CSN Bay Area

SAN JOSE – The Sharks will remain at SAP Center for at least the next 10 seasons, the mayor of San Jose and team owner Hasso Plattner confirmed in a press conference on Friday afternoon.

Although the financial terms of the agreement won’t be revealed and officially approved until a city council meeting on May 19, it was announced that the lease would run at a fixed term through the 2024-25 season, with the potential to be extended through the year 2040. The current lease was set to expire on June 30, 2018.

Plattner said that negotiations “took awhile,” but that he never considered any prospects of moving the team to a different location other than the building in which the Sharks have called home since 1993.

“Yes, there are others around here building arenas or want to build arenas. They were buzzing in the left ear and the right ear,” Plattner said. “I never, ever entertained any discussions with those folks as long as we had a chance to come to a decent agreement here. We have done this. … We stay here for the next 10 years.”

The mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo, also referenced opportunities for Plattner to move the franchise from its downtown location - perhaps to Santa Clara or San Francisco, or maybe even somewhere else entirely.

“I know that he’s had many, many suitors,” Liccardo said. "I hear that smaller cities to our north have been approaching, among others, to lure him elsewhere. But, he’s here because he knows that we have an incredible hockey crazed community that is ready to continue to support this great team and all of the great events that are here.”

The Sharks’ home will be tied for the NHL’s fourth-oldest building at the start of the 2015-16 season, and some improvements are necessary, although indications were that nothing significant will change in the immediate future. The team and the city will both contribute to upgrades that are deemed necessary, according to the mayor.

Liccardo said: “We want to keep it as a world class facility, and for that reason, the terms of this deal have both the city and the Sharks stepping up with a mutual commitment to ensure this remains a world class facility for many years to come.”

Plattner also expressed his affection for the building that bears his company’s name. No major changes are needed, in his view.

The German native sees no need to tear down the current building or construct a new facility.

"I think this is an American thing, that you think buildings from a certain age are kaput,” he said. “I saw probably 20 or 19 other arenas. This is, from an architectural point of view, internal point of view, material point of view, one of the best arenas. It has a fresh atmosphere inside.

“Yes, we need some touches. That's all, and then it will stay for at least the next 10 years in good shape. I can't see that the concrete is falling apart.”