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No Isle Slot Machines Means Penguins
Might Leave
Since
the announcement that the Isle of Capri
casinos would not be getting the slot
machine license for Pittsburgh, there
has been talk of the Penguins leaving
Pittsburgh once their license at Mellon
Arena has expired. The Penguins had
agreed to stay if Isle had gotten the
slot machine license, as they had agreed
to build a new arena for the Penguins,
with no money from taxpayers or from the
team themselves. However, now that the
slot machine license has not been
awarded to Isle, Pittsburgh is hoping
that the Penguins will be willing to
cough up some of the dough themselves.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said
that he was considering asking the
National Hockey League to step in if
they are not able to come to an
agreement. He said that the latest deal
is so good that he doesn’t see how they
would choose to leave and that if they
did he would go to the NHL board and ask
them to intercede. Owner Mario Lemieux
said just last week that he thought the
talks had taken a step backward.
Rendell said the new proposal only has
the Penguins paying less than 18% of the
cost of the new arena. The Penguins say
that this all could have been avoided in
the slot machine license portion of the
deal. They say that they should not have
to pay for a new arena when the state
had someone willing to pay for it – as
long as they had gotten the slot machine
license. Don Barden won the slot machine
license, and has agreed to pay $7.5
million a year toward the new arena.
The team is looking into other options;
they have gone to see Kansas City and
are considering Houston as well. They
have always played in the Mellon Arena
since they were created 40 years ago,
and having been built in 1961 it is the
oldest arena in the league.
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