No Warriors hockey leaves a big hole
WHL team important part of economy and community spirit before COVID-19
The seats in Mosaic Place may be empty, but there's no shortage of support for the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The WHL club has arguably bolstered its fan base during the COVID-19 pandemic because so many people have a vested interest in the team's return.
That includes Ryan Macivor, the district GM for Spectra Venue Management at Mosaic Place.
Not only is he eager to fill the arena's seats for the first time since spring, Macivor also recognizes the Warriors' presence benefits the city as a whole.
“It's part of the social fabric,” he said. “I would hope when this all ends that people will come back in droves. (The Warriors) provide great entertainment for the community but also the team provides back to the community in terms of charitable (efforts). It's not just the sports aspect. There's an economics to it as well with people coming downtown and going to dinner before a game or getting a drink or whatever it might be.
“There's a social ( benefit). There's economic. There's quality of life.”
Although a return to normalcy could still be a ways off, Macivor is focused on the “recovery” phase at Mosaic Place, a 4,500-seat venue that opened in 2011. The facility has helped invigorate Moose Jaw's downtown area, but it's also an important source of employment.
Many of those jobs — security, cleaning staff, ticket takers, concession workers, etc. — are in a holding pattern while the arena's main tenant awaits the green light.
“There is a ripple effect through the economy that live-event business brings,” said Macivor. “Do we believe that business is going to come back? Yes. We just don't know what the time frame is right now. Are we hurting? One-hundred per cent we are. But I think everyone is facing the same challenges. We're just trying to weather the storm.”
The impact of the Warriors in particular is difficult to quantify, but local stakeholders agree it's substantial.
Rob Clark has seen it first-hand. “I go to all the Warrior games and you can't get into a restaurant downtown,” said the CEO of the Moose Jaw and District Chamber of Commerce. “A lot of people will go downtown and make an afternoon out of it. It brings everybody out in the community. You see the jerseys wandering around like the Riders in Regina. I don't know what the impact would be but it's in the millions of dollars. It would have to be.”
If the Warriors' comeback succeeds in the new year, it appears improbable fans will be part of the equation — at least initially.
When the doors do open, ticket demand is expected to be high.
“For those that aren't going to be travelling this year, it's going to be a long, boring winter,” Clark noted. “The one thing that would get everybody's mindset back (in the right place) is being able to get out and support the local team. The people in town that I talk to are actually waiting for the day that the Warriors get going again, just to get out and socialize.”
Although the CFL'S Roughriders have a substantial following in Moose Jaw, they don't strike a chord like the Warriors. It's all part of the intimate relationship people have with their hometown team, especially in smaller markets.
That's why the prospect of losing them is not something people want to consider.
“It's the only game in town,"”Clark noted. “It's so important to the community for the pride of having the team here. Not having the Warriors would be absolutely devastating. I know we're in good hands but, if COVID continues on, it would become worrisome for the Warriors and for lots of other businesses in the community.”
The pandemic has already been tough on the community-owned Warriors, who registered a loss of $391,299 in 2019-20. As a result, they also had to defer an annual $200,000 payment for Year 9 of a 10-year pledge for the construction of Mosaic Place.
Lost revenues due to COVID last season were estimated at over $282,000, a deficit that was compounded by the team's share ($180,000) of a recent CHL class-action settlement.
It's wasn't ideal timing for the rebuilding Warriors, already set to miss the playoffs when the season was cut short by COVID.
“It has been difficult,” GM Alan Millar said after the team's annual general meeting in the fall. “People have been laid off, people have taken salary cuts. Everybody in our organization has had to chip in to make this work in the big picture.”
If the WHL opens an abbreviated schedule in January, the Warriors could be looking at around half their usual slate of 34 home games.
If there are no fans, that's a massive shortfall for a gate-driven club.
“We have to control the bleeding as best as possible,” Millar said. “I'm very proud of the way our staff has handled this situation and accepted what we all need to do to make it work. We're going to grind out one year. Hopefully we'll get through it and I believe we'll all be better for it.”
Fortunately, help seems to be on the way in the form of vaccines.
Amid rising COVID numbers, a medical solution might be the only thing that makes people comfortable enough to attend concerts and sporting events.
“In our industry, we're going to need that sooner than later,” Millar said. “I do think there is going to be good things on the horizon, but we have a responsibility here in Moose Jaw as a community-owned team to manage this properly. We have to continue to do that through a tough year and make sure we're able to operate in the future.”
Despite some huge challenges, Millar believes the Warriors will succeed.
“If you go back in time and try to look at operating during this situation in the Crushed Can, you may have a difficulty finding a way to say we would make it,” Millar added.
“Our move into Mosaic Place probably gave the franchise the long-term stability that it needed. We've been able to build up some equity for the club.
"We actually entered this (situation) in real good shape and we needed to. We're going to be able to make this work. The pandemic is not going to be the end of the Moose Jaw Warriors, in my humble opinion.”