Thunder on thin ice at Mack

The Thomas & Mack Center will yank the Las Vegas Thunder's welcome mat if the team doesn't take significant and immediate steps toward negotiating a new lease.

Arena director Pat Christenson said the International Hockey League team must make significant concessions if the two are to strike another deal.

If they don't, the Thunder probably will be forced to leave Las Vegas.

"This team continues to lose money year after year," Christenson said. "We're not the problem. We can no longer subsidize this hockey team at the expense of our organization."

Christenson said the Thunder's current lease, which expires after the upcoming season, precludes the T&M from maximizing profits.

"When you look at the maintenance and the wear and tear of hockey as opposed to the revenue it generates, it really isn't in our best interest to move forward," Christenson said.

"When you look at the amount of dates they take up and the number of things we aren't able to do because of that, it really doesn't make sense."

According to Christenson, the Thunder's original lease was based on on a per-date basis. But after the team's inaugural campaign of 1993-94, the deal was renegotiated so the Thunder could pay a flat rate each season.

That deal has cost the T&M dearly.

"We make money on the Thunder, but when you look at the potential dates we could book and maintenance involved, we lose money. It isn't a good deal for us."

Christenson was asked if the T&M would be better off without the Thunder. He paused for a few seconds and said "I'd rather not answer that."

Making enormous concessions isn't the only hurdle the Thunder must clear if it wants to keep playing at the T&M. In addition to appeasing Christenson, any Thunder proposal would have to be ratified by UNLV.

Members of the university's athletic department, especially men's basketball coach Bill Bayno, have voiced disdain over having to share the building with a minor-league hockey team.

"I would have to take the deal back to the university for its approval," Christenson said. "But for me to even go to the university it would have to be a substantial, major improvement over the arrangement we have now."

Christenson seemed miffed at the Thunder's lack of initiative in getting a new deal done.

"It isn't as critical to me as I think it should be to them, if they do want to continue playing at the Thomas & Mack," he said.

"We sent a letter to them three or four months ago, outlining their situation, and we have not heard from them."

But Thunder part-owner Ken Stickney claims members of his staff talked with T&M officials last weekend.

"We've made some progress," Stickney said. "What we've been able to do over the last six months is clarify differences with the Thomas & Mack and focus in.

"They're expecting us to do a lot. This lease is going to be give and take. As always, it returns to scheduling and finances. Whose going to pay for what? But we're edging ever closer."

Financial hit

Stickney said the constant rumors surrounding the relocation of the Thunder -- mostly stemming from his team's tenuous lease -- have impacted the bottom line.

Such a negative affect can be dire for an organization that has lost at least $1 million in each of its five previous seasons.

"From a business standpoint it has hurt," Stickney said.

"Every year for the past four years there have been these articles. After a while it's very damaging to have the longevity of your organization questioned every year. After a while it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Stickney said the relocation rumors, which have linked the Thunder to Ontario, Calif., and Green Bay, Wis., won't subside until the media stops pontificating about the Thunder's alleged demise.

"Honestly, I think (the rumors perpetuate) because you guys write them," he said. "As long as they're written or broadcast, people are going to believe them."

Local options

If the Thunder doesn't reach a new agreement with the T&M, the only apparent alternatives here are the new arena at Mandalay Bay and the unbuilt Millennium in North Las Vegas.

Neither seems likely.

"The only real dealings I've had with the Thunder are attending their games," Mandalay Bay arena manager H.C. Rowe said.

Rowe said his apathy regarding the Thunder centers on the 12,000-seat venue's potential to make money while retaining its flexibility.

"We're not looking to house a franchise," Rowe said. "It's a brand new venue geared toward concerts and boxing on the weekends and conventions on the weekdays.

"They want to play on as many Fridays and Saturdays as possible, and those are premium dates. It just didn't really make sense for us. Clogging up our calendar with 35-40 home games is not really what we want to do."

The MGM Grand, which also has an arena suitable to ice hockey and has hosted NHL exhibition games, has adopted a similar marketing strategy.

The Millennium, on the other hand, needs a regular tenant now that Las Vegas' proposed West Coast Hockey League entry has pulled out. But with only 6,000 seats, the arena is not up to IHL standards. Moreover, it has yet to break ground, as costs have soared 150 percent to $20 million.

"The Thunder haven't talked to us in quite a while," Millennium director Rick Kerstine said. "It's been months, almost a year. They're saying that the IHL has a rule where you have to have 10,000 seats."

Deadline pending

Although the clock is ticking, Stickney and for that matter, Christenson, say it's too late for the Thunder.

"There is no crunch time here," Stickney said. "The season is just starting. If this was March 29 I think we'd be meeting 12 hours a day."

Christenson has not imposed a deadline for the team to submit a proposal -- yet.

"We're starting to look at that now," Christenson said. "We're looking at our calendar. When is the date when we can say 'Yea' or 'Nay' on this?"

In the meantime, Christenson is not averse to booking events during what would be the 1999-2000 hockey season.

"If any other event comes to us, we're going ahead and booking the arena right now," he said. "We're filling dates as they happen. We're getting more and more demand for the use of the building."

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