Pirates owner and Civic Center trustees endorse Alfond’s measure

AUGUSTA – A measure to allow the sharing of liquor sales revenue between auditoriums and sports teams received strong support today at a public hearing before the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.

“Many folks in our community were disappointed when negotiations broke down between the Portland Pirates and the Cumberland County Civic Center,” said Senate President Justin Alfond of Portland. “My hope is that this bill will provide another tool to help the Civic Center and the Pirates come to an amicable resolution.”

President Alfond’s bill would give athletic facilities with a capacity of 3,000 people or more the option of sharing liquor sales revenues with sports teams playing at their facilities. These facilities include the Cumberland County Civic Center and the Expo in Portland, the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, and the Augusta Civic Center.

Representatives from the Cumberland County Civic Center and the Portland Pirates testified in support of the bill. No one testified in opposition.

In his testimony before the committee, Neal Pratt, Chair of the Cumberland County Civic Center Board of Trustees said, “The trustees of the CCCC support [the bill] fully, and believe that its passage will provide the necessary clarity and flexibility to enable the Civic Center to negotiate with potential sports tenants going forward.”

“Passage of this bill won’t necessarily resolve all issues in our lease negotiations, but it will certainly help in our case, and it offers the opportunity to help in other situations involving other arenas,” said Portland Pirates majority owner Ron Cain. “Very simply, the bill is good policy for Maine.”

The Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee will hold a work session on LD 1713, “An Act To Permit the Sharing of Revenue from the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages at Sporting Events” in the coming weeks.