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The quick read: GSL Group, the longtime operator of Kelowna's Prospera Place, has publicly released its full commercial proposal to keep running the arena — an annual management fee of $75,000 with 97% of profits returned to the venue — while the City of Kelowna says the competing proposal from Oak View Group Canada, and the scoring that made it the winner, will stay confidential, reports TicketNews. The city named OVG Canada its top-ranked operator for Prospera Place and MNP Place in October 2025, with operations set to transfer in 2029; nearly a year later, the procurement is still officially "in progress." The transparency fight is playing out just days before Kelowna's October 17 municipal election.

The loser showed its receipts.

City hall won't show its own.

For twenty-five years, GSL Group has operated Prospera Place, the 6,886-seat arena that anchors downtown Kelowna and houses the Kelowna Rockets.

The city's contract with GSL expires in 2029, and after a competitive process that began in 2024, the city announced last October that Oak View Group Canada — a subsidiary of a U.S.-based venue giant — was its top-ranked choice to take over both Prospera Place and MNP Place.

Final contract negotiations are still underway, but the city tells TicketNews that "the procurement process is currently still in progress" — and that much of what GSL is asking for will stay secret even after a deal is signed.

GSL has responded by putting its own bid on the record: a $75,000 annual management fee with 97% of profits flowing back to the arena, plus commissioned polling on the dispute.

"If Oak View Group's offer is truly advantageous for the city, GSL would support it," the company's president and CEO Graham Lee said — but the community can't judge what it can't see.

The city says releasing the details could violate its obligations under B.C.'s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and undermine the competitive process.

That may be the legal answer, but it's a strange look: a taxpayer-owned arena, awarded behind closed doors, with the scorecard sealed shut.

The decision was made in-camera, and the city has confirmed the detailed evaluation will remain confidential even once the procurement concludes.

GSL has also flagged a competitive wrinkle the city hasn't answered: OVG already operates the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, about 65 kilometres away, giving one company influence over which Okanagan venue lands concerts and tours.

Ticketing is another open question.

Prospera Place currently tickets through Select Your Tickets, an in-house company owned by GSL, and the city would not say whether OVG would get the power to change the ticketing provider.

Mayoral candidate Ron Cannan, an incumbent councillor who was part of the council that approved the selection, now says he wants to review the city's procurement policies — though he says he can't discuss this specific decision.

Timing is everything here.

Kelowna votes on Saturday, October 17, and voters are being asked to trust a process they are not allowed to inspect.

Transparency shouldn't need an election-year fight.

Sources: TicketNews; City of Kelowna; Business Examiner.