Who ghosted who?: MRG Group speaks out after stalled WHL negotiations with City of Chilliwack

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One day after Chilliwack mayor Ken Popove accused the Western Hockey League of “ghosting” the city, a prospective team buyer has stated the City of Chilliwack abruptly ended negotiations with them on Feb. 4.

The MRG Group, a Vancouver-based live entertainment and events company, told Black Press Media that they were selected as the WHL’s preferred applicant after the league reviewed all candidates. They then entered into negotiations with the City of Chilliwack.

Matthew Gibbons, the MRG Group’s president, said he was shocked when the city chose to end negotiations by email.

“The incoming CAO, Jennifer Hahn, sent us a single email at 7:28 p.m. pacific time informing us that the council had directed staff to cease negotiations,” he said. “That email was the first and only communication we ever received from her.”

Gibbons stated he was surprised because five days earlier city leadership had told him that the deal was still on the table. Hahn was named the city’s CAO in February.

“On Jan. 30 we had received communication from city leadership telling us the deal was still alive and being actively advanced with the incoming CAO – the collapse was sudden and unexplained,” he said.

Following the decision by the city to end negotiations on Feb. 4, Gibbons said the WHL attempted to arrange a three-party meeting to find a path forward for the deal. WHL commissioner Dan Near issued a formal letter to the mayor, CAO and council for the meeting on Feb. 26.

But Gibbons said the city failed to respond to that invitation for over a week and when they did respond it was a junior city staff member who had previously not worked on the deal. Both Gibbons and the WHL were unsatisfied with that type of response.

“The manner in which the city reestablished communication demonstrates a lack of genuine intention to resume negotiations in good faith,” he said.

Gibbons refuted the claim made on 89.5 FM on Thursday (May 14) that the WHL has ghosted the city and said what happened was that the city terminated its preferred ownership group. He also acknowledged that the mayor may not have full awareness about what occurred at the administration level.

“I have enormous respect for Mayor Popove and understand that he may not have full visibility into what occurred, but the record needs to be set straight on all counts,” he said.

He added that the city never gave an explanation for ending negotiations, the final days of discussions spiralled out of control and said that Chilliwack deserves better.

“We genuinely don’t know why this decision was made,” he said. “What we will say is that a decision of this magnitude deserves a transparent public explanation. With a municipal election approaching, the residents of Chilliwack deserve to know what was on the table, why it was turned down, and who made that call.”

He explained that his group was assembled well for the bid and consisted of individuals who have run NHL and CHL franchises, operated venues in North America and Europe and practiced law at the highest levels.

“We had local Chilliwack business partners and NHL-connected investors prepared to join the ownership group, serious people with serious capital ready to commit,” he said. “We had not yet finalized their participation because we needed to complete the venue terms first before showing them the complete picture. That is how responsible ownership structures are built. The City’s decision to end negotiations did not just close the door on MRG. It closed the door on an entire constellation of investment that was forming around this bid.”

Gibbons identified his group as Shawn Landry, Bobby Henderson, Paul Nicolls and Barry Douglas. All five individual have strong connections to hockey Chilliwack and Gibbons said respecting the tradition of the Chilliwack Chiefs was an important aspect of his bid.

“One of the first things we did, before any deal was in place, was go directly to the Chilliwack Chiefs,” he said. “We sought their blessing before proceeding. We wanted to honour what the Chiefs have built and carry that history forward. In every meeting we had with both the city and the WHL, we stated plainly that we were prepared to operate the Coliseum even without the WHL franchise. We believed in the venue and the community. What we were equally clear about was that we would not proceed with a WHL franchise without a venue management agreement.”

Gibbons said he thinks MRG Group could also help make the Coliseum a hot spot for events and not just the hockey team.

“We committed to a minimum of ten major events a year: concerts, UFC, WWE, Stars on Ice, Broadway productions, trade shows,” he said. “We had already booked Stars on Ice before any agreement was signed. Our projections pointed to upwards of $70 million in annual economic impact, but what we were really building was identity. A city that hosts the big events rather than watching other places get them, while still feeling like home to the families filling the stands at 6 a.m. practices.”

He said he’s concerned that, without a private operator to drive revenue and run the building, that the costs will fall on taxpayers. Gibbons said he is still open to finding a solution in Chilliwack, but that the clock is ticking.

“For MRG: our ambitions haven’t changed,” he said. “We are looking for a community that shares our vision and a civic leadership prepared to stand behind it. When we find the right fit, whether in Chilliwack or elsewhere, we will build something exceptional.”

BPM did reach out to the city of Chilliwack who said on April 27 that things are going according to plan.

“We anticipate that a WHL team will join the Coliseum as a primary tenant under a team license agreement, in accordance with the WHL’s timelines,” they stated.

The city chose not to answer questions posed related to the MRG Group news.

The next big event on the WHL calendar is the 2026 Memorial Cup, which occurs in Kelowna and runs from May 21 to 31.

The BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs will call the Coliseum home for the 2026-27 season.