The Milwaukee Admirals and the Wisconsin Center District are closing in on a two-year lease extension that would keep the American Hockey League team at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena through June 2029, with both sides describing a deal that is close but not yet finalized. Admirals owner and CEO Harris Turer says the relationship between the team and the district has improved and that negotiations should produce an agreement beneficial to both sides.
As reported by Urban Milwaukee, the two sides have reached agreement on the principal terms of the extension, though the final contract still needs Wisconsin Center District board approval. Interim district president and CEO Peggy Williams-Smith reported the agreement on extension terms to a board committee on October 15, and a completed contract is expected to be presented to the board in November. That timeline tracks with a separate report from bizjournals.com, which says the Admirals describe the process as ongoing, with progress being made on the two-year extension and a deal still pending on $675,000 in proposed lease concessions, according to bizjournals.com.
The Admirals have played at Panther Arena since moving from the Bradley Center under a 10-year agreement signed in 2017 that expires at the end of June 2027. The new arrangement would tack on two more years, aligning the hockey team's tenancy with the scheduled 2029 end dates for both UW-Milwaukee's men's basketball lease at the arena and the building's naming-rights contract, a connection detailed by Sports Business Journal.
Rent Rises About One-Third Under New Terms
Under the current agreement, the Admirals pay about $3,000 in rent per game. The new lease terms call for that figure to rise to roughly $4,000 per game, while other revenue-sharing provisions stay in place. Wisconsin Center District chief operating officer Brian Rutkowski said the negotiations involved open dialogue and concessions from both sides, and attorneys from Husch Blackwell are working with Rutkowski to finalize the agreement.
The district projects the higher rent and revised terms will improve its financial position by roughly $300,000 to $314,000 in the first year of the extension compared with the existing deal, and by about $350,000 to $360,000 in the second year. District officials have said the existing arrangement involved a greater loss for the district, and that the revised terms are intended to narrow that gap. Even so, the district may still incur a loss associated with hosting the hockey team. Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman has said the district's mission includes stimulating community economic activity rather than generating an operating profit on every event it hosts.
Over the life of the current lease, the Admirals say they generated more than $20.4 million in total revenue tied to team operations. The team was required to invest $2 million in facility improvements under the existing agreement but ultimately spent $3.2 million, covering painting, bathroom renovations, a concourse ceiling, a shared tenant team store and a bar. Turer has said the team exceeded its required investment because more work was needed than the district had budgeted for.
Leadership Upheaval Shaped the Talks
The negotiations have unfolded against a backdrop of turmoil at the top of the Wisconsin Center District. Former president and CEO Marty Brooks was terminated for cause in June following a board investigation into his conduct; the board approved a settlement with Brooks on Friday. Williams-Smith, who also leads Visit Milwaukee, was appointed interim president and CEO of the district in September and now devotes roughly 60 percent of her time to the district role. The district has delayed its annual budget presentation by a month, to November, because of the leadership transition, as it searches for a permanent president and CEO.
Turer praised Williams-Smith, Rutkowski, board member Jim Kanter and Shaikh for their leadership through the transition. Before his termination, Brooks had claimed the Admirals lease cost the district at least $300,000 annually, and he had commissioned a Hunden Partners study that appeared headed toward recommending the arena's demolition and replacement with a convention center hotel, according to the Urban Milwaukee report. That study examined potential future uses for the 6.4-acre downtown site containing Panther Arena and the Miller High Life Theatre and was prompted in part by the lease talks with the Admirals, per Sports Business Journal.
Why Relocation Would Be Difficult for the Admirals
Panther Arena is the region's largest venue with a permanent ice sheet, and it is used predominantly by UW-Milwaukee men's basketball, the Admirals and the Milwaukee Wave, as BizTimes has reported. The Admirals, who have been based in Milwaukee since 1970, could face the most difficulty of the arena's tenants in finding a new home if redevelopment ever displaced them, because hockey requires an ice facility, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported. The Journal Sentinel has also reported on a Hunden Partners study of Panther Arena.
Separately, the Wisconsin Center District is negotiating an extension of Miller High Life Theatre naming rights with Molson Coors, and Williams-Smith has said those naming-rights discussions are progressing well. The district was also compiling a 20-year capital plan for both the arena and theater as of last fall, per Urban Milwaukee's earlier coverage, as it weighed short-term renewals with existing tenants including UW-Milwaukee, the Admirals and the Wave while the long-range study of the site proceeded.
