Why the Raiders need a new building to survive

If the Prince Albert Raiders want to keep playing games in the Western Hockey League, they’ll need a new building in the not-too-distant future.

The timeline for a new building is getting shorter, especially after the Raiders lost $262,680 last year alone and have seen their operating deficit fall dangerously low to $394,819.

Raiders treasurer Brent Stademan estimated the team’s lifespan would be four to five years, considerably less if they keep posting significant losses like they did last year. 

With season ticket sales remaining stagnant in recent years and the inevitable increases of expenses every year (especially gas, travel, hotel and equipment), something has to give.

That something is the Art Hauser Centre.

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“I do believe, long-term for the Raiders’ survival, that they need a new facility,” said Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne.

Not only do the Raiders need to replace the Art Hauser Centre at some point as the expenses continue to climb, they could use an immediate boost in ticket sales as well to get back in the black.

A new building will do exactly that—just ask the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Since the Warriors left the outdated and constrained Civic Centre and moved into the modernistic Mosaic Place in 2011, their attendance has skyrocketed.

In the three complete seasons since the Warriors got Mosaic Place, they are selling 54,396 more tickets per year than they ever did in their Civic Centre days (attendance records only go back to 1998). Their game average increased by 1,373 tickets per game, from 2,402 to 3,775.

Even though the Warriors’ ticket sales are significantly down this year, averaging 3,165 through five home games, that figure is still considerably better than their highest recorded average in the Civic Centre: 2,655.

Mayor Greg Dionne was included in the group of delegates that visited Mosaic Place for a tour in 2012 and said Prince Albert would need a similar building at some point.

Getting a new facility has always been an important issue for Dionne, even before he was mayor. While campaigning for mayor in 2011, Dionne stood outside the Art Hauser Centre before a Raiders game and handed out flyers, promising long-term facility plans for the city’s hockey teams.

That’s important as the Art Hauser Centre is becoming increasingly outdated. It opened back in 1971 and is the fifth oldest rink currently being used in the WHL. Two of the rinks that are older are the Medicine Hat Arena (1970) which is going to be replaced next season by the brand new Medicine Hat Regional Event Centre and the Memorial Coliseum (1960 where the Portland Winterhawks only play half of their home games.

Although there are three cities with Western Hockey League teams that are smaller than Prince Albert, the Raiders’ rink has the smallest seating capacity. It seats just 2,580 and has the second smallest maximum capacity (which includes standing room) at 3,366. Only the Credit Union iPlex in Swift Current has a smaller max capacity at 3,239.

Although Dionne agreed that the Raiders will need a new facility, he made it clear that the new building will be designed to suit not just the Raiders, but all of Prince Albert.

“A new arena will not be built for the Raiders, a new arena will be built for the community,” said Dionne. “It will need to be suitable for all minor hockey (teams), figure skating and the Raiders. It will also be designed in a (certain) way because we have to make money with this new facility. It also has to be designed in a way to hold concerts, trade shows, exhibitions.

“I call it an entertainment centre, I don’t call it a hockey rink.”

Call it whatever you want mayor, the Raiders will take it.

If they want to keep surviving in the Western Hockey League, they’ll need to.

jdandrea@panow.com

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea