Two things strike me about this. It shows how badly these buildings need tenants, especially publicly owned buildings, and $500,000 for 50 percent of an ECHL team? Are you kidding me?
Want an easy way to tell if a team is in trouble? Multiply their total attendance by $10 which it a little less or a little more the average each team's income for an average ticket. The average Class AA minor league budget is between $2.5 million and $3.5-$4 million. Figure $500,000 for marketing/advertising income. Now you can really see how many teams are struggling.
The way this all works, teams sign licensing agreements with their leagues, and when those agreements are up, that's when it's easiest for them to change leagues. That's what happened in Victoria (AHL), Odessa and Colorado in the CHL. The IHL teams do not have licensing agreements which is parr of the reason why this is a two-year deal with the CHL.
A bunch of teams throughout all leagues have their agreements finish up after next season. If a major restructuring is ever going to happen, that's when it will be. There are also a bunch of teams in every league for sale with no buyers.
Also, Rapid City isn't going anywhere, and there won't be any new CHL expansion teams next year. Looks like 12-14 teams next season.
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I wouldn't read anything into the sale in Reading (pronounced Red-ing btw). AEG, who sold their 50% is the corporation that owns the LA Kings. They originally owned the team and were the primary affiliate. When they bought the Ontario Reign in California a few years ago they stopped sending players to Reading. I'm actually surprised it took them this long to sell their share, but apparently they were either making money or breaking even, so were in no hurry to divest.
The entity that bought the half share is the County Convention Center Authority, not the city. It is a separate taxing entity that was set up to finance the building of the arena, and the refurbishing of the performing arts center down the street. They collect a tax on hotel rooms and use the money to pay the bonds on the arena. They have enough of a reserve to afford to purchase the team to prevent an out of town owner from buying the Kings share. Apparently the team, and the arena are profitable enough that they have a surplus of tax income. As a Royals fan and STH, this actually makes me more confident of the long term stability of the Royals in the ECHL.
Oh, you mean like Reading, Ca. Lol. I kid. I hope you are right about the stability. That's a rare thing.