Abbotsford residents may not be feeling the Heat on the ice – but they are feeling the heat in their pocketbooks.
Taxpayers will have to fork over $1.6-million to cover the Abbotsford Heat’s financial shortfall last season, according to city documents.
Abbotsford agreed to the subsidy when it brought the American Hockey League team to the Fraser Valley. The Heat are the minor-league affiliate or “farm team” of the Calgary Flames, long-standing rivals of the Vancouver Canucks.
“It’s not a surprise, which is a real shame,” said Vince Dimanno, head of the Abbotsford Ratepayers Association. “There’s no path to profitability with this team. That means they’ve put the taxpayer on the hook for it.”
The city has spent more than $5.1-million over the Heat’s past four seasons to cover shortfalls in attendance, as part of a ten-year deal.
The team’s existing contract with the city has them playing until 2019.
Ticket sales rose by about 21 per cent last season, but attendance has hovered at around 2,500 people a game.
The Abbotsford Sports and Entertainment Centre, where the Heat play, has a maximum capacity of about 7,000 people.
“Add to that it’s the Calgary Flames’ farm team, and it’s such a mountain for the owners to climb,” Dimanno said. “I always ask people to buy a ticket to at least enjoy something that’s there. You’ve got to get something out of it as a community.”
Rumours swirled last year that the city was actively trying to replace the team with the Canucks’ newly-purchased AHL team, the Peoria Rivermen, in time for the 2013-2014 season. Talks between the city and Canucks’ brass reportedly broke down, and the club moved to New York to become the Utica Comets.
The Heat have maintained a winning record in each of their four seasons and currently sit on top of the AHL’s West Division with 23 wins and 12 losses.
With files from CTV British Columbia's Michele Brunoro
