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    Forward Together Columbus Seeks Fix for Jackets

    For the past year, there have been ongoing discussions about the future of Nationwide Arena and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The team is losing money, and discussion between The Jackets, Nationwide Realty Investors, The City of Columbus and Franklin County have not yet provided a plan for addressing the issue of retaining the team.

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    Several months ago, the Forward Together Columbus committee was launched as a citizen-led effort seeking to rally community support for fixing the funding issues and keeping the Blue Jackets in Columbus. We recently sat down with John Bentine, Co-Chair of Forward Together Columbus, to find out more about this initiative.

    Walker Evans: I’ve heard from some people who are confused about what exactly this effort and petition mean. Can you give us the brief overview?

    John Bentine: Sure. The co-chairs of this effort are a diverse group of people. We had all independently contacted the Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets did facilitate us getting together, but we are self-led. We have taken on the task of trying to do some public education about why this is important and has ramifications beyond the Blue Jackets themselves. We are not supporting one solution over another other than to say that there needs to be some sort of public/private fix for the financial situation. There is a financial model in place now for the Blue Jackets that is different than any other professional sports team in the country, and it really can’t be sustained. I’m not connected with the Blue Jackets in any way, but my view is that there needs to be some solution, so we’re promoting that. The city of Columbus was given a gift from Nationwide and the Blue Jackets initially in the way of our Arena getting built with private money. That created a very strong economic engine here… it’s a destination place. If the Blue Jackets aren’t there, I don’t know what happens to that district and the arena. The convention bureau gave us some estimates on the amount of traffic they get just from having the arena there. So it really is synergistic. The Short North and the Arena District, in my view, are a real destination place with a lot of diverse activity and we need to continue to cultivate that and not let a big piece of it go away.

    WE: The Chamber released a report in November about the different solutions for this issue and what they would mean. The Forward Together petition basically says that we need ANY solution. Are you finding it difficult to get people to sign it because of that?

    JB: Some people want to see a specific solution. That is a legitimate question. People do ask exactly what we are promoting. We are promoting some sort of fix that involves both the public and private sector. I’m not sure we can come up with that solution on our own though… that is going to take a lot of discussion between county commissioners and other elected officials and Nationwide and The Blue Jackets. We’re six volunteers and a steering committee of forty-some members. We don’t really have time to do that, other than to say there are people that can make the decisions that need to get together and do something about this. Of course, that has caused some people to say that they can’t really support signing that petition. But there are a lot of models out there for solutions. There was a nice article on the Columbus Hockey Writers’ Blog that looks at the NHL’s other structures on how they are supported. Obviously, I think people will say that the less public involvement, the better. But we just know that given the things at stake, it justifies some public involvement.

    WE: So what can we learn from those other cities and setups? Our situation is fairly unique, but are there similar sports franchises that have been setup with this type of private investor development?

    JB: No, and that’s what’s interesting. Most of these Arenas that have been built in the last twenty years have had some public involvement and have had continued public involvement. We are unique. I look at it as a gift that we got without a lot of tax payer subsidy and involvement in the beginning. That went on the ballot several times and this community voted it down. It did get done using private money and it is a great venue. It becomes something that now that we have it we need to make sure it is sustained. I just went over to Indianapolis recently to watch the Buckeyes play. They have a vibrant and full downtown. It made me realize how important this is. It is driving our downtown development now. This is a great asset for our community.

    WE: As you mentioned, when the Arena was originally proposed for publicly-funded construction, it was voted down. Do you think people are going to vote down any new publicly funded plan? And if they do, do you think Nationwide will follow the same steps that they did before and step up to the plate to find a solution on the private-sector side?

    JB: I don’t think what we have right now can be sustained. They are not making this stuff up. I think the McConnell’s had a commitment to this community. They still have that commitment. Nationwide still does. But the model can’t be sustained in my view. I liken it to an insurance policy… if it’s brought in $30 million in taxes now, can we afford to put some of that money back in for what it’s created? I think that’s right. The disposable income of people in Columbus is the disposable income… some of those dollars are going to go someplace else if the Blue Jackets aren’t there. If that starts fading, the district is bringing in less tax money. Youth hockey events bring a lot of people from the region to the Arena. If you start losing the infrastructure that supports that, then you are going to lose that revenue. We’ll also lose a draw for conventions and other events. If the Blue Jackets move, it would be hard to believe another major league franchise is going to come to Columbus to fill the gap. How will the Arena District be sustained? That’s a scary thought for me.

    WE: About a year ago there was an article saying that The Blue Jackets have brought $2 Billion to our local economy since their start in Columbus. I’m been hearing many people debate about what it would look like if the Blue Jackets did leave town… how many supportive or secondary jobs would be lost. Do you have any studies or projections on that?

    JB: I don’t, no. Maybe somebody else has done that… I don’t know. I do think we have to look at this in terms of what the Arena is doing today. Like I said, if the Blue Jackets move, I don’t know how you maintain or operate the Arena as a stand-alone entity. I don’t know how losing a 15-thousand attendance trickles down. Some say the lockout was a trial for that, but that was a short term issue. What worries me more would be the long term affects. I’d hate to try to predict that, but I’m sure that it wouldn’t be a good scenario.

    WE: I’ve heard some folks talking about the original expensive lease agreement that has not allowed the Blue Jackets to turn a profit year after year. There’s also the issue of player and employee salaries growing each year. Do you think some of the private solution could come from a renegotiating of the lease between the Jackets & NRI?

    JB: Absolutely. I haven’t been involved directly, but I think Nationwide is willing to be flexible to be a part of the solution, as well as the Blue Jackets. Everyone is committed to finding a solution to this. We just need to find it and move on.

    WE: What are the short term plans for the Forward Together petition?

    JB: We’d like to get to 10,000 signatures on our petition. It’s at 9,116 as of April 18th. We’ve got more petition efforts going on in the Arena District. People on the committee are emailing, making the media rounds, letters to the editor, and things like that. Some of those have been coordinated efforts, but more have been from individuals who have decided that this is an important issue.

    More information can be found online at www.forwardtogethercolumbus.org.

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    Walker Evans
    Walker Evanshttps://columbusunderground.com
    Walker Evans is the co-founder of Columbus Underground, along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.
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