From Chuck McCartney, Ice Flyers President: As Tim Kerr sat in his home in New Jersey watching the live broadcast of the BOCC meeting he could not believe what he was hearing, that the Ice Flyers and even more so himself were in default of his lease agreement with the county.
There has not been a single time in the 2 years since the lease was negotiated that anybody has ever asked for our numbers. I am disappointed that the commissioners would assume this without anyone at anytime ever contacting the Ice Flyers organization to find out what the true season ticket numbers were.
Tim Kerr stated, “I can’t believe they are saying I am in default of my lease agreement, without ever calling me for accurate numbers. The lease states that I needed to sell 1250 season tickets for the 2009-2010 season only, before I could obtain a lease with the county. I exceeded that figure when you include full season tickets, half season equivalents and corporate season tickets, so a lease was signed in July of 2009.
“The Ice Flyers are not in default of our agreement, we met the season ticket number imposed for our first year and we have met every other obligation under the current agreement over the last 2 years and we will continue to meet those obligations for the remaining 2 seasons left under our current agreement. In fact after our first season, I renegotiated an increase in the facility fee added to every ticket sold to help reduce the expense to the county of maintaining the ice sheet.
“I am upset that they would attack my credibility without any input from our organization. I can show the proof that we are in complete compliance with our current lease agreement.â€
I agree that the Ice Flyers need to sell more tickets which would help increase the revenue the county receives from parking sales, concessions and facility fees and I am committed to making that happen or hockey will not be in Pensacola after this current lease. We also had a setback with the oil spill last summer and that had an impact on our sales and we are confident we can be more successful at the gate in the coming years.
Tim Kerr is planning a visit to Pensacola to meet with the County Commissioners in the near future, to provide a clear understanding of the numbers directly from the Ice Flyers organization. So he can prove to everyone what he already knows, that the Ice Flyers and even more importantly himself are not in violation of the current lease agreement that is valid until the end of the 2012-2013 season.