Rockets’ committee for 2020 Memorial Cup bid visits Regina

Last week, Kelowna’s 2020 bid committee joined the City of Regina and the Regina Pats in celebrating the 100th Mastercard Memorial Cup. It was a busy week filled with meetings and great discussions with the Regina bid committee, as well as members of the OHL, WHL and CHL. The Kelowna committee left Regina feeling invigorated and filled with many great ideas on how to shape their bid as they move forward towards the bid date — set to be heard in Calgary on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3.

Joining Kelowna in the 2020 Memorial Cup bidding process are Kamloops and Victoria, who have also announced their intent to bid. However, Tom Dyas, chair of Kelowna’s 2020 bid, is confident about the city’s chance to be successful in the process.

“The City of Kelowna is well positioned to host the 2020 Mastercard Memorial Cup. We have the perfect venue, and we’ve made significant investments in infrastructure across the city but, more importantly, we have the most supportive and engaging community in Canada,” said Dyas.

Other than bragging rights, winning the right to host the 2020 Memorial Cup would have a significant economic impact within the community.

The committee estimates Kelowna could experience an economic boom ranging from $12 to $15 million.

When asked what would help Kelowna’s bid, Dyas responded, “the one thing which would help increase our prospects for winning the bid is if we were to go into the 2018-2019 Kelowna Rockets season with a sellout of season tickets.”

According to the committee and the meetings held in Regina, the importance of this is to show commitment and desire as a community to host the Memorial Cup.

For information on season tickets, fans are asked to contact Gavin Hamilton via email at GavinH@kelownarockets.com or Andrew Deans at AndrewD@kelownarockets.com or call the Rockets’ office at 250-860-7825.