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PNE splits from Giants to boost revenue

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Vancouver Giants are heading east, leaving the only home they’ve ever known.

But how will PNE management fill those empty dates on the calendar at the Pacific Coliseum after 15 years of certainty?

The team could be counted on for at least 36 home games between September and May, but in the end it wasn’t a revenue generator.

“The Giants were a key part of our community and amateur sport program. But that is not a revenue-producing program so, it did not yield revenue to the bottom line for us,” says the PNE’s Laura Ballance, calling the team a “great partner with a huge blackout that was a net-zero contribution to our bottom line.”

So the building will no longer have to turn away potential clients nine months of the year.

“It’s a very in-demand venue. So we’ll continue to work with businesses that we’ve turned away over the years that really do need that tier-one size venue,” says Ballance.

“This will allow us the flexibility to not turn away that business to a large degree and also explore other commercially-driven business that will allow us to have a net-positive to our bottom line.”

She points to shows like Cirque du Soleil and a month-long rehearsal by U2 as examples of more lucrative tenants.

But Ballance admits hockey is not finished at the former home of the Vancouver Canucks.

She says the PNE is open to working with the Giants on things like a bid for the annual World Junior Tournament and Memorial Cup, which it hosted in 2007.

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