— The Carolina RailHawks will remain at WakeMed Soccer Park for the next three years, and probably beyond.

On May 12, the Town of Cary’s Council unanimously approved a new sublease of WakeMed Soccer Park by Carolina FC, LLC, the official corporation behind the RailHawks established by club owner Steve Malik last October when he purchased the professional soccer club from Traffic Sports USA. The Town of Cary and Carolina FC entered a stopgap lease last fall while negotiating this new multi-year arrangement.

The term for the new sublease covers 2016, 2017 and 2018, with options by Carolina FC to extend the lease for two successive one-year periods to 2019 and 2020. The base 2016 rent is $105,000, a 10 percent increase from the $95,000 rent in the previous sublease. The rent escalates by 3 percent per annum to $108,150 in 2017 and $111,394.50 in 2018.

This rent covers up to 22 game days in the main stadium of WakeMed Soccer Park, plus up to 700 hours to use the other seven soccer fields at the soccer park for the RailHawks’ developmental soccer program. Additional hours of non-stadium field use may be rented at an hourly rate.

Other highlights of the RailHawks new sublease for WakeMed Soccer Park include:

Stadium Naming Rights: The RailHawks will retain 75 percent of any future naming rights revenue for the main stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, with the Town of Cary keeping 25 percent. This split applies no matter which entity recruits the stadium sponsor. Potential sponsorship of the Soccer Park’s main stadium was decoupled from the Town of Cary’s last Naming Rights Agreement with WakeMed Health and Hospitals, effective January 2015. No specific sponsor for the main stadium has yet been procured.

Notably, the Town of Cary and the RailHawks will continue to equally split the $315,000 annual fee paid by WakeMed to sponsor the Soccer Park, according to RailHawks President Curt Johnson and Doug McRainey, the Town of Cary’s Director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources. The new stadium naming rights term is an additional apportionment.

Concessions: Under previous subleases, the RailHawks kept up to 20 percent of concession revenue earned during RailHawks events. Under the new sublease, the RailHawks will pay the Town of Cary an annual $40,000 flat fee, and in exchange the RailHawks will retain all concession revenue from RailHawks events, subject only to the concessionaire’s commission. The Town of Cary will not share any concession revenue from RailHawks events.

Signage: The RailHawks now have the exclusive right to market and sell signage and sponsorships inside the main stadium and retain all revenue from said signage and sponsorships, subject to certain restrictions that include the Soccer Park’s naming rights agreement with WakeMed. Under previous subleases, stadium signage required approval from Town officials.

The RailHawks retain a nonexclusive right to sell sponsorships and erect signage in the Soccer Park outside the main stadium. This signage is subject to approval by the Town of Cary, which will also share in any revenue.

Soccer School: The RailHawks have the option to rent space at WakeMed Soccer Park to launch a Soccer School, where enrollees will fulfill academic requirements while participating in the RailHawks soccer academy. The RailHawks may utilize the East Side multi-purpose rooms (suites) in the main stadium for this school at an additional rent of $30,000 per year. The club may also rent the West Side locker rooms for soccer school use for $5,000 per year.

Other Pro Sports Teams: Carolina FC retains the exclusive right to promote, conduct and derive revenue from other pro and national team soccer matches at WakeMed Soccer Park. Carolina FC also has the nonexclusive right to promote, conduct and derive revenue from other pro and national team matches involving lacrosse and rugby.

Carolina FC also retains the right to operate others teams in a “Professional Sports League” at WakeMed Soccer Park, subject to additional lease terms to be determined. The term “Professional Sports League” is defined in the sublease to specifically include another “Professional Soccer League,” a “Professional Women’s Soccer League, a “Professional Lacrosse League,” and a “Professional Rugby League.”