Disney on Ice, Monster Jam, and Sesame Street Live won’t be coming back to Rochester soon.
Feld Entertainment manages those shows, and spokesperson Lisa Taylor said they’re at a stalemate with the Blue Cross Arena’s new management company, Pegula Sports and Entertainment.
“We do not have plans to bring those shows back because we haven’t been able to reach a viable agreement with PSE,” said Taylor.
Rochester Americans owners Terry and Kim Pegula own PSE and operate all of the stadiums that their teams play in, including New Era Field in Orchard Park, and KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
City Council President Loretta Scott said she stands by the city’s deal with PSE.
“In some instances you could call it collateral damage because that’s the result of us negotiating a much stronger deal for the operations of the war memorial,” said Scott. “The city’s financial commitment was significantly reduced as a part of this new contract.”
That stronger deal means PSE takes on more of the financial burden of the arena. According to this year’s
city budget, the arena needs more than $300,000 in subsidies from the city to break even. Prior to PSE taking over, those subsidies cost the city more than $1.2 million.
Don Heins, a spokesperson for PSE, said via email that the company remains “open to reaching a reasonable agreement to bring their events to Blue Cross Arena.” Taylor said that Feld Entertainment wants the same, if it’s financially viable.
Disney on Ice attracted 30,000 attendees to the arena in January. If the impasse isn’t resolved soon, Taylor said the shows may not return until 2021.
Last week, a large Jehovah’s Witnesses convention relocated to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania over similar issues.
