One of the owners of the Collingwood Blues is releasing their new contract for tenancy of the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena to the public, in an effort to be more open and transparent with the community.
CollingwoodToday requested a copy of the new contract from the Town of Collingwood when it was signed in September. The town’s communications staff said they would notify when it was available to the public. That has not yet transpired.
However, Collingwood Blues co-owner Dave Steele provided CollingwoodToday with a copy this week. Personal and financial information had been redacted.
“We’ve got nothing to hide,” Steele told CollingwoodToday in an interview. “This agreement is good for the sustainability of hockey, but also good for the town to have securities.”
The contract will be in effect for 10 years, with an option to renew for another 10 years. If a new ice facility is built in town within that time frame, the Blues agreement will transfer to the new facility and both parties will negotiate amendments to the agreement at that time. Either party can terminate the agreement by giving the other 120 days written notice.
The new rental rate formula will include a split of the revenue from advertising with the town receiving 30 per cent, at a minimum of $38,000 annually plus adjustments for the consumer price index. Steele sells all the advertising himself, and Blues ownership must provide the town with a list of all advertisers annually under the agreement.
While the 70/30 split is consistent with the previous contract, the minimum is a new feature. The Blues also pay for additional ice time outside of their regular season, at the regular minor hockey rate.
For the first four years of the previous contract, the Blues paid the town $32,100 in 2019-2020, $2,900 in 2020-2021 (due to COVID), $30,900 in 2021-2022, and $35,000 in 2022-2023 for the use of the Eddie Bush.
Steele says the 70 per cent of advertising revenue he holds onto goes into team costs such as the team’s bus and maintenance of it, salaries for coaches/staff, acquisition costs, league costs, uniforms, equipment and travel costs. He insists on subsidizing some of the costs to the players (such as room and board), which he says is uncommon within the league.
Ticket prices for Blues games have also stayed at $15 if purchased in advance or $18 if purchased at the door, which Steele said is an important point for him.
“I want people to be able to go and have a nice night out without a big price tag associated with that,” he said. “Plus, this place feels better when it’s full.”
To date, Steele said he hasn’t turned a profit on the team. He provided a copy of his personal finances to town council in closed session during the contract negotiation.
“Truly, this is a business my wife and I volunteer in. We’ve never taken any money from the team. We have jobs,” said Steele. “We came to this community because I love hockey and my wife loves (giving) community support. You meet people in town that are friends, and it grows.”
“We love it. We love how it feels in this building on a Friday night,” he said.
The new contract includes provisions for exclusive and non-exclusive use areas within the Eddie Bush and periods of use.
For example, the Blues dressing room and the upstairs and downstairs concession areas are exclusive use areas, and non-exclusive use areas include the ice surface, box office and the W. J. (Scotty) Carmichael Collingwood Sports Hall of Fame Room.
The Hall of Fame room, prior to the Blues tenancy, was open all the time the arena was open. However, some vandalism that started before the Blues took tenancy in 2019 and continued in late 2022 had Steele calling for more security at that time.
While the room is part of the Eddie Bush and is town-owned, Steele invested $86,000 into renovating the room in 2019, including new tables, chairs and couches for the space, which is also branded as the "founders lounge" and access is exclusive during Blues games.
The new contract includes two schedules that get into specifics on how the hall of fame room is to be used and protected moving forward. It includes an itemized list of all the team equipment and furniture that is property of the Blues.
When the Eddie Bush is closed to the public, the hall of fame room is also closed.
When the Eddie Bush is open but there are no scheduled bookings, the room is locked but is accessible to members of the public by request to arena staff. A visitor log will be maintained by the town to track access. If anything is damaged during these times, the town is responsible to foot the bill.
During Blues games, Blues ownership is responsible to monitor the use of the room, and any damage caused during these periods is the responsibility of Blues ownership.
If a third party books the arena without the room included, the town may opt to keep the room locked during these times. If the town opts to allow third-party renters to use the room, the Blues' furniture may be locked up during that time, and the town will be responsible for any damage that might occur.
If a third party books the hall of fame room specifically, the town is responsible to do a walkthrough with the third party before and after booking, and the town will be responsible if any damage is made to anything in the room.
The contract negotiation this year was contentious and took more than nine months.
The original Collingwood Blues (then the Collingwood Colts) contract was signed by the town and team ownership in 2019, following the Colts being awarded tenancy of the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena. The original contract expired Aug. 19, 2024.
This past December, the Blues requested an extension to the existing contract for an additional year to allow time for renegotiation while having some certainty prior to committing to the Ontario Junior Hockey League for the 2024-2025 season by their deadline of Jan. 15.
Town council denied the request for an extension. Steele committed to the league for next season without knowing for sure whether there would be a new contract for the Eddie Bush in place.
On Feb. 14, Steele told CollingwoodToday that talks between the Blues and the town had broken down, and he had been considering other options for the team for the 2024-25 season. However, on Feb. 15, the town council called an emergency closed-session meeting and announced that the town had come to an agreement with Blues ownership for the tenancy, which would last for 10 years minimum.
However, the deal remained unsigned as negotiations over details continued.
In May, the Collingwood Blues won the Centennial Cup, making them the Canadian Junior Hockey League champions.
On July 29, council voted to extend the existing Blues contract until Sept. 30, to give both parties more time to come to a consensus.
On Sept. 20, the contract was finally signed by all parties.
“I’d like to say (I felt) relief. For anyone who has dealt with contracts – it took close to a year. You get tired and worn out over it,” said Steele. “It basically came back to a similar contract to what we had before, with more securities that weren’t there before, and we were happy to do that.”
“This helps us set up and plan for our future,” he said.
