The Canucks signed free agent Mark Messier to a three-
year, $18M contract yesterday and fans were "lining up
Monday to buy both full and partial season ticket packages,"
according to Elliott Pap of the VANCOUVER SUN. Canucks Dir
of Sales/Service John Rocha said that they sold "the
equivalent" of more than 100 season tickets. Rocha: "In
terms of one-day season ticket sales I've never seen
anything like this. ... We've sold about 70 full season
ticket packages, most of them to new customers, and ...
another 30 in 15-game packs" (VANCOUVER SUN, 7/29).
BOTTOM-LINE DECISION: John McCaw, Chair of Orca Bay
Sports & Entertainment, parent of the Grizzlies, Canucks and
GM Place, is interviewed by SUN sports editor Gary Mason.
McCaw: "We're trying to build an environment here that
everyone talks about. ... We're looking at this investment
[in the Canucks and Grizzlies] over a 10- or 20-year period.
And sports are going to be an increasingly valuable
commodity" (VANCOUVER SUN, 7/29). In Edmonton, Dan Barnes
writes that for a team with a $27M payroll in '96-97, McCaw
"saw too many empty seats at GM Place last season and when
he looked at Messier ... he probably saw a soldout garage"
(EDMONTON SUN, 7/29). The Canucks played to 94% capacity
last season at GM Place (Vancouver PROVINCE, 7/29).
