City tells Slammers it will not extend teams lease in Pelham

Published on May 24, 2004 under SPHL (SPHL)
Alabama Slammers News Release


PELHAM, AL - The Alabama Slammers of the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) today announced that the team has been informed by the City of Pelham that the City has no intention of extending the Slammers current lease at the Pelham Civic Complex for the 2004-05 season.

The Slammers ownership, who were responsible for bringing professional hockey back to the Birmingham market last October after a two year absence were shocked by the City's announcement.

"We took a significant risk and made a substantial investment in bringing professional hockey to an unproven venue in the Pelham Civic Complex last season and for the City to not provide us the opportunity to extend our lease right now is a travesty," said Slammers team President, Taylor Hall. "Everyone thought we were crazy when we first announced that we would be playing in the Pelham Civic Complex instead of the BJCC last October. Nothing against the BJCC, we just thought that for hockey to work long term in the Birmingham market we would need to take some time to build up our fan base."

Although Hall was led to believe that the City would extend the team's lease for another season after meeting with Mayor Hayes in early March, he became increasingly concerned of the City's recent position to not negotiate the extension of the Slammers lease with the team until it expires on May 31st. He was also aware that the City was being courted the past several months by another ownership group wanting to place a team in the Pelham Civic Complex and operate a team in the South East Hockey League. The SEHL was a four team professional hockey league that operated last season with teams located in Fayetteville, NC, Winston-Salem, NC, Huntsville, AL and Knoxville, TN. The SEHL currently has only two teams committed to play next season, while Huntsville and Winston Salem announced they will be leaving the SEHL to join the Slammers in the new EHL.

"My partner and I met with Mayor Hayes and the Pelham Civic Complex building manager in early March to discuss the Slammers intention to renew our lease for next season," said Hall. "The Mayor shared in our opinion that the Slammers were a great addition to the City and he informed us that he wanted the Slammers to return next season and to continue on marketing the team while we work though the renewal process with the City. He also expressed his concern that the team had not paid their sales tax to the city and that the team had amassed some debt with local vendors during the team's inaugural season."

Since that meeting, the Slammers have made a $12,000 payment to resolve their outstanding sales tax obligations with the City of Pelham and have made payment arrangements with most of the outside suppliers that were owed money from the inaugural season. The team was also subjected to a Sales tax audit by the City after the season and were accessed an additional $5,604.84 in sales tax, usage tax, and business license fees on May 7th which the team plans on taking care of immediately.

"Our start-up costs were more than we anticipated last season but it has always been our intent to take care of any financial obligations the team occurred," said Hall. "Like every new business, hockey is not profitable in one year; you need several years to recoup your initial investment, or several years of current operations in order to become profitable. We looked at placing a team in Pelham as a long term investment and it's essential that the team receive the opportunity to return in order to continue with the long term program to make hockey and the Slammers a success in Pelham for many years to come."

Unlike the BJCC which was home to professional hockey in Birmingham for more than 20 years, the Pelham Civic Complex needed some improvements to become fan friendly for professional hockey. The Slammers ownership group was so confident that professional hockey could work in the Pelham Civic Complex that they invested close to a hundred thousand dollars in capital improvements to the arena including sixty thousand dollars in concession equipment to upgrade the arena's concessions.

"One of our fans major concerns with placing the team in the Pelham Civic Complex was their previous experience with the arena's concessions," said Hall. "They were concerned that the concessions in the arena weren't designed to handle large crowds and that the line-ups would be to long. Our goal was to wow the fans when they came out to enjoy our games with a completely revamped and upgraded concession arrangement. We invested in several upscale food and beverage carts so that we could provide a variety of food options and multiple points of sale throughout the building to improve the traffic flow of the concessions. The team also invested in converting the arena's skate rental area into a second concession stand so that the team could service large crowds and created a sports bar in the arena for fans to enjoy while watching the game."

The team attracted close to 100,000 fans during their inaugural season and believed they created a win-win partnership with the city of Pelham. The first professional sports team to call Pelham their home, the Slammers brought over thirty major events to the Pelham Civic Complex over their 6 month season. Fans from all over Alabama attended the games last season according to reports provided to the team by their ticket distributor, Ticketmaster.

Aside from the surrounding Birmingham market, the Slammers attracted thousands of fans from as far away as Tuscaloosa and Montgomery. Slammers fans spent money in the City of Pelham during the season on everything from hotels, restaurants, bars, gas, and retail stores. Hall estimates that the City also made over $120,000 directly from the team last season from the teams lease payments and parking revenue on game nights. Slammers games also created over $15,000 in revenue for the Pelham High School who donated their time working in the concessions on game nights.

Not only was the team successful on the ice during their inaugural season finishing with the second best record in the league and qualifying for the playoffs, the team made a significant investment in the community. Slammers players, coaches, staff, cheerleaders and promotional team members made over 200 appearances in the local community attending charity events, local schools, youth centers, and children hospitals.

"No matter how the team performs on the ice, our goal is to always be number one when it comes to giving back to the local community," said Hall. "That's what it's all about."

The team is on the verge of adding local investors to their ownership group and is committed to taking care of the Slammers payables from last season provided the team is able to extend their current lease with the Pelham Civic Complex. Not only will the addition of local investors strengthen the team's ownership group and ability to satisfy the current and long term obligations the Slammers have in the business community, local investors will open many new doors for the team in the business community to help create more season ticket and sponsorship revenue for next season.

"We would understand the City's position if we were unable to financially take care of our debt but that's not the story," said Hall. "All we are asking for is that the City to provide us with the written option to extend our current lease providing we take care of any outstanding debt. At that point, our local investors would feel comfortable investing in the team knowing that the lease would be extended upon payment to the City and our outside suppliers."

The Slammers announced on April 21st that they would be joining the new Eastern Hockey League (EHL). The EHL is expected to ice between 10-12 teams next season and will provide the Slammers and their fans with more northern rivals with the addition of Huntsville, AL, Winston-Salem, NC and Asheville, NC.

"The Eastern Hockey League was formed to create a neutral league for teams in the South East to participate in next season as one big league," said Hall. "It just doesn't make sense to have teams that are in close proximity to each other not to be competing against each other. The new Eastern Hockey League will be run by a board of governors consisting of team owners and the rules and regulations will be agreed upon by the board. This is a great opportunity for owners of their respective teams to create one strong league in the South East while working together to establish the way everyone wants the league to be structured and operated. One of the reasons that there have been rival leagues in the South East over the years is the difference in philosophies of how the league should operate in terms of rules and regulations. The EHL will allow every participating team owner to vote as a member of the board of governors on how the league will operate."

"I think the EHL is a much better fit for Slammers hockey and the Pelham Civic Complex next season," said Slammers Head Coach, Garry Unger. "The Slammers have established a great name around town during their first season and are known for icing a competitive team and for providing an affordable night out for families in the Birmingham area. Fans have developed a strong bond with the team and our players and with the addition of Huntsville, Winston-Salem and Asheville in the EHL next season; our fans will be treated to some great new rivalries."

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