The Evansville IceMen have until Wednesday to decide whether or not to accept a response from the city on a contract proposal to lease the Ford Center — that is, if a reported league deadline of Wednesday holds up.
City officials drafted a response Tuesday afternoon to a counteroffer they received from the IceMen earlier Tuesday.
Hinging on the contract is whether the IceMen stay in Evansville, and continue playing in the Ford Center, or if owner Ron Geary moves the team elsewhere and the city finds a new tenant.
Since negotiations became public in November, the tone of the public remarks between the city and the IceMen have shifted from optimistic to despondent.
After a four-hour meeting Tuesday nailing down a response to the IceMen, Evansville Redevelopment Commission President Randy Alsman said the deadline changes and the lack of response from team officials is discouraging.
"I am no longer confident about how things will go," Alsman said.
Multiple attempts by the Courier & Press to contact IceMen officials, including owner Ron Geary, were unsuccessful Tuesday.
The sticking point for the IceMen, according to Alsman, is that team officials want the city to provide more financial support to the team.
"And we just can't do that," he said.
Team officials prefer the structure of the old contract, which charged more in rent but gave more in the way of rebates and other offers.
Geary told the Courier & Press in the past that the costs to rent the Ford Center were too high. City officials rejected that claim, saying rebates reduced the IceMen's rent cost to "effectively zero." Alsman said the city "breaks even" on the deal.
"Basically, they're playing for free," he said.
The IceMen should have the city's response Wednesday morning. It's up to the IceMen whether or not to accept the city's proposal, he said.
"(The city's response) is not an acceptance; it's continued negotiations," he said.
The ECHL has reportedly extended the contract deadline three times since November, when negotiations became public.
ECHL representatives declined to speak with a Courier & Press reporter Tuesday, citing ongoing contract negotiations.
The city sent its latest contract proposal to the IceMen on Dec. 18, after the deadline was moved from Dec. 15 to Wednesday. The city didn't receive a response from the IceMen until Tuesday afternoon.
"In the interim, we asked and they said they were too busy to get back to us," Alsman said.
The city has discussed the possibility of talking to other teams if negotiations fail.