Swamp Rabbits and Bon Secours Wellness Arena Extend Lease
April 23, 2024 - ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Swamp Rabbits News Release
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Greenville Swamp Rabbits, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, announced in conjunction with Bon Secours Wellness Arena that the two partners have agreed to extend the team's lease for five years.
The lease extension, announced yesterday, means Bon Secours Wellness Arena will be the home of the Swamp Rabbits through the 2028-29 ECHL Season.
"I am so pleased to announce that the Greenville Arena District has entered into a lease extension with Spire Sports + Entertainment to keep the Greenville Swamp Rabbits here at Bon Secours Wellness Arena for the next five years," said Beth Paul, General Manager of Bon Secours Wellness Arena. "It's an honor to be a part of the arena, and wonderful to have a partner that has vision and the same commitment and core values towards our community that we do.
"In March of 2020 when we first met Spire Sports + Entertainment, there were so many uncertainties in the world. There was uncertainty about health, the hockey team, and how the arena was going to survive. Spire took control of the team, took immediate action, and got the team to a place where we needed it to be for the future of hockey in Greenville," she continued. "Collectively, we contribute financial dollars to our community and jobs to the area. That's incredibly important to us, and that comes down to having a primary tenant. We're excited for the future of hockey in Greenville, and look forward to watching this team make a deep run in the 2024 playoffs."
From the final season prior to Spire Sports + Entertainment ownership to present day, the Swamp Rabbits have seen increases of over 200% in ticket revenue, and an additional 30-40% increase in Season Ticket Holders each season. Additionally, the Swamp Rabbits have increased corporate partnership revenue by over 400% and invested excess of $500,000 to the Upstate community across 120 different organizations. Recently, that financial contribution includes $26,000 raised for Golf for Greenville and Fluor Cares through the team's warmup jersey auction last weekend on "Fan Appreciation Day" to close out the regular season.
"When we came into this market four years ago, we explicitly stated that our goal was to be a community organization first and a hockey team second. We are Carolinians, with our home base in Charlotte, and we want to be here more than the five years we've extended our lease by," said Todd Mackin, President of Spire Holdings. "On behalf of Spire Sports + Entertainment, I want to thank the Greenville Arena District, Beth [Paul] and her team, and our partners in Bon Secours, because none of this could be possible without all of us having the same vision in working together to make this a priority.
"We are so excited to see the future of this team and organization. When we sat down four years ago and put together a plan on doing this the right way to ensure long term success, we realized we couldn't reach that without our fans," he concluded. "Our fans, Season Ticket Holders, and partners are our core and mechanism that makes this tick. Jeff Dickerson, our owner, said that Greenville deserves a team that is the envy of the entire league. That is something that we continue to strive towards to make our community proud. This five-year lease extension continues that mission for us. We're thankful to our community, and so excited to have Swamp Rabbits hockey in Greenville for the foreseeable future."
The 2024 South Division Champions now shift the South Division Semifinals to Orlando, with the series tied at 1-1. Game 3 is set for this Friday, April 26th, with puck drop slated for 7:00pm EST at the Kia Center.
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