ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Aces of the ECHL will shut down after the current season.

Terry Parks, managing partner of the Aces ownership group, says the Anchorage-based minor league team is losing money and the state's declining economy means the trend is likely to continue. He says the Aces have lost more money this year than the past two years combined.

Parks says the league has granted the Aces permission to voluntarily suspend operations.

He says sponsorships are down $600,000, season ticket sales are down $262,000 and attendance is down about 1,500 spectators per game. </s> The state’s only professional sports franchise, the Alaska Aces, will fold after this season. The decision was announced Thursday, Feb. 23.

After years of declining revenue, Aces managing member Terry Parks said the choice to fold was a business decision.

“We bought this team out of bankruptcy almost 15 years ago and certainly turned it around and now we have to suffer the consequences of closing it down because of lack of attendance to the games and we believe it’s all kind of based on the Alaska economy,” Parks said.

The team plays in the Mountain Division of ECHL’s Western Conference.

The team’s sponsorships are down $600,000, and ticket sales have dropped more than $250,000.

The past couple seasons, attendance is down, too: about 1,500 fewer people are showing up for any given game — more than a 25 percent drop over the past three seasons.

Others expect to take a hit, as well.

Chris Schutte directs the office economic and community development for the Municipality of Anchorage. The city owns the Sullivan arena, and Schutte said the Aces account for about 60 percent of the facility’s revenue.

“In 2016, we did about $1.5 million of revenue from Aces-related activities,” Schutte said. “So that’s renting the building, box office ticket sales, food and beverage sales, parking, things like that.”

Though the departure leaves a huge gap, Schutte said SMG — the company that operates the Sullivan Arena for the Municipality — is already working to fill in space left by the Aces.

“It’s weird, there’s a silver lining almost in the loss of the Aces in that the building itself becomes more available,” Schutte said. “That gives SMG broader latitude in booking the facility for other types of events … concerts, comedy shows, things like that.”

Aside from the drop in revenue, Schutte said the largest loss is to Anchorage’s hockey community, and the generations of kids who have long been inspired by the Aces.

“The hockey community is certainly sad to see the Aces go, we’re sad to see it go, we’ve been involved with it going on 22-23 years as a sponsor before we purchased it,” Parks said. “We all have a lot of energy and effort into it, but you can’t continue to run a business that’s losing a significant amount of money.”

The team will play out the remainder of the season, wrapping up in early April.

All of the players will become free agents. </s> ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The University of Alaska Anchorage says the 40th Great Alaska Shootout will be the last edition of the long-running college basketball tournament.

Chancellor Sam Gingerich said Thursday that the university can no longer sustain funding for the annual Thanksgiving week tournament.

The shootout began in 1978 and is the longest-running regular-season college basketball tournament.

The event brought the highest level of basketball competition to Alaska, with appearances in the men's bracket by Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and other perennial national contenders.

In recent years, as early-season tournaments multiplied, top teams chose warmer venues.

The 2017 GCI Great Alaska Shootout begins Nov. 21 with the four-team women's tournament. The field includes Binghamton, Tulsa, Maryland Eastern Shore and host Alaska-Anchorage.

The men's tournament begins Nov. 22 with Cal Poly, Central Michigan, College of Charleston, CSU Bakersfield, Idaho, Sam Houston State, Santa Clara and host Alaska-Anchorage. </s> The Alliance of American Football is suspending operations eight games into its first season.

A person with knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press the eight-team spring football league is not folding, but games will not be played this weekend. The decision was made by majority owner Tom Dundon, who also owns the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because league officials were still working through details of the suspension. An announcement from the league is expected later Tuesday.

The league was co-founded by former NFL executive Bill Polian and television and film producer Charlie Ebersol.

The AAF aspired to be a league for players with NFL hopes, but it could not reach agreement with the NFLPA to use players at the end of NFL rosters. </s> A video meant to build up to the unveiling failed to run properly at the Toshiba Plaza outside their new T-Mobile Arena, leaving owner Bill Foley and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stalling for time as technicians tried to fix the problem.

When that failed, they abandoned the video and did a countdown to presenting the team name and logo.

When the name was revealed above the logo of a knight's helmet with a "V" formed in the face of it, fireworks were set off and confetti fell on the cheering crowd.

"I guarantee you we will be better in the rink," shouted majority owner Foley, making light of the video problems.

Five months ago, the National Hockey League decided to roll the dice on expanding to Las Vegas as its 31st franchise, and the first expansion team since 2000 when Columbus and Minnesota were added.

The Golden Knights will begin play in the 2017-18 season.

"We believe in this market," said Commissioner Bettman. "This is a great town. We know everybody here has been hoping for a professional sports team. We're thrilled it's hockey.

"We think by having Las Vegas in the league, it makes the league and hockey stronger. Las Vegas has great visibility."

Foley, chairman of U.S. title insurance services provider Fidelity National Financial , gambled a $500 million franchise fee that Las Vegas will support an NHL team.

The team will play out of the T-Mobile Arena, a new multipurpose building on the south end of the famous Las Vegas Strip that can seat 17,500 for ice hockey. </s> Interim Chancellor Samuel Gingerich announced on Aug. 24 that the annual GCI Great Alaska Shootout will take place for the last time in 2017, due to a limited state and University budget. The basketball tournament has been hosted by UAA Athletics since 1978, and its discontinuation means the end of a Thanksgiving tradition.

“It is with regret that I announce that we will eliminate the GCI Great Alaska Shootout beginning in 2018,” Gingerich said in a press conference.

The financial circumstances the University is enduring, as well as the tournament’s loss of $477,000 during the 2016 campaign, required the cancellation of the tournament.

During its 40 years, the GCI Great Alaska Shootout drew national attention to the state of Alaska, receiving coverage from ESPN between 1985-2008. The tournament introduced the Alaskan community to first-class basketball with its various D-I teams and recorded high attendance rates, highlighted by a record of 60,150 attendees in 2007.

The 40th and last GCI Great Alaska Shootout will bring an end to the longest-running regular-season college basketball tournament in U.S. history.

“We will be hosting the 2017 GCI Shootout and our goal will be to make this year’s 40th-anniversary event a celebration of its rich history, and we hope fans and supporters will join us in that endeavor this Thanksgiving,” Interim Athletics Director Tim McDiffett said.

On Nov. 21 the four-team women’s tournament will begin, followed by the men’s tournament on Nov. 22.

The full schedule can be accessed at http://www.goseawolves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210000208 </s> SEA ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — The National Hockey League is expanding to Seattle.

The NHL Board of Governors unanimously approved adding Seattle as the league's 32nd franchise today, with play set to begin in 2021 to allow enough time for arena renovations.

The as-yet unnamed franchise will be the Emerald City's first major winter sports team since the NBA's SuperSonics left town in 2008.

"Today is an exciting and historic day for our league as we expand to one of North America's most innovative, beautiful and fastest-growing cities," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "And we are thrilled that Seattle, a city with a proud hockey history that includes being the home for the first American team ever to win the Stanley Cup, is finally joining the NHL."

The announcement came a few moments after Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan let the news slip at a watch party in Seattle, prompting cheers: "I got a call from a mole in the room and it was a unanimous vote. We're getting hockey."

The decision was widely expected after the Seattle Hockey Partners group impressed the board's executive committee in October with a plan that had all the ingredients the NHL was looking for. </s> It's official. The National Hockey League will be adding its 32nd franchise in Seattle, with the team starting play in the fall of 2021.

On Tuesday in Sea Island, Georgia, commissioner Gary Bettman announced the unanimous approval of the league's board of governors to accept the expansion bid for the city of Seattle at a fee of $650 million — a premium of 30 percent over the $500 million entry fee that Bill Foley paid to earn admission for his Vegas Golden Knights in June of 2016.

"Seattle, the NHL is thrilled to welcome you," said Bettman as he led off the league's press conference.

Ownership group representatives David Bonderman, an investment banker, movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Seattle Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer, a minority investor, as well as NHL Seattle CEO Tod Leiweke, were all onsite in Georgia for the meetings and subsequent announcement.

Back in the Emerald City, the NHL Seattle group hosted an announcement part at Henry's Tavern in South Lake Union on Tuesday morning.

Though the Seattle group and mayor Jenny Durkan had been lobbying hard for a start date of 2020, the league has rubber-stamped the team to begin play for the 2021-22 season.

The longer timeline will give the group more time to complete its now-projected to be $800-million privately financed redevelopment of the Seattle Center arena, which will be completely redesigned beneath its historic roof. The project is scheduled to break ground on Wednesday with an estimated completion in the spring of 2021, in time for the season of the arena's other anchor tenant, the WNBA's Seattle Storm.

The new timeline will also allow the still-unnamed Seattle NHL team to hold its expansion draft at the arena in June of 20201 and give the team the opportunity to prepare for its inaugural season at its new headquarters and training center, which will be the centerpiece of a redevelopment project at the city's Northgate Mall.

"It's rarified air to be part of the NHL," said Leiweke on Monday. "This is not only a hockey team, but it's going to solve an arena situation that has gone on way too long."

Tuesday's announcement marks the end of a long road. The NHL has been eager to expand to Seattle for years. Now America's fastest-growing big city, it's filled with passionate sports fans who strongly support their teams — as demonstrated when 32,000 fans put down deposits in a 24-hour period during the hockey team's season-ticket drive last March.

"That's when we knew this was the right idea," said Leiweke.

Seattle also fits a geographic need for the NHL, bringing the league's two conferences into alignment and setting up a natural rivalry with the Vancouver Canucks, just 140 miles to the north.

Seattle's hockey history dates back more than 100 years. As part of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Seattle Metropolitans became the first American team ever to win the Stanley Cup when they defeated the Montreal Canadiens for the trophy in 1917.

To make room for the Seattle team in the Pacific Division, the Arizona Coyotes will relocate to the Central Division starting in the fall of 2021.

After Monday's meeting, Bettman offered updates on several other noteworthy items of league business:
• The initial projection for the 2019-20 salary-cap ceiling is estimated at $83 million. The final number won't be determined until next June but should be within about $1 million, Bettman said. The ceiling this season is $79.5 million, which marked an increase of $4.5 million from 2017-18. Seattle's expansion fee is not included in the hockey-related revenue that determines the salary-cap number.
• Bettman told reporters that the NHL would get involved in a potential arena development project in Ottawa if it is invited to do so, citing the league's involvement in successfully helping the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins secure arenas.. "I think [a downtown arena in Ottawa] would be for a whole host of reasons nice, but (Senators owner) Mr. Melnyk has said if he has to make Canadian Tire Centre work, he can do that," Bettman said, referring to the news that a potential redevelopment opportunity for the LeBreton Flats area in downtown Ottawa seemed to have fallen apart following to a disagreement between Melnyk and his partners. "But again, let's not draw any conclusions yet. This is a complicated situation."
• No official talks have yet taken place regarding the NHL's current labor situation. Both the league and the NHL Players' Association have the right to re-open the current collective bargaining agreement on September 15, 2019, potentially triggering a work stoppage one year later. Setting a 2021 start date for the Seattle team moves that event out of the way of a possible strike or lockout.
• The league is also looking for labour certainty before setting its schedule for future editions of the World Cup of Hockey. Bettman says that in order to plan a World Cup for the fall of 2020, the league needs a commitment from the players' association no later than All-Star weekend in late January of 2019. Since the league and the players' association would split revenue from another World Cup event, the league is angling to use the event as a bargaining chip in the next labour negotiation. </s> The Alliance of American Football is suspending all operations, according to ProFootballTalk.com.

PFT says the league hasn’t folded — yet. But it appears to be moving in that direction, according to PFT.

PFT reports the AAF needed about $20 million to get to the end of its first season. But it will instead cease operations with two weeks remaining in its regular season, and the planned four-team postseason will not happen, according to PFT.

The fledgling league was facing dire financial straits a few weeks ago, when Tom Dundon became its majority owner and committed $250 million in funding to the league. But Dundon, a businessman and owner of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, had the ability to pull those funds at an time, PFT says, and it’s clear he’s chosen to do so.
The Alaska Aces ice hockey team announce that the 2016–17 ECHL season will be the team's last after 28 seasons of play, following a downturn in the Alaskan economy and sagging ticket sales.