Garth Brooks cancels Tampa concerts

Brian Mansfield | USA TODAY

The scheduling of the NHL's Stanley Cup Final is prompting Garth Brooks to cancel three shows set for Tampa next weekend.

With the Tampa Bay Lightning making the finals against the Chicago Blackhawks, the NHL and NBC slated Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final at Tampa's Amalie Arena — the same day Brooks had two concerts scheduled for the same venue.

According to a statement on Brooks' website, the involved parties considered moving the singer's Saturday concerts to the following day. However, the logistics of such a quick turnaround proved to be untenable for Brooks' team.

"The issue of getting the network crews and their gear out of the building and getting our crews and gear into the building late Saturday/early Sunday for two shows on Sunday raises serious safety concerns," Brooks said in the statement. "It is because of those safety concerns that the choice is being made to refund all shows and reschedule depending on finding a date that works for both the arena and the tour."

Brooks, who also had a Friday show scheduled at Amalie Arena, congratulated both teams on reaching the finals and thanked executives for the Lightning and the arena for their efforts to find a workable solution.

"We personally know (NHL commissioner) Gary Bettman and are very familiar with the League and its players, coaches, and staff," Brooks said. "They are all stand-up people. We are convinced everything that could have been done was done to try to remedy the situation."

The Tampa concerts are the second group of shows Brooks has canceled since announcing his return to the concert stage last year. He had planned to begin his comeback tour in Ireland with five concerts at Dublin's 80,000-seat Croke Park last July. When the Dublin city council denied permits for two of the shows, Brooks canceled them all, even though it meant refunding 400,000 ticket purchases.

Brooks is slated to perform tonight at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.