Raiders forge a fascinating and phenomenal financial turnaround

There is cause for celebration in the wake of the 2014-15 Prince Albert Raiders season, even without playoff hockey. The organization will do something remarkable amid the disappointment of missing the post season. The team will not post another substantial loss on the balance sheet.

General manager Bruno Campese told the 900 CKBI audience during Monday’s final Face-off program of the season that the organization will come close to the break-even point when the final dollars and cents are tallied and it may even post a small profit.

The thought of that happening earlier this season was nothing short of preposterous and even appears farfetched today.

Even though attendance increased down the stretch the team averaged 2,431 fans this season, a decrease of 65 a game from 2013-14, a season in which the team lost $262,680. It’s also mind boggling considering the Raiders will pay fired head coach Cory Clouston for the entire season on top of the salary for new bench boss Marc Habscheid who was hired on Nov. 1.

An ambitious budget was struck for 2013-14 based on the previous season’s posting of a $78,896 profit, which was partially responsible for the financial folly. The dollars-and-cents forecast was struck before a schedule with an abnormally high number of mid-week dates was released. The result was a drop in average attendance of 178 fans per game from the season before. The team also took a hit on extra revenue like alcohol sales which also decreases during Tuesday and Wednesday night games.  

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The turnaround was made possible by the meticulous work of Campese who went over every line item in the budget to see where expenses could be trimmed. Campese said some items needed multiple reviews before final decisions were made.   

The team did start the 2014-15 campaign with a more realistic budget buoyed by a schedule with 25-of-36 home games on the weekend.  However, attendance still declined, which makes the possibility of a profit even more remarkable.

The Raiders will get a share of the CHL’s Sportsnet broadcasting rights package, Memorial Cup money, World Junior hockey championship revenue (which didn’t come in 2013-14 with the world junior championships in Ufa Russia) and some extra cash from the WHL. However, the fact there will be no heavy financial loss from a season filled with controversy and change is a game changer for the franchise.

The Raiders were not able to pull off the playoff miracle, but pulled one off on the balance sheet. There is no doubt another financial year anywhere near the over quarter-of-a-million dollars in red ink from the season before could have meant the beginning of the end of the Prince Albert Raiders.

dwilson@panow.com

On Twitter: @RaidersVoice