Venue Detail
Carolina Hurricanes
Revenues From Sports Venues Pro Facilities Report
February, 2011
Carolina Hurricanes
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5000 Aerial Center Ste 100 Mooresville, NC 27569 Phone: 919-467-7825 Fax: 919-462-7030 URL: www.caneshockey.com
Owner
Peter Karmanos
League
National Hockey League Eastern, Southeast Division
Venue
RBC Center, PO Box 8501, Raleigh, NC 27695 Owner: Centennial Authority Managed by: Team Built: 1999 Capacity: 21,000 Permanent concession stands: 18 Concessionaire: VAB Catering Suite caterer: VAB Catering Beer: Multiple
Naming rights
Sold to: Royal Bank of Canada Price: $80, 000,000 Term: 20 years Expires: 2022
Ticket prices
Season tickets range from $946 to $5,912 Single tickets range from $25.00 to $200.00
Attendance
2007 average attendance: 17,386 2008 average attendance: 16,633 2009 average attendance: 17,126
Luxury Suites
Quantity: 66 Term: 3 to 10 years Price: $76,000 to $225,000 Seats: 10 to 34 Includes: Tickets, concierge service, parking. The party suite holds 44 to 88 persons and is priced individually.
Club seats
Quantity: 2,000 Term: 1 to 1 years Price: $6,020 to $6,020 Includes: Hockey tickets only, in-seat wait service.
Financing
The $158 million venue includes $25 million in private money from the Hurricanes and the rest from bonds sold by the city and county. Pct. public: 84
The NHL Hurricanes opened their new 21,000-seat home in 1999 after playing temporarily in Greensboro. The team was formerly known as the Hartford Whalers. The arena also serves North Carolina State University which will pay $40,000 per game in rent on a scale that escalates over 40 years.
The Hurricanes will continue playing home hockey games at the RBC Center until October 2024 under an extended lease agreement.
The five-year extension comes after nearly two years of negotiations between Gale Force Holdings, parent company of the Hurricanes, and the Centennial Authority, the public agency that owns the RBC Center.
A key aspect to the deal is Gale Force receiving additional money from the authority to cover rising utility fees, terrorism insurance and game-day expenses. The Hurricanes' previous 20-year lease was signed in 1999, before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and before energy costs began to rise exponentially.
Under its previous lease, Gale Force paid a minimum of $2.7 million in rent a year. If it made more than $50 million in gross revenue, it paid 6 percent of the first $5 million after the $50 million, and 3 percent of anything over $55 million.
The new agreement also calls for improvements to the RBC Center's basketball facilities and parking lot that were requested by N.C. State University, which plays basketball games at the arena. NCSU will also have more say about how the authority spends $6 million earmarked for upgrades to the arena.
A new private club gives fans access to Hurricanes' games for $125 and includes food and beverages. Tickets for North Carolina State University events would be extra.
The 400-seat club provides another price point than the existing club seats. The work was funded by the Capital Improvement Board which oversees the venue. It will generate an estimated $2.2 million a year in revenue. (Facilities, Financial, Ice Hockey, NHL, Professional Sports)