Empty seats don’t mean fewer tickets sold at Memorial Cup

Empty sections at the Memorial Cup have some social media critics still complaining about the price.

The cheapest ticket for Tuesday’s game against the ABT and the Hamilton Bulldogs went for $53.55 including tax. For Wednesday’s battle of Saskatchewan between the Regina Pats and Swift Current Broncos, a single ticket including taxes will cost $89.50.

Chair of the host committee, Sean Semple said just because the seats are empty in the crowd, doesn’t mean the ticket wasn’t sold.

“Obviously we would have liked to have every game sold out, but we kind of knew that there would be some games that would be harder to sell than others,” Semple said.

He added during the May long weekend, tickets were still sold, even though many decided to take off to the lake. The Brandt Centre has 6,484 seats available.

• Regina vs. Hamilton — 5,678
• Acadie-Bathurst Titan vs. Swift Current — 6,237
• Regina vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan — 5,832
• Swift Current vs. Hamilton — 5,820
• Hamilton vs. Acadie-Bathurst Titan — 6,072

Semple also said a reason some seats weren’t filled could be because the games are televised and again, with the long weekend — many could watch from their cabins.

As far as ticket packages and single ticket prices, Semple said many don’t realize the price they set was averaged out to previous Memorial Cups in similar markets.

“What people don’t really realize, is that we have to pay for this Memorial Cup. The CHL receives about $3.65 million or more to host that, so if you divide that by 6,484 seats, times eight events, you know exactly where our costs are as far as the events go.”

He added the shareholders knew they weren’t going to make money on the event, but they were prepared to lose a little in order to bring the event back to Regina for such a special 100th year.

As of Tuesday evening, fewer than 150 tickets were left to purchase for Wednesday night’s game.