When will the Wolfpack, Hurricanes play games again in PNC Arena?
N.C. State will be playing basketball in PNC Arena this month and the Carolina Hurricanes could have games beginning in January, president and general manager Don Waddell indicated Thursday.
The Centennial Authority, an appointed body that is the arena landlord, on Thursday approved a request by N.C. State that it play 10 ACC men’s games and one nonconference game at the arena this season, and with reduced game-day rent.
The first Wolfpack basketball game at the arena will be Dec. 19 against Campbell. N.C. State hosts North Carolina on Dec. 22 in its first home ACC game.
There has been no announced start to a new NHL season. Commissioner Gary Bettman has set Jan. 1, 2021 as a target opening date but nothing has been finalized as the league and the NHL Players Association continue discussions on various issues.
“We have a disagreement right now between the union and management as far as how many games we’re going to play this year and how the players’ salaries are going to be reflected there,” Waddell said in an update to the authority. “I think we’re going to come to a resolution there in the next few days.
“I don’t have the crystal ball but I know the commissioner has been saying Jan. 1. I think it will be sometime in January that we will be playing games at PNC Arena but we just don’t have anything definite as of yet.”
When will the NHL’s season begin?
Different scenarios have been discussed for a 2020 NHL season -- potentially a 50- to 60-game regular season, with the Stanley Cup playoffs to end in July. There also has been talk of having the teams split in regional divisions, including an all-Canadian division because of travel restrictions during the pandemic.
The NHL and NHLPA must first agree on such pressing issues as salary deferral and escrow totals. Bettman, speaking Wednesday to a Sports Business Journal panel, said the league was not attempting to renegotiate the collective bargaining agreement that was reached in July as the players agreed on a Return to Play postseason format to conclude a 2019-20 season.
With coronavirus cases spiking, any games played at PNC Arena -- basketball or hockey -- likely will initially be held without spectators. Both the Hurricanes and N.C. State are considering various attendance plans in case the capacity restrictions for indoor events change during the season.
NC State’s use agreement
The Hurricanes last played in PNC Arena on Feb. 28 against the Colorado Avalanche. The Wolfpack’s last home game was March 6 against Wake Forest. The arena went dark after a March 13 concert.
Under the arena use agreement, N.C. State is required to play a minimum of 15 men’s games at PNC Arena each season. The News & Observer reported in November that NCSU requested that be changed to 11 games this season because of the pandemic and that the game-day rent, normally $58,000 per home game, be lowered to $13,925 -- an estimate of PNC Arena’s game-day expenses under the current capacity restriction.
The authority unanimously approved the NCSU request Thursday.
The Hurricanes and the authority have agreed on a lease extension term sheet and continue to have attorneys oversee the process of finalizing an agreement. The authority went into a closed session Thursday for a further update on those talks and adjourned without further public discussion.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 4:21 PM.
