Wednesday's AGM looked different than any in years past, with those in attendance distancing from each other and asked to wear masks. (Trevor Redden/paNOW Staff)

By Trevor Redden

Financial Impact

Raiders reveal pandemic losses at AGM

Oct 8, 2020 | 8:23 AM

A clearer look at the impacts of COVID-19 were revealed at the Prince Albert Raiders annual general meeting Wednesday night.

The 2019-20 fiscal year, ending May 31, 2020, is officially in the books as a loss of $331,895.

The year was shaping up to be another tremendous success, after posting a profit of $633,314 the year prior, as regular season ticket sales were up by a small amount even with the cancellation of the final two home games of the year, which would have been among the biggest crowds of the season.

Considering the immense impact that COVID-19 has had on the organization with the cancellation of playoffs and the Memorial Cup, President Gord Broda felt the team had done an excellent job of handling the situation.

“Based on what we can’t change, we’re very pleased with the outcome of the season. We beat last year’s ticket sales by a little but, there was just a lot of positives and then when COVID hit, there’s just a number of things right out of our control that became setbacks,” Broda said.

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On the revenue side of the ledger, the team was down over 30 per cent, with a total shortfall of over a million dollars relative to last year. The biggest contributor was the absence of playoff ticket revenue, which added over $750,000 to the bottom line in 2019-20. Other notable dips in revenue were beverage sales in the arena down over 50 per cent, and fundraising efforts including the team’s 50/50 draws, which also sunk by over 50 per cent.

Outside of Prince Albert the cancellation of the 2020 Memorial Cup in Kelowna took away a revenue sharing agreement that would have gone to all WHL clubs. Also, the national television rights agreement with Sportsnet was cut by 75 per cent when the broadcaster utilized a stoppage of play cause, halting payments to all Canadian Hockey League [CHL] teams in March.

Positives

Among the positives in terms of revenues this year were the growth in regular season ticket sales that would have been even higher had the final two games been played, and a 21 per cent growth in regular season advertising income as well.

The team also utilized a number of government supports, including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, a temporary 10 per cent wage subsidy, and the Saskatchewan small business emergency payment to help ease the blow from the shutdown.

On the expenses side, the team was able to cut back by nearly 15 per cent, with some significant cutbacks in categories like travel, equipment, and rent and royalties owed to the city with the cancellation of playoffs.

The most significant new expense this season is a liability as part of the CHL’s class action settlement regarding player wages. The bill for the Raiders was just shy of $166,667.

There has also been an adjustment to the education commitment to players, with teams across the WHL now offering three years of scholarship money automatically when committing to players, as opposed to on a year-by-year basis. While this will likely not have much of an impact on the amount of money paid out to players, it did create an adjustment of nearly $50,000 in the future liability estimate.

“I think we should call it an investment rather than a liability. It’s something we’re proud of as a league, over the past few years it’s been millions of dollars put back into education for these young players that put their time and effort into us,” Broda noted.

Looking ahead

As for the current situation, Broda acknowledged the support the team continues to receive from the community as they work towards a new season.

“Surprisingly, in spite of COVID we’re getting a lot of fan support. We’ve had a good run on season ticket sales, we’ve still got very good support from the community with sponsorships. You’re always nervous if the [pandemic] will make people change their amount of support, but we’re getting very strong corporate support as well,” Broda explained.

There has been virtually no news from the league regarding the upcoming season since the adjustment to a targeted start date of Dec. 4, which came in an announcement on Aug. 6. While Broda acknowledged that date is still not set in stone, he is confident there will be a season and the team is in good shape to proceed.

“I still have a strong belief that we’re going to have some kind of a season. Overall, we face the possibility of maybe a small loss, but I think it’s something we can certainly financially handle for the upcoming season,” Broda said.

He also acknowledged that the 2018-19 season made a big difference, with the Raiders putting some profits away into a rainy day fund.

There was some business to tend to, with three of the team’s 12 board members standing for re-election.

Broda, Trevor Rumpel, and Brad Toporowski were all re-elected for three year terms with no other nominations from the floor.

The executive will remain the same next season, with Gord Thompson, Curtis Lemieux, Mark Doell, Mike Lypchuk, Dawn Kilmer, Cory Crawford, Colin Fraser, Brent McDonald, and Brent Spademan rounding out the group.

The Raiders are the third community-owned WHL franchise to hold their AGM this year, with the Moose Jaw Warriors reporting a similar loss of $391,299 and the Swift Current Broncos reporting a deficit of $791,000 from the year. The Lethbridge Hurricanes will hold their meeting in December.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden