SAN JOSE — With an important lease date looming, the president of the San Jose Sharks is now confident his organization and the City of San Jose will be able to finalize a new agreement to keep the NHL team at SAP Center for several more years.
Jonathan Becher, who heads Sharks Sports & Entertainment, said negotiations on an updated lease agreement between the company and city leaders for the 32-year-old downtown arena have progressed well in recent months and that a new deal is well within reach.
“We’re way past (being) pessimistic or cautiously optimistic. We will get something done,” Becher told this news organization. “Cities move slowly. That’s just how life is. But I would be surprised if we don’t work something out eventually.”
The agreement the Sharks and the city reached in 2015 called for the team to play its home games at the facility on a fixed term through July 1, 2025, with the lease renewing annually through 2040 thereafter. Without a new deal, the city could potentially charge the Sharks more each year to lease the facility, which has been the team’s home since 1993.
However, with the terms of the present deal nearing a new phase, the Sharks wanted the city to contribute to the cost of non-revenue-generating upgrades to SAP Center, now one of the NHL’s oldest buildings.
“There is more than $100 million in deferred maintenance that has nothing to do with revenue,” Becher said in October. “The city should pay for at least some of that.”
Becher said last year that if lease negotiations went well, the new agreement would be expected to last “beyond 2040.”
San Jose faces a projected budget shortfall of $45.7 million this year and $52.9 million in 2026, but could soon benefit economically next year with at least three major sporting events coming to the South Bay. Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara will host Super Bowl LX in February and FIFA World Cup matches in June and July. SAP Center will host the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament’s West Regional games in March.
Mayor Matt Mahan’s long-term goal is to create a downtown sports and entertainment district and expand the convention center so that the city can host more significant events.
In a statement provided to this news organization, Mahan said, “The Sharks have always fought hard for San José, and we’re fighting just as hard to keep them here. We’re in active discussions on a new lease agreement, and I’m confident we’ll find a path forward that keeps the Sharks in San José’s waters.”
Becher said SS&E had contingency plans for a new home rink in case negotiations with the city on a new lease agreement at SAP Center fell through. However, the organization always strongly preferred to remain at the arena, long dubbed the Shark Tank, which has a seating capacity of 17,435 for hockey.
Becher said he and Mahan have spent a lot of time talking to each other, “and we have a very good relationship with his office.”
The Sharks had a 20-50-12 record this season, marking the second straight year they’ve finished at the bottom of the NHL standings and the sixth straight season they’ve missed the playoffs.
Still, the Sharks’ average paid attendance for the team’s 41 home games this past season rose slightly, up from 13,559, or 77.8% of capacity last year, to 14,219, or 81.6% of capacity.
Those figures are still well short of pre-pandemic levels, as the Sharks averaged at least 16,400 fans per game from 2005-06 to 2019-20. San Jose only missed the playoffs twice in that span.