Mile One Centre

Mile One Centre
Former names	Mile One Stadium
Location	50 New Gower Street, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Broke ground	1999
Opened	May 24, 2001
Owner	City of St. John's
Operator	St. John's Sports and Entertainment
Construction cost	C$20.5 million[1] ($25.2 million in 2011 dollars[2])
Architect	PBK Architects, Inc.
Capacity	Hockey: 6,247 Basketball: 6,750 Full Capacity: 7,000
Tenants
St. John's IceCaps (AHL) (2011-) St. John's Fog Devils (QMJHL) (2005–2008) St. John's Maple Leafs (AHL) (2001–2005)

Mile One Centre is an indoor arena and entertainment venue located in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The centre's name comes from it being located at the beginning of the Trans-Canada Highway. At full capacity the arena can seat 7,000 people.

The arena opened in May 2001, as Mile One Stadium, replacing Memorial Stadium as the home of the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League (AHL). The Maple Leafs left the city in 2005, and Mile One became home to the St. John's Fog Devils of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for three seasons. The arena is now home to the St. John's IceCaps of the AHL.^[3]

Naming rights

Although not obvious from the centre's name, Mile One Centre is among the many North American sports venues that have raised funds by selling their naming rights. In the case of Mile One, brewing company Molson initially acquired the naming rights for ten years (2001 to 2011), as well as other privileges such as being the venue's exclusive beer supplier, for $1.5 million.^[4] Molson then resold the naming rights to Danny Williams, then-owner of Cable Atlantic (and later premier of Newfoundland and Labrador), for $600,000. Before the centre opened, however, Williams sold Cable Atlantic to Rogers Communications in order to pursue politics, but retained the naming rights. Ultimately Williams chose to name the centre based on the venue's geography.^[5] "Mile One" is a trademark owned by the Williams Family Foundation, not the city, meaning that the centre can only use the "Mile One" name so long as it has the foundation's permission to do so. This implies that if and when Williams's rights expire and are not renewed, the centre might be forced to find a new name, regardless of whether or not a new sponsor is found.^[6]

Hockey

Mile One Centre is currently home to the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League. The building was originally home to the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League. The Leafs played out of the centre from 2001–2005 before relocating to Toronto, Ontario to become the Toronto Marlies. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) stated that the relocation was necessary to better monitor prospects for the co-owned Toronto Maple Leafs.^[7]

The Dobbin family were granted an expansion Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) franchise in 2004 to be later named the St. John's Fog Devils.^[8] The Fog Devils began playing at Mile One Centre in 2005. However, the Fog Devils would relocate to Montreal, Quebec after just three seasons in St. John's to become the Junior de Montreal. Many reasons attributed to the Fog Devils' demise including lack of fan support, a poor lease agreement and high travel costs. The Fog Devils' departure left Mile One Centre without a major tenant for the first time since the building opened.^[9]

During the 2010-2011 hockey season, Hockey Canada used the arena as host venue for the Four Nations Cup and the Telus Cup.

On May 20, 2011, The Telegram reported that the Manitoba Moose of the AHL would relocate to Newfoundland for the 2011-12 hockey season. The Moose, who were formerly based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba from 1996–2011, would relocate due to the purchase of the Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League by the Moose's parent company True North Sports and Entertainment, and their relocation to Winnipeg as the Jets. True North retains ownership of the St. John's IceCaps but has agreed to lease the local operations to Danny Williams. Both relocations were finalized by the end of June 2011.

Other sporting events

The arena hosts the annual Herder Cup tournament, the largest hockey tournament in the province. It hosted the 2002 AHL All-Star Game, and the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts.

A National Basketball Association exhibition game between the Toronto Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, was cancelled on game night due to an excess of condensation built up on the playing surface due to the inside temperature.

Skate Canada International was held in Mile One Centre in October 2005.

In September 2007, the stadium hosted an NHL exhibition game featuring the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders. The arena has hosted the annual Kraft Hockeyville NHL exhibition game, featuring the Winnipeg Jets, the parent organization of the new St. John's IceCaps, against the Ottawa Senators on September 26, 2011.

Juno Awards

The Juno Awards were presented at Mile One Centre on April 14, 2002.^[10] This marked the first time the awards show officially went on the road and was hosted outside the provinces of Ontario or British Columbia. In January 2009, it was announced that the Junos were returning to Mile One Centre in April 2010. This made St. John's the first city to host the awards show for a second time since they started travelling the country in 2002.^[11]

References

1. ^ "Mil One Stadium". PBK Architects. http://www.pbkarchitectsinc.com/pimg/recreationsports/mileone/pds.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 
2. ^ Canadian inflation numbers based on data available from Consumer Price Index, by province (monthly) (Canada) Statistics Canada. Retrieved August 21, 2011 and Consumer Price Index, historical summary Statistics Canada. Retrieved December 7, 2010
3. ^ "Big night planned to celebrate opening of Mile One Stadium". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 April 2001. http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2001/04/17/nf_mile170401.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 
4. ^ Revenues From Sports Venues - Naming Rights, retrieved August 9, 2010
5. ^ Muret, Don (9 April 2001). "Venue's Name Game Takes New Twist". Amusement Business. http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4568492-1.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 
6. ^ "Canadian Trade-Mark Data: application no. 1084108". Canadian Intellectual Property Office. http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/trdmrks/srch/vwTrdmrk.do?lang=eng&status=&fileNumber=1084108&extension=0&startingDocumentIndexOnPage=1. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 
7. ^ "Baby Leafs to leave St. John's after 14 seasons". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 August 2004. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2004/08/09/babyleafs040809.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 
8. ^ CBC: Saint John, St. John's awarded QMJHL franchises
9. ^ "It's official: Fog Devils sold". The Telegram. 26 January 2008. http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=102045&sc=83. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 
10. ^ "St. John's enjoying host role at Junos". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 April 2002. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2002/04/14/junos_sunday020414.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 
11. ^ "2010 Junos set for St. John's". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 January 2009. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2009/01/22/juno-stjohns.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 

External links

• Mile One Centre official site

Preceded by MTS Centre (as Manitoba Moose)

Home of the St. John's IceCaps 2011 – present

Succeeded by present

Coordinates: 47°33′36.08″N 52°42′47.55″W / 47.5600222°N 52.7132083°W / 47.5600222; -52.7132083