Two City Council committees unanimously approved a lease extension for Jacksonville Icemen at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena through 2025.
Ordinance 2020-0586, which goes to the full Council on Oct. 27 for a final vote, also reduces the Icemen parent company SZH Hockey LLC’s overall lease costs by $145,000 annually.
The existing Icemen lease expires June 30. If approved by Council, the lease would extend to June 30, 2025, according to the Council Auditor’s Office. The proposed lease includes a five-year renewal option.
Responding to a question Oct. 20 from Council Finance Committee Vice Chair Randy DeFoor, SZH Hockey President Bob Ohrablo said the team has lost money since it began play in the 2017-18 season.
Ohrablo did not reveal how much the Icemen lost, but said it’s “not a lot.”
Team ownership hopes a lower-cost lease will help close that gap and keep minor league hockey in Jacksonville.
“What we had asked the city to do was provide us with a little more favorable lease terms so that we would no longer be the most expensive lease in the ECHL,” Ohrablo said. “And in exchange, we’re willing to commit to a long-term lease here.”
SZH Hockey LLC, led by Jacksonville resident Andrew Kaufmann, bought the Icemen in July 2019 from El Acquisitions. Each member of the ownership group lives locally, according to Ohrablo.
“We’ve really just been working over the last couple of years to make sure that the team is here for the long term. Approval of this lease would be the last step in that,” he said.
Mayor Lenny Curry, Icemen ownership, JAX Chamber and arena management company SMG Jacksonville will hold a joint news conference at 11 a.m. Oct. 22 about the lease agreement.
The Icemen was one of 143 nonprofit and for-profit organizations that received aid from the city this summer to help with pandemic-related revenue losses.
SZH Hockey received $1.07 million from the city’s $168 million federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act award.
Ohrablo said Sept. 18 that the city aid, combined with a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan, prevented mass layoffs and covered some of the revenue shortfall.
The Icemen is an ECHL affiliate of the NHL Winnipeg Jets and AHL Manitoba Moose. The team completed its third season in Jacksonville in March, cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team announced its delayed 2020-21 schedule on Oct. 15. The Icemen will open the season Dec. 11 on the road at the Florida Everblades. The home opener for the Icemen is Dec. 12 against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.