Pats’ owners won’t rule out outdoor NHL game in future
The Regina Pats haven’t cancelled their plan to stage an outdoor hockey game in the Queen City. They simply postponed it.
The Pats were scheduled to host an NHL alumni game and a WHL regular-season contest at Mosaic Stadium during the Family Day long weekend in February — a bold initiative that was ultimately abandoned due to sluggish ticket sales.
Although the outcome was a disappointment, it won’t necessarily prevent the Pats’ owners from revisiting the concept down the road, perhaps on an even grander scale.
“This doesn’t rule out the possibility of a future outdoor game in this community,” explained co-owner Anthony Marquart, the president of Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group. “We would program it differently in terms of potentially working with the National Hockey League. The work has been done so we know what it takes to bring a game to Mosaic Stadium. If we were to pursue an NHL game, we would certainly have learned from this experience.”
The Pats have a lot on their plate this year due to the franchise’s centennial season along with hosting the 100th Memorial Cup in May. Marquart doesn’t regret the decision to think big with plans for two outdoor games, both of which will now take place indoors at the Brandt Centre.
The Pats sold a little over 10,000 tickets, many of which were purchased by corporate sponsors. That’s about half of what was required for the event to just break even.
Although fans were resistant to the idea of paying a premium to sit outside in February, Marquart said there wasn’t much that could have been done in terms of ticket prices. The two-game packages were available in four categories: Pil Zone and standing room ($75), bronze ($149.15), silver ($198.72) and gold ($275.22). That included all taxes and surcharges.
“The price point was bang on from the perspective of: The cost to put on the event is the cost,” said Marquart, whose group hired the world’s premier outdoor game production company (BaAM Productions) to run the event. “We attempted to provide value by bringing the NHL alumni to Regina to help offset some of those costs. In the future, I don’t see the costs altering significantly. However, there could be a different level of interest with not just the Pats game but with a potential NHL game. That may be perceived as better value for the community at large.”
In the future, I don’t see the costs altering significantly.
Tickets to Regina’s outdoor games were substantially cheaper than two-game packages to Winnipeg’s NHL Heritage Classic in 2016 ($185 to $669, without taxes and fees). A crowd of 33,240 was announced for that game, which took place on Oct. 23 at Investors Group Field.
More recently, season-ticket holders could purchase ducats to the NHL 100 Classic in Ottawa on Dec. 16 at a base price range of $129 to $499. The game was a sellout of 33,959 at TD Place Stadium despite temperatures that dipped below -20 C with the wind chill.
The Pats’ outdoor games in February may have been substantially colder, not to mention the possibility of blizzard conditions that could force a last-minute cancellation.
Any plans for a future outdoor game will keep that in mind.
“The weather will always be an unknown variable,” said Marquart. “Yes, we would reconsider the time of future events to be earlier in the winter months … or possibly even late March or April. But, overall, we feel good that we know what it takes to put it on if we were to pursue an NHL game at Mosaic Stadium.”