Hockey Canada scandal, ticket costs responsible for small world junior crowds: IIHF
Global News
International Ice Hockey Federation officials say the high price of admission, the tournament's odd timing and a spectre of scandal are to blame for low attendance.
Tickets for Edmonton’s world junior men’s hockey championship haven’t been a hot commodity this summer and International Ice Hockey Federation officials say the high price of admission, the tournament’s odd timing and a spectre of scandal are to blame for low attendance.
The 2022 tournament wrapped Saturday with Canada battling Finland for the gold medal.
While the final was expected to draw the biggest crowd of the tournament so far to Rogers Place, average attendance before Saturday’s medal games was just 1,525 per game. Canada averaged 4,400 fans across its first six games.
Holding the world junior tournament during the hot summer instead of the usual winter holidays created a number of challenges, said IIHF president Luc Tardif.
“We knew August was not the best time and we did not expect the attendance that we do usually,” he told reporters in a wide-ranging press conference before Saturday’s final.
The 2022 tournament originally opened Dec. 26, 2021, in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta. Rising COVID-19 cases among players and officials caused the forfeiture of games and the event was halted after just four days.
Tickets prices are set by the host country and the cost for a seat at the August version of the tournament remained steep, starting at more than $100 for many games.
Seats in the lower level ranged from $160 to $476 for Saturday’s final, with a tickets in the highest reaches of the arena available for $60.
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