Evansville arena looking at options if hockey team moves

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - The manager of Evansville's 4-year-old downtown arena has started looking at options if its current minor league hockey team follows through on threats to move.

That comes as negotiations have stalled between city officials and the Evansville IceMen on a new lease agreement to keep playing in the 11,000-seat Ford Center.

Scott Schoenike, who manages the Ford Center for city contractor VenuWorks, said he was confident the arena would have a hockey team next winter but decisions will have to be made soon if a deal isn't reached with the IceMen.

"I've already had some people inquire about it. It's a small world, so everybody in the other leagues see it," he told the Evansville Courier & Press (http://bit.ly/1ntxF5c ).

The IceMen and the University of Evansville's basketball team are the tenants of the arena that opened in late 2011. City officials are resisting the requests from IceMen owner Ron Geary for subsidy payments because the arena operates at a loss and the city is still making $8 million annual bond payments on its $120 million construction cost.

Revenue for 2015 was expected to fall $400,000 short of the arena's operating expenses, according to City Controller Russ Lloyd Jr. This year's projections look better, with attendance improving for the University of Evansville's basketball team.

"If we lose the IceMen, it throws it up in the air," Lloyd said.

The IceMen play in the ECHL with the Indy Fuel and the Fort Wayne Komets.

The team averaged 5,415 fans during its 2012-13 opening season in the Ford Center, but has declined to averaging 4,230 fans during this season's first 20 of its 36 scheduled home games.

While scheduling for concerts and other events during the winter would be easier without the IceMen, hockey is the preferred tenant, Schoenike said.

"If we were drawing 1,500 people a game and there wasn't a whole lot of interest there, that's probably what I would do." He said. "But in these years past, Evansville has gotten to be a strong hockey market."

Schoenike said he would aim to book more concerts if the arena doesn't have a hockey team next winter.

"Obviously, you're not going to do 36 concerts, but if you do three to four concerts, I'd say that'd be a pretty good mark of success," he said.

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Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com