City, prospective team owners quarrelling over Chilliwack WHL expansion franchise
The new team is supposed to start up for the 2027-28 campaign at the Chilliwack Coliseum but negotiations have stalled.
The stumbling block in all of this appears to be that Gibbons’ team wants to run the Coliseum. The MRG Group website says that it specializes in “live entertainment, hospitality, ticketing, travel and digital media,” and his email Friday stated that they had designs on bringing 10 events per year — including concerts, UFC and WWE — to the venue.
“What we were equally clear about was that we would not proceed with a WHL franchise without a venue management agreement,” Gibbons continued in the email. “That was not a hidden condition. It is the only model that makes sustainable sense, and both parties understood that from the beginning.”