Organizers of the '17 World Junior Hockey Championships last night "dropped tickets prices prior to a pair of semifinal games at the Bell Centre," according to John Meagher of the MONTREAL GAZETTE. Ticket prices were slashed by C$40 (from $75 to $35) for "some upper-level sections in a bid to fill the 21,287-seat building prior to knockout games featuring Team Canada vs. Sweden and Team USA vs. Russia." The price reduction "came after a disappointing crowd of 10,215 attended Canada’s 5-3 quarterfinal win over the Czech Republic on Monday at the Bell Centre." Hockey Canada Exec Dir and Tournament Dir Denis Hainault said, "We wanted to create the greatest atmosphere possible for the athletes." He added, "When you have 10,000 people at the Bell Centre, you still have 12,000 seats to fill. That’s one of the main reasons we tried to do a last push." Hainault also said that a decision has "not yet been made whether ticket prices will be reduced" for tonight's Gold-Medal game, adding that about 12,000 tickets had "already been sold for the tourney finale" (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 1/5).
LESSONS LEARNED? In Vancouver, Steve Ewen notes WHL Vancouver Giants Owner Ron Toigo, who is one of the lead organizers of the '19 World Juniors in Vancouver and Victoria, "ties the lacklustre crowds in Montreal and Toronto heading into Wednesday action to the fact that tournament was held in the same two cities just two years ago." He said, "That probably won’t be done ever again." Toigo: "I’m sure they’re disappointed there. Toronto has so many things going on. You think of everything they’ve had there over the last couple of years. And I think they got broadsided by the outdoor game (NHL Centennial Classic at BMO Field). The Maple Leafs and the NHL didn’t do them any favours. As for Montreal, it really is a Canadiens town." Toigo "wouldn't give out details yet" on ticket prices for the '19 event. He said, "Our prices will be market driven and we’ll have tickets available for everybody" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 1/5).
SIGN OF THE TIMES: The NATIONAL POST's Scott Stinson writes the problems with ticket sales at marquee events "point to the fundamental way in which the buying and selling of sports tickets has changed -- and the ways in which organizers have been slow to catch on." For years, multiweek events like the World Juniors have "used the premium games at the end to leverage sales at the start." This strategy "worked fine when it was very difficult to find tickets once there was little left through the box office, but the rise of the secondary market has put much of the leverage back in the public’s hands." There are "plenty of good tickets available through secondary-market sites like StubHub" for tonight's Gold-Medal game in Montreal, and "many of them at close to face value" (NATIONAL POST, 1/5).
