The Prince George Cougars are drastically changing the way they price tickets for their games at CN Centre.
The team has dropped age-based pricing and will instead sell tickets based on where the seats are located in the arena
For seniors over the age of 65 used to paying reduced prices for season tickets anywhere they choose in the rink, it's going to cost a lot more if you want to sit between to two goal lines. For people who don't mind sitting low in the stands behind the two goal lines or in the Cougars defensive end for two periods, the cost of attending games has been slashed.
The Cougars want to appeal to a broader base of fans and by giving them more options in what they have to pay to watch the games the Western Hockey League team hopes it will result in more people filling the seats. For that to happen, changes had to be made to expose the Cougars to more fans.
"We've lost $2.3 million in three years and we can't continue to provide the players with the experience they're getting, that they've earned and deserve, and lose that kind of money, it's not sustainable," said Cougars president Greg Pocock.
"Projecting forward, this will put us up in the middle of the league in our pricing structure and it should encourage more people to come out and enjoy Cougars hockey."
The team has set up four tiers of ticket pricing for season memberships. A premium centre ice red ticket in the two main sections of the arena which starts a few seats shy of each goal line on either side will cost $728. The next most expensive tickets ($576) are in the blue section to the sides and behind the goal in what will be the Cougars' attacking end for the first and third periods.
Seats in the white section, which will be to the sides and behind the goal the Cougars will defend for two periods, are priced at $420. The cheapest seats ($252 for a full 36-game season) are in the green section and will be in the first four rows in either end. Based on a 36-game schedule, the per-game ticket cost is $20.20 (red), $16 (blue), $1.66 (white) and $7 (green.
"This is all about giving people choices," said Cougars business manager Andy Beesley. "In the past, if you were an adult, you never got consulted, you simply were told if you want a season membership, this is the price you pay, and we don't feel that's good enough.
"Price for some people is not an issue, but for some people it's a big issue. To make things better in the longterm we've decided to replace our traditional age-based pricing with location-based pricing."
The Cougars have a payment plan in place to accept monthly payments for season memberships in all four tiers. The team has also purchased its own ticket distribution system to offer more flexibility in marketing its ticket packages.
"You can't keep doing the same thing over and over again for the past 23 years and expect a magic wand to come down and the arena to suddenly fill up," said Beesley. "We're doing everything right as far as increasing our attendance with the feature games and promotions and we had a good team last year that was very entertaining to watch. But it's clear we had to do something dramatic in our seating in order to open up the doors to more people."
Al Lukinchuck who has been a Cougars season-ticket holder since the team arrived in 1994, realized the price of the tickets for him, his wife and her mother are going up more than 60 per cent.
"I've sat in that seat since Day 1, we have friends in that section, why should we have to move after 25 years," said Lukinchuck.
"For three season tickets (this past season) for 38 games it was $1,400 and change. This year, it's $2,250 for three season tickets (two seniors, one adult). I'm not going to renew them and I haven't talked to one person who is renewing. Why are they pushing people out the door? There has to be a Plan B."
This past season, season memberships ranged in price from $610 (adult) to $455 (student/senior) to $255 (child 12 and under). That included the Canada-Russia game and one exhibition game. On a per game game basis, it worked out to $16.05 (adult), $11.97 (student/senior) and $6.71 (child).
The walk-up cost of a single-game ticket ticket in 2016-17 was $24 (adult), $17.75 (student./senior) and $13.50 (child).
The Cougars have yet to determine what single game tickets will cost 2017-18 but the cost of a single game in a season package is usually 20-30 per cent cheaper.
The Cougars are among 15 WHL teams now selling their tickets based on location. Age of the ticket holder is the determining factor in the seven other WHL cities. The Kelowna Rockets are the only B.C. Division team that still offers age-based pricing. The Victoria Royals have a hybrid system based on location which also offers discounts for children, students and seniors.
Pocock is counting on the cheaper seating structure attracting more families and university students to the games.
"If you look at the average across the league, we're actually below average in every category," said Pocock.
"If you look at the green on-the-glass seating we're significantly lower - $766 is the league average and we're at $252. One of the reasons for that big difference is that for the U.S. teams, that's their premium seating."
Since the new ownership group took over the team in May 2014, attendance for Cougars games at CN Centre has steadily improved. In 2013-14, the last year of the Rick Brodsky-era, they averaged just 1,693 per game, increasing to an average 2,852 in 2014-15, 3,122 in 205-16 and 3,626 this past season.
By comparison, when the team regularly packed the place in the late 1990s and early 2000s, average attendance was 5,824 in 1998-99, 5,801 in 1999-00, 5,707 in 2000-01, 5,216 in 2001-02 and 4,386 in 2002-03.
The numbers dropped off sharply after that. Years of finishing near the bottom of the WHL standings, a sluggish local economy, and the predominance of big-screen TVs in people's homes has taken a toll on the turnstiles.
"We are super-happy with the attendance increases we've had, but we're still not where we need to be," said Beesley.
"We are by far the most expensive hockey team in the league to run and yet our prices have remained average of below average. This is a way to get more revenue in the building.
"We appreciate fully the loyalty fans have given through the good times and the bad times and the last thing we want to do is to upset somebody who is used to sitting in their sets and having their community around them."
Since the new ownership group took over, the Cougars have taken on more professional approach in how the team is being run, bringing in staff with NHL backgrounds, including ticket sales manager Mark Goodwin, who worked in sales for the San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames. All of those teams price their tickets based on location.
"Coming from the NHL, where I spent a large part of my career, this is a successful model, not just for the organization, but for customers as well, said Goodwin.
"The great thing is we're doing monthly payments. You pay monthly for your cable, why not monthly for hockey as well."
On Saturday, June 10, the Cougars will invite their existing season ticket holders a chance to try out different seats in the rink before they make their choices.
