This NHL team is spending $1 billion on arena renovations — but barely hiking ticket prices
Article content
Rejoice Vancouver Canucks fans, they're finally installing new seats at Rogers Arena.
Article content
Article content
The 30-year-old maroon chairs, most of which have long lost their cushioned comforts, are being replaced with black seats — with cupholders — over the coming weeks. The process was originally slated to begin last summer, but the original vendor selected by the NHL club went bankrupt, leaving the Canucks scrambling to find a new contractor.
Article content
Fans who attend Canucks games next fall will certainly have a vastly improved seating experience — but they're also going to be paying for it.
Article content
Plenty of digital ink has already been spilled by the Canucks' big ticket hikes for next season, the second year in a row the team has chosen to go for a hefty increase. Many fans in high-end seats have told me they're looking at back-to-back increases that add up to a 30-40 per cent jump in price for their seats next season, compared to what they were paying in 2023-24.
Article content
The ticket-price hikes are to pay for the seats, new amenities in the building and the surging salary cap.
Article content
To his credit, Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford recently acknowledged fan frustration about the team raising ticket prices after missing the playoffs.
Article content
'The one thing I will say is part of that is not just about the hockey team, with the cap going up, that is part of it, but another part of it is the building that we have: Is investing money back into an older building that we're fortunate is almost filled for every game,' he said.
Article content
It is also hard to pay out salaries in U.S. dollars when tickets and other revenues are generated in Canadian dollars. This is, admittedly, a hard league to compete in for Canadian teams. More and more, it requires deep pockets.
Article content
Rutherford also made a crucial admission: 'I don't like to pay more for anything either, none of us do. But not being in the playoffs after having a price increase is hard for people to understand. I'm not responsible for the price of tickets, so I'll make that clear; it's not my lane.'
Article content
Article content
That's on ownership and business operations. This is a choice they made. The arena upgrades will cost $150 million, but the bulk of the cost is apparently to borne by the fans themselves.
Article content
This renovation, which is partly driven by Southern California hosting the Summer Olympics in 2028, is being carried by the Ducks' owners. There's no suggestion that fans are on the hook to make it all happen.
Article content
The Ducks are raising their prices, but nothing like what the Canucks are aiming for. One Ducks fan on Reddit said their tickets are up 16 per cent, but given how low prices for Ducks games are to begin with, this works out to just US$7 per game. Another suggested their centre-ice, lower-bowl pair of tickets will rise just two per cent, with the two-ticket set costing them US$14,872.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
33 minutes ago
- CBC
For $3.4M, you could own this southern Ontario drive-in movie theatre
After 37 years of showing movies under the stars, owner John D'Addetta of the Mustang Drive-In just outside Guelph, Ont., has decided it's time to sell. "I'm reaching 74 years old now and I think it's time to pretty well pack it in," said D'Adetta. "I enjoyed every minute of it. You know, I loved going out there, fresh air, you get to see a lot of people, a lot of friends." The Mustang Drive-In is one of 16 remaining drive-ins in Ontario and a total of 37 across Canada. The nearly five hectare property on Jones Baseline just east of Guelph is listed for $3.4 million. Robert Dickinson, a sales representative for Coldwell Banker Commercial Integrity Real Estate, says the location has been a cornerstone of community entertainment for many years. "It's just an opportunity for a new buyer to take over and operate a beloved business that's still well used by the community," Dickinson said. "You know there are not that many types of entertainment where you can bring the whole family and for an affordable price." Flicker of memories D'Addetta was already in the theatre business in the 1980s. He owned a movie theatre in downtown Oshawa when he had the opportunity to purchase the Mustang Drive-In and another drive-in movie theatre in Cobourg, east of Oshawa D'Addetta says since he took over, there have been a lot of technical changes at the Mustang. "We finally got rid of the outside speakers there, which were a pain in the you know where. People forgot that they had them on their windows, they'd drive off, ripping them off," D'Addetta said adding that resulted in "a lot of maintenance." "We finally got rid of that and we went and picked up our own FM frequency radio station, which improved the sound and everything else." D'Addetta says he was also happy to see the conversion from original film projectors, which made the change from what he calls the "fire hazard" Carbon Arc projector lamp to the Xenon bulb. Then that technology was replaced about seven years ago when movies went from film to digital. Now a feature-length film comes in a small hard drive that they ingest into the projector to show on the screen. Future of the property As more people move to communities throughout southern Ontario, including the Guelph area, there are questions about whether the drive-in could be converted into housing. But Dickinson says the property is currently zoned agricultural with a legal non-conforming use to operate a drive-in movie theatre. "Confirmation with the Township of Guelph/Eramosa would have to be undertaken by the buyer to any change of use," Dickinson said. "Its current use only states that a drive-in theatre can operate there. But there is opportunity to do other income streams including antique car shows, farmers markets and any sort of outdoor venue event permissible by the township." The Mustang Drive-In can fit between 400 and 500 cars on the property and it is currently open every weekend for the summer. D'Addetta says they've also worked to maintain a vibe that reminds people of when drive-ins were first introduced. "There's still the 1950s style diner. I have old clips at intermission of the bouncing hot dogs and all that stuff that's very cute," D'Addetta said. "Much more relaxed atmosphere. Again, you're in your own car. If you don't like the first movie, have a snooze and watch a second movie. We always show a double feature, long weekends or so, triple features."
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Southern hockey surge: NHL teams thrive in non-traditional markets, from Texas to Florida
Popeye Jones was an NBA rookie with the Mavericks the same season that Dallas debuted its new NHL team, and he decided to go to a Stars game after meeting future Hall of Fame player Mike Modano. 'I couldn't figure out hockey. They were jumping over and off the ice … I'm like, 'what's going on with this sport?'' Jones said. 'The puck flew up, I remember it hit somebody in the nose, blood was all over the ice and they kept playing.' Back during that 1993-94 season, before he became a hockey dad, the 6-foot-8 Tennessee native who had grown up playing basketball, football and baseball was like many people in the South: He knew nothing about hockey even as the NHL was making a push into non-traditional markets. Those days are long gone. NHL teams in the South are playing for and winning the Stanley Cup in packed arenas and there is steady growth when it comes to youth participation. Football may still be king in many Sun Belt locales, but hockey has been welcomed from Las Vegas to Texas to Nashville to North Carolina — and certainly in Florida. Jones has two sons who are now NHL players. Seth Jones, a defenseman for the Florida Panthers, is playing in the Stanley Cup Final after the 12-season veteran, the fourth overall pick by Nashville in the 2013 draft, was traded from Chicago to the defending champions in March. Caleb Jones played for the Los Angeles Kings, his fourth team the past seven years. The expansion Panthers came into the league with Anaheim in 1993-94, at the same time the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators were expansion teams the previous season, and the Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina and became the Hurricanes in 1997. Shane Willis remembers playing with the Hurricanes following the NHL's arrival in North Carolina — a process featuring a two-year transition to Greensboro before moving to Raleigh — and sometimes noticing a sparse home crowd during warmups. 'I'm like, 'Is anybody coming?'' said Willis, now Carolina's manager of youth and amateur hockey after five seasons as an NHL player. That isn't the case now, with Carolina having won a Stanley Cup in 2006 and currently on a seven-year run of winning at least one postseason series, including this year's run to the East final. Southern success This is the sixth season in a row a team from Florida has reached the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers are there for the third year in a row, this time in a rematch against Edmonton. Tampa Bay also made it to the final three straight seasons, winning the Cup the first two. The Lightning's run began by beating Dallas in 2020 in what is still the the 'southernmost' Stanley Cup Final — except that entire postseason was played in Canada after the regular season was shortened because of the pandemic. Dallas made its third West final in a row this year, coming up short of another Cup chance. But they were the first Sun Belt team to hoist the Stanley Cup in 1999, followed by Tampa Bay in 2004. Every game in the conference finals in 2023 was played in the Sun Belt, a first. The Panthers beat Carolina in the East like they did this year, and Dallas lost to Vegas in the West. Popeye, Mo and Sakic Popeye Jones met Modano after getting invited to do an appearance during a Dallas Cowboys game. 'Not being a hockey fan, I really didn't know who he was and he didn't who I was. But we just struck up a conversation and started talking,' Jones said. 'Just general talk about sports and whatever, and he was such a nice guy and I enjoyed sitting there and talking to him.' That helped Jones become a Stars fan. They both played home games at the since-demolished Reunion Arena before Jones was traded to Toronto and later Boston, homes of two of the NHL's Original Six teams. His only season playing in Denver was 1999-2000, when the Avalanche lost to the Stars in consecutive West finals before winning the Cup in 2001. It was there that he got to know Avs star Joe Sakic, another future Hall of Fame hockey player and now the team's president of hockey operations. Jones' oldest son, Justin, came home from school one day in the Denver area and said he wanted to play hockey, which had a significant influence on Seth, who was 5 or 6 at the time. With his sons interested in playing an unfamiliar sport , Jones sought advice from Sakic, who said the boys needed to take skating lessons. Seth Jones started playing hockey in Colorado, but was born in Texas and was on some Stars-affiliated youth teams after his dad later returned to the Mavericks. 'When I was there, you could see more and more kids starting to play in Texas,' the 30-year-old Panthers defenseman said. 'And then really the past eight to 10 years, you see kids actually moving from the northern cities down to Texas because the hockey has really grown. Where before, all the good kids out of the southern cities would move up north to Chicago and Michigan and New York and these places.' More and more players The number of players registered with USA Hockey has grown significantly in Southern states over the past 20 seasons. USA Hockey said 4,793 players registered in North Carolina for the 2005-06 season, with roughly 2,400 of those being 18 or younger. That overall number of players jumped 19.5% (to 5,728) for the season following their 2006 Cup run. By the 2024-25 season, the state had 8,698 players (up 81.5% from 2005-06) with 5,608 being 18 or younger (up 135.5%), though Willis noted the actual number is likely higher since not all players register with USA Hockey. The total number of registrations have increased even more in Florida and Texas over the past two decades. In Florida, the total number of players has gone from 9,363 in 2005-06 to 22,888 (a 144.5% increase), with the number in the 18 or younger age groups nearly doubling to 10,277. Texas went from 7,017 to 17,346 total registrations (147.2%) in that same span, with those 18 and under going from 5,457 to 7,199 (31.9%). Pete DeBoer, the Stars coach the past three seasons, had his first NHL head coaching job with Florida from 2008-11. He recalls the Lightning and Panthers then playing before sparse crowds with questions about whether those teams would even stay in those markets. 'To see where they're at now is really impressive,' DeBoer said before the team fired him this past week. 'Dallas for me is a perfect example of coming into a place and, you know, getting a foothold at the grassroots level, and that the amount of rinks, ice surfaces and facilities and kids playing minor hockey here in Dallas is way bigger than I ever anticipated.' Much of that came as a result of the 1999 Stanley Cup for the Stars. 'They won, they captured the city's attention and all this stuff got done. Rinks got built,' DeBoer said. 'I think Florida didn't get that done early, but is doing it now and they're going to reap the benefits of that. I think when you get a team that wins and it's in a non-traditional market, I think the benefits roll out for decades.' Introducing the game For the Hurricanes, early outreach included going to area schools and essentially running PE classes as an introduction to the sport. The team, aided by grant money from the NHL, has more recently purchased equipment such as balls, sticks and Hurricanes-logo apparel to donate to more than 100 schools. The team this year partnered with Raleigh suburb Apex to open two public street hockey rinks. Carolina, Dallas and Florida all have tie-ins to to the 'Learn to Play' umbrella program created by the NHL and NHL Players' Association to introduce boys and girls, and even adults, to the sport. Those programs include variations of providing hockey equipment and instruction, and on-ice workouts at multiple rinks in their areas. 'What you have to do is not only introduce the game of hockey to people, you have to introduce your brand. You have to make both things very attractive to parents to want to get involved,' Willis said. 'I see so many parents now, they come to games and we talk about it: if you can create a hockey player, whether it's street hockey or ice hockey, you're creating three fans. Because that kid is going to come to a game with Dad, Dad and Mom, maybe a sibling. So then you're in the range of three to four fans you're creating.' Popeye Jones knows how that can go, recalling a time when Seth Jones was 11 or 12 and the family wanted him to find something else to do in the summertime. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'A kid called and said hey they had some ice, you want to come and, you know, play some pickup hockey. At first I didn't want him to, but I saw he was moping around the house,' the elder Jones said. 'I told him to get his stuff. I'll never forget it, he got this bag together so fast and got in that car and I was driving him to the rink and I looked at him and I saw this big grin and I said, 'Well, I guess I got a hockey player.'' ___ AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard, Pat Graham and Tim Reynolds contributed to this report. ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Sisson tungsten mine one of several critical mineral projects eyed by N.B. government
Social Sharing The Sisson Mine project north of Fredericton appears to be back on the front burner thanks to a surge of interest in developing new sources of critical minerals and an infusion of cash from the U.S. government. At a first ministers' meeting this week, Prime Minister Mark Carney identified critical minerals as one of several sectors targeted for growth. Premier Susan Holt made specific mention of potential tungsten, indium and antimony mining projects in New Brunswick. According to Natural Resources Canada, critical minerals are materials considered essential to Canada's economic or national security, its position in global supply chains or its transition to a digital, sustainable and low-carbon economy. The province is working to identify its resources, determine the best way to develop them and ensure the needed infrastructure is in place, Holt said, adding she was happy to hear the federal government wants to be a partner. That followed an announcement by Northcliff Resources in early May that it was awarded $20.7 million from the U.S. Defence Department and a conditional $8.2 million from the Canada government to help develop tungsten production at the Sisson Mine project north of Fredericton. Tungsten is dense and resistant to heat, wear and corrosion. It's used in alloys for military applications, engines and turbines. The Sisson tungsten deposit is the largest in the world, according to David Lentz, head of the geology department at the University of New Brunswick. Northcliff obtained provincial environmental approvals in 2015 for an open pit mine on 12.5 square kilometres near Napadogan and Stanley, with conventional processing facilities, as well as a plant where tungsten concentrates would be made into ammonium paratungstate, a salt used to make other tungsten products. Estimates are that the project would cost more than $500 million to fully develop, employ about 300 people — more during construction — and operate for about 27 years. The federal government green-lit Sisson in 2017. But the company didn't have financing for the project and not much if anything has happened since. The company did not respond to inquiries in the last couple of weeks from CBC News and Radio-Canada. Tungsten prices slumped in 2015, and none has been mined in Canada or the United States since then, according to Natural Resources Canada. More recently, things have turned around. Both tungsten and molybdenum, also present at the Sisson site, play a key role in many defence and aerospace applications and are growing in importance for energy storage batteries and other green transition technologies, Northcliff said in a news release. "Tungsten carbides are an integral part of the tools that are used to shape metals, alloys, wood, composites, plastic, and ceramics and to power the oil and gas, mining and construction industries," the company said. Sisson could become a source of tungsten in the "near-term," according to Natural Resources Canada. With China producing about 80 per cent of the world's supply, Sisson would strengthen and diversify the supply chain, Andrew Ing, Northcliff's president and CEO. said in the release, and it would have North American standards for transparency, environmental protection and social licence. The new money from the U.S. and Canadian governments will be used for things like engineering and updated feasibility studies to satisfy conditions of environmental approvals and financing and to figure out whether to go ahead with construction, said Ing. The provincial government has also expressed support for the project. "Even if our neighbours haven't been the friendliest lately, I don't think we're uncomfortable selling a commodity used to make cell phones, to strengthen steel, at a fair price," New Brunswick Natural Resources Minister John Herron said, referring to poor trade relations with the U.S. Meanwhile, productive talks have taken place with First Nations, he said, stipulating there is no path forward without their participation. CBC inquiries to the Wolastoqey Nation, which represents six communities in New Brunswick, and to Sitansisk Chief Allan Polchies were not answered by publication time. Chiefs of the communities signed a deal in 2017 to get a share of future provincial royalties from the mine, but several later said they still opposed the project, as does traditional Chief Ron Tremblay of the Wolastoqey Grand Council, which concerns itself with matters outside First Nation communities. Tremblay said he sent a letter to the premier with concerns about Sisson about a month ago, but he was referred to the Wolastoqey Nation group. He maintains that he has standing, that the mine site is unceded territory and that proper consultation has not taken place, nor consent given. The council's first priority is to protect the Wolastoqey homeland, waterways and air for the next seven generations, said Tremblay. "There's no way we will support Sisson," he said. "It's a project that will damage the water and the land forever." Some members of the Wolastoqey community, including grandmothers, camped at the proposed mine site for an extended period, vowing to protect the Nashwaak watershed, which Tremblay said, includes salmon spawning grounds and forest land used for hunting and gathering. Northcliff went to court in 2023 to get injunctions against their obstruction of preparatory work. Discussions will have to take place with many stakeholders before mine development, said Herron, and environmentally responsible rules must be set. Northcliff was already granted an extension to begin construction of the mine by December by the provincial Department of Environment and Local Government. Herron said it is reasonable to expect another extension. Besides Sisson, the dormant Mount Pleasant mine, north of St. George, also has a significant amount of tungsten, according to the provincial Department of Natural Resources, and seven other tungsten projects are at various stages of exploration in the province. The department has identified potential sources of 21 other critical minerals. A global drilling company based in Moncton sees the greatest opportunities in more zinc, copper and nickel mining in the Bathurst area, where a lot was mined in the late 1900s, but not much exploration has happened recently. "Right now those prices are at close to record highs," said Denis Larocque of Major Drilling, who is "sure" there are more deposits nearby that could be mined. Mining practices have changed substantially in the last few decades in terms of safety equipment and procedures and environmental impact, said Larocque. In drilling, for example, his company's equipment now has a system to filter and recirculate water, reducing the amount needed by 90 per cent, he said. However, a federal auditor general report that came out just last year found a lack of information on the adverse effects of mining on the environment and a lack of engagement with Indigenous communities.
