A record-setting year for ticket sales for the Spruce Kings Show Home Lottery came to an end Wednesday night when the community-owned B.C. Hockey League sold its 13,563rd ticket.
That was just 437 tickets shy of a sellout, with 14,000 tickets printed, up from 12,000 last year. On Wednesday alone, there were 565 tickets sold.
Tickets were priced at $125 each and the team also sold 1,000 three-packs at $300 each.
Proceeds from the club’s major annual fundraiser pay a majority of the team’s expenses to compete in the BCHL.
The winning ticket for the $890,000 home, built in the Aberdeen Glen subdivision at 2974 Links Dr., will be drawn Friday at noon at the show home site.
“We’ll have 13,563 in the barrel for the draw tomorrow,” said Kyle Anderson, the Spruce Kings business operations manager. “It’s the most tickets we’ve had to sell and most we’ve ever sold.
“The support we get from the community is amazing. Definitely the last month was insane. It was exciting that everyone jumped on board at the very end too and kept supporting us, because it really helps us get set up for the future. It puts us in a good spot.”
In the final week leading up to Wednesday’s cutoff the team sold 2,156 tickets.
Built by Hopson Construction Ltd., the house was finished early and that allowed the club to start its show home lottery campaign a couple weeks ahead of time. Traditionally, the draw is made in late April.
“We need to start the lottery as soon as we can to help with our expenses early on in the season and we only get six months under B.C. Gaming rules,“ said Anderson. “We started in mid-October and ended in mid-April. If the builder can guarantee the house will be ready, we’ll look at the same timeframe for next year too.”
The Spruce Kings’ second Mega 50-50 lotto is still ongoing with tickets on sale until May 22 at 10 p.m. The draw for that is on Friday, May 24 at 11:45 a.m. at Kopar Memorial Arena.
“We’ve still got another $126,000 in sales to do there,” said Anderson.
Spring camp starts Friday
The Spruce Kings spring identification camp starts Friday afternoon at Kopar Memorial Arena. Ninety-six players are registered for the three-day event, which starts with practices Friday at 10:30 a.m.
Players will be divided into six teams for games that start at 3 p.m.
The game schedule resumes Saturday at 9 a.m. and Sunday at 8:30 a.m., with the Top Prospects Game set for Sunday at 2 p.m.
All sessions are free to public to watch.
