Only weeks after the Florida Panthers saw the worst attendance in their history, one of the team's owners admits that it is bleeding millions of dollars.
Panthers co-owner Doug Cifu told Winnipeg's TSN 1290 radio that his team is losing as much as $114,000 per day, said CBC News, and will keep losing money through this season, though it will be at a slower pace than a year ago.
He told host Richard Pollock that the team has carried out a number of actions to stem its losses, such as reducing ticket prices and stopping complimentary tickets and discounts on season tickets.
"Our net intake of ticketing revenue hasn't suffered," Cifu said. "It's actually gotten better this season but our attendance numbers are down."
The TSN interview wasn't the first time that he's admitted the team is losing money.
Earlier this year, as the Panthers sought a bailout from commissioners in Broward County, Fla., Cifu said it was losing "$100,000 a day" after he had purchased the team with partner Vincent Viola in the year prior, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported in February.
Cifu's latest admission comes just three weeks after reporters tweeted photos of the dire attendance at a Panthers-Senators game, where an estimated 7,311 people filled 19,250 seats, the least that the team had ever brought to a game.
The attendance beat the previous record low of 10,063 people, which it hit in 2007.
Those images emerged as speculation suggested the team could be relocated, AP reported at the time.
But Canadians who hope that a struggling team will be moved north can keep on dreaming, for now.
Cifu and Viola said in a September letter that they have "no plans or intentions to move" the Panthers, according to the Miami Herald.
The team has a lease with the BB&T Center, which is owned by Broward County, until 2028.
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Panthers co-owner Doug Cifu told Winnipeg's TSN 1290 radio that his team is losing as much as $114,000 per day, said CBC News, and will keep losing money through this season, though it will be at a slower pace than a year ago.
He told host Richard Pollock that the team has carried out a number of actions to stem its losses, such as reducing ticket prices and stopping complimentary tickets and discounts on season tickets.
"Our net intake of ticketing revenue hasn't suffered," Cifu said. "It's actually gotten better this season but our attendance numbers are down."
The TSN interview wasn't the first time that he's admitted the team is losing money.
Earlier this year, as the Panthers sought a bailout from commissioners in Broward County, Fla., Cifu said it was losing "$100,000 a day" after he had purchased the team with partner Vincent Viola in the year prior, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported in February.
Cifu's latest admission comes just three weeks after reporters tweeted photos of the dire attendance at a Panthers-Senators game, where an estimated 7,311 people filled 19,250 seats, the least that the team had ever brought to a game.
The attendance beat the previous record low of 10,063 people, which it hit in 2007.
Game time #Sens #Panthers pic.twitter.com/WR0Vwb2l0H
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) October 13, 2014The start of tonight's #FlaPanthers #Sens game ... Expected to be well short of franchise low of 10,063 (set in 2007) pic.twitter.com/4tJAbtBDyQ
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 13, 2014Those images emerged as speculation suggested the team could be relocated, AP reported at the time.
But Canadians who hope that a struggling team will be moved north can keep on dreaming, for now.
Cifu and Viola said in a September letter that they have "no plans or intentions to move" the Panthers, according to the Miami Herald.
The team has a lease with the BB&T Center, which is owned by Broward County, until 2028.
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