After more than a year of contention, N.C. State University and Gale Force Holdings have reached an agreement regarding PNC Arena scheduling policies.
On Friday, N.C. State Chancellor Randy Woodson and Carolina Hurricanes president and general manager Jim Rutherford announced that the two parties have developed a formalized process for scheduling events at PNC Arena.
The arena currently serves as the home of N.C. State men’s basketball and Carolina Hurricanes hockey, and hosts numerous major events such as concerts and pro wrestling.
“We had done the scheduling a certain way for a number of years,” Rutherford said at the press conference. “We got to a point, as any long relationship would, where you have to make adjustments.”
The agreement’s guidelines state that Gale Force will not schedule Hurricanes games or other events on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays during the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball season until the ACC releases its final schedule. The ACC primarily uses those three weekdays to schedule basketball games.
In return, N.C. State will release all but three Friday dates between the last week of August through the second week of March to Gale Force each year. State will also release all unscheduled dates from the last week of August through Dec. 31 by May 15 to Gale Force.
Because of the agreement, Gale Force is granted more flexibility to schedule hockey games and events on dates not previously booked by State.
According to Woodson, the two sides have developed an ongoing agreement that doesn’t change or supplant any previous existing agreement between Gale Force and N.C. State.
“At the end of the day, this is a partnership,” Woodson said. “It’s in both of our best interest and the city’s interests and the county that this building be successful.”
Rutherford stated the significance of the agreement’s flexibility, noting that most big events schedule many months in advance.
“The Taylor Swifts and the Timberlakes and the big shows like that, they schedule at least six months in advance,” Rutherford said. “Very seldom do they just come in and say, ‘We want a show in two months.’”
“So the fact that when they come, giving [executive Vice President and general manager of PNC Arena] Dave Olsen some flexibility that this market does not miss those shows is important and we figured out a way to do that.” Rutherford.
Woodson also spoke about the building’s importance to the Wolfpack community.
“This is an amazing venue for college basketball,” Woodson said. “We’re always in the top five, top 10 in the country in terms of attendance. That wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for an arena like PNC. It’s here adjacent to our stadium. We feel very, very fortunate to have access to this arena.”
Woodson and Rutherford said they recognized that future changes to the scheduling process would be needed, but they said they are optimistic that an agreement can be reached.
“We have a strong enough relationship that whatever adjustment has to be made, we’re going to be able to do it,” Rutherford said.
The agreement provides a temporary solution for the dispute, which started in September 2012, according to the Triangle Business Journal.
