Panthers owners to fans: Team 'lost tremendous amounts of money over the last dozen years'

Optimism generally runs pretty high as NHL training camps get set to commence, but Florida Panthers co-owners, Vinnie Viola and Doug Cifu, offered up a dose of reality in an open letter to fans on Wednesday.

As posted on the team's website:

It is no secret that the Panthers and BB&T Center have lost tremendous amounts of money over the last dozen years. We are working hard to address this situation, which we believe we can do with the support from our loyal fans, our business partners, the business community and our community-at-large.

Elsewhere in the letter, however, Viola and Cifu reiterated their commitment to icing a competitive team and building the fan base in South Florida:

We made a commitment to the Panthers and to South Florida when we bought the team to build a successful organization on and off the ice. We have been working hard to live up to that commitment. Starting with the trade to bring Roberto Luongo, one of the world’s top goaltenders, back home to South Florida, and continuing with our committing over $80 million to new players, including bringing six talented veteran free agents to South Florida and resigning all of our restricted free agents, we have dedicated ourselves to improving the team.

Indeed, as evidenced above, it's no secret that the Panthers are struggling financially down in Florida, and the co-owners appear to be banking on the fact that a more competitive team will breed increased viability in that particular market. 

Time will tell if that philosophy pays off, so to speak.