Mary Brown's Centre

Mary Brown's Centre (formerly Mile One Centre) is an indoor arena and entertainment venue located in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The arena opened in May 2001, replacing Memorial Stadium. At full capacity the arena can seat 7,000 people.[4]

Mary Brown's Centre
Mary Brown's Centre is located in Newfoundland and Labrador
Mary Brown's Centre
Mary Brown's Centre
Location within Newfoundland & Labrador
Mary Brown's Centre is located in Canada
Mary Brown's Centre
Mary Brown's Centre
Location within Canada
Former namesMile One Centre
Mile One Stadium
Address50 New Gower Street
LocationSt. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Coordinates47°33′36.08″N 52°42′47.55″W
OwnerCity of St. John's
OperatorSt. John's Sports and Entertainment
Capacityice hockey: 6,287
Basketball: 6,750
Full capacity: 7,000
Construction
Broke groundOctober 1998
OpenedMay 24, 2001
Construction costC$20.5 million[1]
($29.7 million in 2021 dollars[2])
ArchitectPBK Architects, Inc.
General contractorOlympic Construction Ltd.[3]
Tenants
St. John's Maple Leafs (AHL) (2001–2005)
St. John's Fog Devils (QMJHL) (2005–2008)
St. John's IceCaps (AHL) (2011–2017)
St. John's Edge (NBLC) (2017–2021)
Newfoundland Growlers (ECHL) (2018–present)
Newfoundland Rogues (TBL) (2021-present)

The arena is the home of the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL, and the Newfoundland Rogues of the TBL.

Naming rights

During construction, the City of St. John's sold the naming rights to brewing company Molson under a 10-year deal valued at $1.5 million. The agreement would have also included rights to be the venue's exclusive beer supplier.[5] Molson then resold the naming rights to Danny Williams, then-owner of Cable Atlantic, for $600,000. Before the arena opened, however, Williams sold Cable Atlantic to Rogers Communications in order to pursue politics, but retained the naming rights personally. Ultimately Williams chose to name the arena Mile One Centre, based on St. John's being the easternmost city in Canada.[6]

On October 14, 2021, it was announced that the naming rights to the arena had been bought by the Newfoundland-originated fried chicken restaurant chain Mary Brown's; it was rebranded as Mary Brown's Centre on November 5, 2021.[7]

Sports

Hockey
Interior of Mary Brown's Centre

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 to 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.[8]

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.[9] The Fog Devils began playing at Mile One Centre in 2005. However, the Fog Devils would relocate to Montreal, Quebec, after three seasons in St. John's to become the Montreal Junior Hockey Club. Many reasons were 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.[10]

Professional hockey returned to St. John's in 2011 when Winnipeg-based True North Sports and Entertainment announced a lease agreement with former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams that saw their AHL franchise (formerly known as the Manitoba Moose) relocated to the Mile One Centre. The St. John's IceCaps played their inaugural season in 2011–12 and as the minor league affiliate of True North's National Hockey League team, the Winnipeg Jets. In honour of this development, the Kraft Hockeyville pre-season game between the Jets and the Ottawa Senators (which was originally to be held in Conception Bay when announced as it was prior to the relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to become the Jets, causing the Moose to become the IceCaps) was moved to the Mile One Centre.[11] In March 2015, it was announced that the Jets would move their AHL team from St. John's back to Winnipeg as the Moose in 2015–16. The IceCaps' organization was then able to get the Montreal Canadiens' AHL team, the Hamilton Bulldogs, to relocate to St. John's for the start of the 2015–16 season, retaining the IceCaps name.[12] However, this was only a temporary move while the Canadiens built a rink for their AHL team in Laval, Quebec. In 2017, the Canadiens-owned franchise left and became the Laval Rocket.

In 2018, after a year without a hockey tenant at Mile One, St. John's was granted an ECHL expansion team with the Newfoundland Growlers.[13] The Growlers won the Kelly Cup championship in their inaugural season.[14] On October 27, 2021, the Growlers were evicted from the arena citing workplace misconduct by the ownership of the team, Deacon Sports and Entertainment (DSE), and the Growlers had to play their first six home games of the 2021–22 season in nearby Conception Bay South.[15][16] The city and DSE came to an agreement for the team to return in November 2021.[17]

Basketball

After long negotiations, the arena became the home to the St. John's Edge of the National Basketball League of Canada beginning with the 2017–18 season bringing professional basketball to St. John's.[18] On July 15, 2021, the St. John's Edge were removed from Mile One when the city did not renew the lease with the team to play in the arena, opting to grant a lease to a different ownership group with an American Basketball Association franchise.[19][20]

Other sporting events

The arena hosts the annual Herder Memorial Trophy tournament, the largest hockey tournament in the province. It hosted the 2002 AHL All-Star Game and the 2014 AHL All-Star Game in which the AHL All-Stars faced Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League.

On September 22, 2014, Mile One Centre held two split squad preseason games for the Ottawa Senators vs. the New York Islanders. New York won both games 3–2, the latter game on a shootout. The Senators faced the Carolina Hurricanes at Mile One for another preseason game on September 27, 2015.

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. LeBron James was on hand as it was a scheduled preseason game of his rookie season.

Other hosted sporting events include:

The arena hosted the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship.

Other events

The 2002 Juno Awards were presented at Mary Brown's Centre on April 14, 2002, marking the first time the presentation had been hosted outside of Ontario or British Columbia.[21] The arena subsequently hosted the 2010 Juno Awards.[22]

Mary Brown's Centre was the main venue for the third annual Avalon Expo sci-fi/comics/pop-culture convention on August 25–27, 2017.

The first musical act to play at Mile One Centre was Live in 2001. Over the years the venue has hosted many concerts, including: Nickelback, Alanis Morissette, The Tragically Hip, BB King, Our Lady Peace, Joe Cocker, Bryan Adams, Barenaked Ladies, Blue Rodeo, Gordon Lightfoot, Billy Talent, Simple Plan, Elton John, Feist, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Pearl Jam, Bachman & Turner, Celtic Thunder, Leonard Cohen, Sting, Tegan and Sara, Sarah McLachlan, Carly Rae Jepsen, Hedley, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and Hilary Duff.

References
  1. "Mile One Stadium". PBK Architects. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  2. 1688 to 1923: Geloso, Vincent, A Price Index for Canada, 1688 to 1850 (December 6, 2016). Afterwards, Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada tables 18-10-0005-01 (formerly CANSIM 326-0021) "Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021. and table 18-10-0004-13 "Consumer Price Index by product group, monthly, percentage change, not seasonally adjusted, Canada, provinces, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  3. "Projects". Olympic Construction Ltd. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  4. "Big Night Planned to Celebrate Opening of Mile One Stadium". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. April 7, 2001. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  5. Revenues From Sports Venues - Naming Rights, retrieved August 9, 2010
  6. Muret, Don (April 9, 2001). "Venue's Name Game Takes New Twist". Amusement Business. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  7. "The Biggest Mary: Chicken chain Mary Brown's buys naming rights to Mile One Centre". CBC News. October 14, 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  8. "Baby Leafs to Leave St. John's After 14 Seasons". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. August 10, 2004. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  9. "Saint John, St. John's Awarded QMJHL Franchises". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. December 1, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  10. Short, Robin (January 26, 2008). "It's Official: Fog Devils Sold". The Telegram. St. John's. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  11. Mirtle, James (August 9, 2011). "NHL Set to Play Preseason Games All Over World". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  12. "St. John's New Home for Montreal Canadiens' AHL Team". St. John's IceCaps. March 12, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  13. "Board of Governors Approves Changes for 2018-19 Season". ECHL. March 13, 2018. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  14. "Newfoundland Growlers cap inaugural season with Kelly Cup title". www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  15. King, Allison (October 27, 2021). "Deacon Sports says Growlers "Kicked Out" of Mile One". vocm.com.
  16. Salter, David (November 2, 2021). "C.B.S. mayor welcomes Newfoundland Growlers to town". ntv.ca. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  17. "DSE and SJSEL Issue Joint Statement". OurSports Central. November 23, 2021.
  18. "St. John's city council approves agreement to bring pro basketball to Mile One". CBC News. September 18, 2017.
  19. "Tentative Deal Reached for New St. John's Basketball Franchise". VOCM (AM). July 15, 2021.
  20. "St. John's Edge not returning to Mile One, as city to announce new franchise". CBC.ca. July 15, 2021.
  21. "St. John's Enjoying Host Role at Junos". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. April 14, 2002. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  22. "2010 Junos Set for St. John's". CBC News. January 22, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
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