January, all of which are being tailored to finish the season by June 30, Andrews said. At press time, the AHL was soliciting teams’ feedback and suggestions before eventually forming a smaller task force of select NHL GMs and key AHL personnel to determine what next season’s format might look like.
“One of the really important things is to determine trigger-making decision dates … and figuring out when’s the last minute we can make decisions to move back a month to start the season,” said Andrews, who will step down as the AHL’s president after 26 years in June (Page 26). Longtime NHL executive Scott Howson will take over.
“It’s also unrealistic to think we’re not going to have to be creative in looking at 31 jurisdictions and the likelihood that they’re not going to come back online at the same time in terms of the ability to put fans in the building,” said Andrews. “We need to be flexible enough and innovative enough to figure out the ideal way for as many of our teams to play as possible and eventually have a critical mass.”
When asked if neutral-site locations or bubble-type environments in select markets would be options for the AHL, Andrews said the league and its clubs can’t close their minds to any potential scenarios, but referred to both hypotheticals as “unlikely.”
As he and staff evaluate return-to-play scenarios, team executives such as the Comets’ Esche are still wrapping up 2019-20. Esche and his 22-member staff spent last week calling all 1,157 season-ticket accounts and presenting fans with two options for the seven missed home games: get a full refund or receive a personalized etched brick that would comprise one of the inner concourse walls of the Adirondack Bank Center at Utica Memorial Auditorium. More than 75% of fans chose the latter option, said Esche, who also mentioned that all season-ticket renewals and payment plan schedules for 2020-21 are paused.
Milwaukee Admirals President Jon Greenberg said the club has a menu of options for season-ticket holders to choose from, including letting money sit in an account for possible use toward future tickets; using it as a credit for 2020-21 payments; redeeming a merchandise card; or adding it to concessions. In the initial 24 hours after last Monday’s cancellation announcement, no one had canceled their tickets for the upcoming campaign or requested a refund altogether for missed home games.
“The positive response we’ve received from corporate sponsors, from season-ticket holders, the media here, has been remarkable for me,” he added. “People have been supportive.”
Matthew Riley, president of the Bakersfield Condors, said the team’s ticketing credit/refund policy is still being discussed, but that hasn’t prevented the team from engaging with fans. On May 5, about 100 season-ticket holders joined a Zoom happy hour meeting that included head coach Jay Woodcroft. The team will complete a four-day virtual 5K on Monday. Fans could register for $10, and proceeds will go toward Special Olympics Southern California (Kern County) and the Condors foundation.
In the midst of the uncertainty and trying times, Riley said his team is “trying to look at the silver lining in all of this.”
“The fun part of our job is the games and we haven’t had games in two months, so we’re trying to replicate that as much as we can outside of the arena,” he said.
