SB164
Registered User
MONTREAL — The empty seats at the Bell Centre for the 2015 world junior hockey championship were not forgotten when Hockey Canada put tickets on sale for the 2017 event this week.
There is a wider variety of options and some lower prices on ticket packages for the Dec. 26-Jan. 5 tournament in Montreal and Toronto.
Hockey Canada expected a bonanza by staging the popular holiday-period event in Canada’s two biggest cities and in two famous NHL rinks — the Bell Centre and the Air Canada Centre — in both 2015 and 2017.
But while there were healthy crowds in Toronto, where the most of the medal round games were played, ticket sales fell short of expectations in Montreal, even for Canada’s games.
"Overall, we can't say there was a lack of success," tournament executive director Denis Hainault said Wednesday. "It was a successful event, but we can adjust and do better."
One step was to release the full schedule well ahead of the tournament so fans can check which games they want to attend. Another was to make games more affordable. The cheapest two-game package costs $69.
Plus, they will also use only the roughly 12,000-seat lower bowl at the Bell Centre for group stage games, opening up the full 21,287 seats for the knockout stages, which, barring catastrophe, Canada will be in.
In 2015, Canada played its round-robin games in Montreal, then moved to Toronto starting with the quarter-finals. Canada eventually beat Russia in the final before 19,014 at the ACC.
Fans in Montreal balked at paying top dollar for 13-game packages ranging in price from $431 to $1,191. The package included Canada's preliminary round group games plus two non-Canada quarter-finals. In Toronto, 19-game packages were $626 to $1,746 for the non-Canada group games plus two quarter-finals, two semifinals and the gold and bronze medal games.
The 2017 event has somewhat lower prices and a greater variety of options.
A full 19-game pack including non-Canada group games, two quarters, two semis and the medal games ranges from $750 to $1,625, but there are also two 10-game "half-packs" -- one from $518 to $1,112, including the gold medal game and another from $483 to $1,054 including the bronze medal game, a semifinal if Canada is in it and a pre-tournament exhibition game between Canada and Finland.
There are also four- and two-game packages.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/hockey-canada-encouraging-montreal-attendance-2017-wjc/
There is a wider variety of options and some lower prices on ticket packages for the Dec. 26-Jan. 5 tournament in Montreal and Toronto.
Hockey Canada expected a bonanza by staging the popular holiday-period event in Canada’s two biggest cities and in two famous NHL rinks — the Bell Centre and the Air Canada Centre — in both 2015 and 2017.
But while there were healthy crowds in Toronto, where the most of the medal round games were played, ticket sales fell short of expectations in Montreal, even for Canada’s games.
"Overall, we can't say there was a lack of success," tournament executive director Denis Hainault said Wednesday. "It was a successful event, but we can adjust and do better."
One step was to release the full schedule well ahead of the tournament so fans can check which games they want to attend. Another was to make games more affordable. The cheapest two-game package costs $69.
Plus, they will also use only the roughly 12,000-seat lower bowl at the Bell Centre for group stage games, opening up the full 21,287 seats for the knockout stages, which, barring catastrophe, Canada will be in.
In 2015, Canada played its round-robin games in Montreal, then moved to Toronto starting with the quarter-finals. Canada eventually beat Russia in the final before 19,014 at the ACC.
Fans in Montreal balked at paying top dollar for 13-game packages ranging in price from $431 to $1,191. The package included Canada's preliminary round group games plus two non-Canada quarter-finals. In Toronto, 19-game packages were $626 to $1,746 for the non-Canada group games plus two quarter-finals, two semifinals and the gold and bronze medal games.
The 2017 event has somewhat lower prices and a greater variety of options.
A full 19-game pack including non-Canada group games, two quarters, two semis and the medal games ranges from $750 to $1,625, but there are also two 10-game "half-packs" -- one from $518 to $1,112, including the gold medal game and another from $483 to $1,054 including the bronze medal game, a semifinal if Canada is in it and a pre-tournament exhibition game between Canada and Finland.
There are also four- and two-game packages.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/hockey-canada-encouraging-montreal-attendance-2017-wjc/