The commissioner of the Ontario Hockey League is pitching municipalities on expansion teams as the league looks to “capitalize on opportunities for growth.”
Bryan Crawford, commissioner of the OHL, made a presentation to Chatham-Kent councillors on Monday, saying the league will commit to granting the area an expansion team if council commits to building an arena fit for one.
Crawford said the 20-team league, which is one of the major player development leagues in the world, set a new all-time attendance record last year, bringing more than 3.2 million fans to regular-season and playoff games.
While OHL teams have been relocated in recent years, the league hasn’t added an expansion team since 1998.
“We’re upwards of half-a-billion dollars in direct financial impact in our teams across the communities that we play in,” Crawford said.
“A massive economic driver that the OHL is, when people come downtown for the games and they come to the games, they go to the restaurants, they stay in the hotels; they do all those sorts of things that are associated with a major sport and entertainment complex.”
The OHL is eyeing expansion for several reasons, including a larger pool of players to choose from, given last year’s NCAA eligibility changes. Crawford said the league was able to add more than 120 players this season due to those changes, which translates to roughly four teams of new players.
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That presents new opportunities for marketing, media and partnership opportunities, Crawford added.
“Our league has really never been healthier and never been in a better place to capitalize on opportunities for growth,” he told Chatham councillors.
Josh Sweetland, communications director with the OHL, told Global News in a statement that the league is exploring what options currently exist in Ontario and the United States for a “couple of teams” in the coming years.
Vaughan – one of York Region’s major municipalities – is one of those options.
Crawford called it an “ideal market” for OHL hockey in a letter to Mayor Stephen Del Duca last year. Staff told councillors last month that the league’s operating best practices for establishing and overseeing a franchise involve a municipality constructing an OHL arena facility and leasing it to the team.
The arenas are often developed as catalysts for the rejuvenation of a specific district or area, staff said.
“Plans for constructing an arena are critical to securing an ownership group to develop, establish and manage an OHL franchise team,” they added.
Chatham-Kent’s nearly 80-year-old arena holds about 2,220 spectators and lacks the features the OHL seeks in its rinks.
OHL arenas typically have a 5,000-seat capacity, with space for food, beverage and souvenir concessions and up to 30 premium suites. They typically cost between $150 and $200 million, Crawford said Monday.
“All of our buildings are not only for our teams, but they are community assets. They are for community projects, community ice, recreation and also entertainment that is outside of hockey,” he said, adding that cities make revenue from the teams due to rental fees and other agreements.
“Without an arena, there isn’t much to discuss. Unfortunately, that is the thing that is required to do this.”
Sweetland said the expansion process will likely take “several years,” given that the markets the OHL is eyeing need new arenas.
“Providing a first-class experience for players as they pursue their full potential is of utmost priority in this endeavour, so appropriate facilities that can provide the modern player with the necessary amenities are a top priority as the League continues its exploratory work,” he added.
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