By Sarah Stone

Raiders ticket sales down, City pushes for support

Feb 3, 2015 | 5:48 AM

There have been empty seats in the Art Hauser Centre for Prince Albert Raiders games—and it’s concerning, according to business manager Bruce Vance.

“Right now, we’re down an average of 69 (seats) per game, so we’re down just over two per cent, so we’re certainly hoping to get at least to where we want to be, which would be about 2,450 per game, so we’re just under that,” Vance explained.

Season ticket sales are also down.

“We got very close to the numbers we wanted with the season ticket holders, we got just over 1,600, we wanted to get to 1,700 so we got very close there,” he said.

“(It’s) very concerning.  Certainly, being a community-owned team we strive to break even every year and we’re off that mark, so any time you’re off that mark we’re very concerned about where we are and we just need to put more people in the Art Hauser Centre.”

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Vance cited a competitive entertainment industry for the shortfall, echoing Mayor Greg Dionne’s State of the City Address where he said “next year get your wallets ready because I have already talked to the Raiders and I am going to go on a season-ticket selling campaign early in the new year for the next season, because I believe we should fill this building to show these young men we are leaders in this community and we do support them win or lose.”

“I would like to see more fans show the Raiders that we do support them, that they are a vital part of our community, we’re blessed to have a Western Canada hockey team, lots of cities would like our team,” Dionne added.

Vance said he welcomes any help from the City and with only 12 games left, they are looking to turn around that number now.  He said the Raiders’ staff plans to pound the pavement, selling tickets to groups.

Raiders colour commentator Martin Ring said the team is important to the city, but there are many challenges to ticket sales.  Some of these could include price and statistics, he said.

“Unfortunately, winning is part of the formula and when you’ve got a hockey club that’s winning on a regular basis, people tend to come on board a little bit easier, but with that said, it’s still a very high quality of hockey that we get to watch as hockey fans and we have to find a way to support it,” Ring said.

Mayor on Art Hauser Centre’s future

After the State of the City Address in which Dionne referenced the importance of the hockey team, he would not comment on a new or improved rink until “later in 2015.” 

When asked if that means he’s working on a plan for the Art Hauser Centre, he replied “I’m working on everything, there’s not a thing in this city I’m not working on.”

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84