St. Pete Times Forum details sought

TAMPA -- Hillsborough Commissioner Jan Platt said Thursday she wants to know the financial terms of the deal that has made the Ice Palace the St. Pete Times Forum.

Since the arena is asking county officials to forgo a planned increase in ticket surcharges, Platt said commissioners need to know how much the deal has enhanced the St. Pete Times Forum's bottom line.

But the terms of the St. Petersburg Times' 12-year contract with Palace Sports & Entertainment, which operates the arena and owns the Tampa Bay Lightning, are confidential. That puts the Times in an unusual position, and has Platt crying foul.

Newspapers typically seek to open records of interest to the public. But in this case, the Times has signed off on keeping those terms confidential.

Times Editor and President Paul Tash said he would have no problem with Palace Sports providing the county with the numbers, but the Times is bound by its agreement.

"We keep our word," Tash said.

Officials with Palace Sports did not return calls Thursday seeking comment.

Tash said the arrangement is similar to other marketing deals involving newspapers and businesses, which are typically not made public.

"There are lots of marketing arrangements with sports teams and other entities," Tash said. "This one is different in degree, but not in kind."

Kathleen Davis, a sports consultant and economist at Florida Atlantic University, said the Times is likely paying between $1-million and $2.5-million a year based on similar naming rights deals.

Five years ago, she said, National Car Rental struck a $1.5-million annual deal to put its name on the hockey arena in Sunrise, which is home to the Florida Panthers.

Platt said she wants to know the precise amount of the Times deal, given that the Ice Palace was built in 1996 with public and private dollars. The arena cost $144-million, including $84-million in bonds backed by tourist taxes, sales taxes and ticket surcharges.

But the ticket surcharges aren't keeping up with debt payments. Hence, the surcharge is automatically slated to increase next month by as much as $3 a ticket.

Palace Sports officials say that would hurt attendance and are asking the county to forgo it.

Platt says she needs an accounting of all Palace Sports revenues, including the naming rights money, to make a decision.

"If they've helped alleviate their financial problems, how are we to know unless we know what the amount is?" Platt said. "The public has a right to know. That's what public records are all about."

She has asked the county administrator and county attorney to seek the financial terms before commissioners meet to discuss the ticket surcharge Sept. 18. Commissioners Pat Frank and Ronda Storms agreed with her Thursday.

They are joined by Will Shepherd, attorney for the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser.

After learning Wednesday that the Times had made a deal for the naming rights, Shepherd said he drafted a legal motion seeking a copy of the agreement from Palace Sports, which leases the St. Pete Times Forum from the Tampa Sports Authority.

Palace Sports is in litigation with Hillsborough Property Appraiser Rob Turner over his tax assessment of the St. Pete Times Forum. Two years ago, Turner set the 20,686-seat arena's assessment at $120-million. Palace Sports appealed the assessment, saying it should be $30-million. The matter landed in Hillsborough Circuit Court after a special master upheld Turner's assessment.

Shepherd said he needs to know the value of the Times deal to see what it provides the St. Pete Times Forum.

But government officials aren't the only people raising questions about the deal, believed to be the first of its kind by a newspaper.

The Times has long been viewed as a champion of open records. Three years ago, the newspaper, backed by the property appraiser and Hillsborough commissioners, successfully fought to open records on suite contracts at Raymond James Stadium, which, like the St. Pete Times Forum, is owned by the Tampa Sports Authority.

"Certainly, in some people's eyes, there is hypocrisy in a newspaper that is a watchdog in some situations pushing for access and in other situations is a guard dog protecting its own proprietary interests," said Bob Steele, director of ethics programs at The Poynter Institute, a nonprofit training school for journalists that has a controlling interest in the Times.

In an e-mail published on the Poynter Web site, Tampa Tribune President and Publisher Steve Weaver said his newspaper had an opportunity to purchase naming rights five years ago but declined.

"The media has an ethical responsibility to maintain objectiivity (sic) to cover the news," Weaver wrote. "By putting their name on a building, there is an implied endorsement of the events which are hosted at the venue, including concerts, political rallies, religious functions, etc."

The Tribune, like the Times, sponsors other organizations and events. But Weaver said the Tribune's own sponsorship deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team is different because it is one of 16 sponsors.

While Tash likened the deal with Palace Sports to other marketing arrangements, experts said the confidential terms were unusual.

"The vast majority of all the naming rights deals out there have the financial terms disclosed," said Dean Bonham, who runs the Bonham Group, a well-known stadium consulting company in Colorado.

-- Staff writers Jeff Harrington and Jeff Testerman contributed to this report.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright