The owner of the defunct Youngstown SteelDogs will receive at least $45,000, as the three sides reach an out-of-court settlement over disputed payments.The owner of the defunct Youngstown SteelDogs (CHL) will receive at least $45,000, as the three sides reach an out-of-court settlement over disputed payments.
The city of Youngstown will kick in $45,000 to resolve the dispute. In addition, former arena manager International Coliseums Co. (ICC) will contribute an as-yet-unannounced amount to the SteelDogs in a move that many in hockey circles will see as a vindication to the SteelDogs’ original claims in a lawsuit.
Here’s the backstory. International Coliseums, part of the Global Entertainment family of companies, had its contract to manage the Youngstown arena yanked in October 2007, after the city expressed dissatisfaction with the day-to-day operations of the arena and a perceived failure to bring in more events. In December 2007 Blue Line LLC, the owner of the SteelDogs, filed suit against ICC over the failure to pay the team $250,000 in owed revenues, including at least $170,000 from the sale of club seats to SteelHounds games. ICC, for its part, says the money was withheld because the SteelDogs were not paying CHL dues. The franchise was ultimately stripped from Blue Line LLC for nonpayment.
Chevrolet Centre (the name for the time being; a new naming-rights deal is in the works) is now the home of the Mahoning Valley Phantom (NAHL), at least for this season.
