Mar 14, 2015; San Jose, CA, USA; Outside view of south ticket entrance of the SAP Center before the game between the San Jose Sharks and the Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
The San Jose Sharks will continue to call SAP Center home for the foreseeable future. On Friday afternoon, the Sharks announced an agreement with the City of San Jose and mayor Sam Liccardo on a lease extension that will keep the Sharks at SAP Center.
According to the release, the Sharks will play their home games at SAP Center through 2025 on a fixed-term, a 10-year period. Beginning in 2016, the lease will renew annually through 2040.
The Sharks have been playing their home games at the friendly confines of SAP Center since 1993, when the building was completed. Before that, San Jose played two seasons at the Cow Palace before heading to the South Bay.
Beginning next season, the Sharks won’t be the only hockey team that will call the SAP Center home. The San Jose Barracuda, the Sharks new top development affiliate in the AHL, will be playing at SAP Center in 2015-16 and will give fans a chance to see San Jose’s top prospects in person.
The news is not shocking as owner Hasso Plattner hinted in an open letter to all Sharks fans on April 23 that the team was close to finalizing an arena agreement, and today that came to fruition.
Now, it’s up to general manager Doug Wilson and the rest of the Sharks team to play much better at home. SAP Center has been one of the loudest and toughest buildings to play in across the NHL, but the Sharks went a measly 19-17-5 this past season, while dropping all eight home games during the month of February.