Greater Sudbury said this week that it has locked in key partnerships for its new $200 million downtown events centre. Long-term leases have been signed with the owner of the Sudbury Wolves and the Sudbury Five, and a venue manager has been brought in to run the facility. The Wolves signed a 15-year lease and the Five a 10-year deal, officials said at a news conference at Tom Davies Square on Aug. 11. Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre welcomed the news. “The teams have worked hard to get to this point,” Lefebvre said. “This is about the continuation of that relationship. But now it’s at another level, right? It’s within the event centre where it’s that collaboration, that partnership. It’s excitement for the organization. But it’s really exciting for the people of Sudbury.” Construction of the new arena and events centre is ongoing downtown, with a completion date of fall 2028. Dario Zulich, owner of both sports teams, said the agreement was a long time coming. “I’m feeling relieved,” Zulich said. “I’m feeling a lot of joy, a lot of happiness, right? We’re finalizing our partnership and in a for our new home for the next 30 years.” In addition to the sports teams, the city announced a 10-year deal with Oak View Group to manage all aspects of the event centre, from bookings and ticketing to food and beverages. There is also an option to renew for another 10 years. OVG is a major venue management company involved with high-profile arenas across Canada and North America. “We have a dedicated team that works with all the promoters, knows all the tour managers,” said OVG president Tom Pistore. Will help make Sudbury a destination city “They have an awareness and an intelligence in the marketplace with everything that’s going on … When a tour’s out there starting the tour, we can help and support them. And we’re really optimistic that we’re going to make Sudbury a destination across Canada.” When it comes to fan concerns about ticket and concession prices at the new venue, Zulich said he expects them to remain reasonable. “We’re going to make sure that we’re not going to be charging beer like, like at a Blue Jays game,” he said. Officials said that construction of the events centre remains on time and on budget. “Right now we’re tracking on budget,” said city CAO Shari Lichterman. “We’re getting a lot of tenders in on the big packages for the construction. And so we’ll continue to report to council. But right now, things are on track.”
