The Quesnel Millionaires are for sale, and that could have a far-reaching negative impact on the Prince George Spruce Kings.
After losing $300,000 in two seasons of owning the B.C. Hockey League team, the group of 15 investors in Quesnel decided it can no longer operate the Mills at a loss, knowing a plan to build a new arena has stalled.
"We've put the team up because we've had such severe losses in the last two years and we don't see a building coming anytime soon," said Millionaires president/governor Bob Sales. "It's going to cost $30 million and they need money from the provincial and federal government and it didn't look very promising for us.
"Our first priority is to try to keep it in Quesnel. We haven't had any firm offers from anybody. I talked to a group here that was interested in buying the team but we couldn't give them an answer on the arena and they said they couldn't do it."
The asking price for the Mills is $500,000. Sales said a new owner would not be saddled with outstanding bills to pay.
"When we bought the team we made up our minds we wouldn't leave a bunch of debt in Quesnel and we wouldn't leave the city with a bunch of debt due to ice time and we've done that. We have one more payment to make to the city and everything has been paid off."
Sales said the board will meet on Tuesday to decide what it will report to the league office.
"One of the things we've talked about is to take a leave of absence and try to get a fixed date from the city when the new building is going to come," Sales said.
On a season-ticket base of 500, the Millionaires averaged only 638 fans per game in 30 home games this season at Quesnel Twin Arenas, a rink with a capacity of 1,200. The two playoff games in Quesnel drew a total of just 940 fans.
It didn't help that the Mills ranked second-last overall in the 16-team league with a 13-38-3-6 record. They were swept in four games by Penticton in the first playoff round.
In November 2008, Quesnel voters passed a referendum by a 53 per cent majority to borrow up to $15 million to build a new 2,000-seat arena and 450-seat performing arts centre and meeting rooms. The project was contingent on receiving $15 million in combined federal and provincial government funding, which failed to materialize.
The Mills operated on a $480,000 budget in 2010-11. By comparison, the community-owned Spruce Kings have already raised more than half of their operating budget for next season, estimated at $500,000, through ticket sales of the Show Home Lottery. The Millionaires do not have that annual revenue source.
The Mills' ownership changed hands in April 2009 when local investors each purchased a$15,000 share to buy the community-owned franchise and keep it in Quesnel. At the time of the purchase, Sales said the survival of the team was contingent on a new arena.
"I feel bad for our community and I also feel bad for Prince George, but we can't see anything good happening here," said Sales.
Losing Quesnel would leave the Spruce Kings as the only northern-based team in the BCHL. The closest opponents for the Kings would be in Merritt, 533 kilometres away, and Salmon Arm, a one-way trip of 633 kilometres.
"It sucks," said Spruce Kings president Darcy Buryn. "Travel is a challenge for us anyway and having teams in the past in the vicinity, in Quesnel and Williams Lake [which had its franchise suspended by the league after the 2009-10 season], eased what is an already challenging travel burden. If the Millionaires are not playing in Quesnel anymore, that would obviously make things that much more difficult, but we'd certainly find a way to adapt our process to deal with it."
The Spruce Kings play five road games per season in Quesnel and without that stop, 116 km away, Buryn estimated the team will be forced to be on the road an additional four to seven nights, adding more than $10,000 to the team's annual costs. Visiting teams will be forced to play more doubleheaders at the Coliseum, but Buryn said there would be less three-game weekends for the Kings at home.
Despite the imminent challenges, Buryn is confident a BCHL team will remain in Prince George.
"There are teams in the league in places like Trail and Powell River, that are remote," said Buryn. "Prince George is a part of the B.C. Hockey League and if there's only one team in the north it's just a reality the league will have to deal with. One way or another, we will make it work in the league."
