Saskatoon gets bigger musical acts than Regina. Would a new arena for YQR move the needle?

Garth Brooks may have packed Mosaic Stadium in 2019 — but post pandemic, Regina's $278 million stadium and adjacent but aging Brandt Centre have struggled to recruit major music acts over Saskatoon's SaskTel Centre

"The [Regina] stadium is a beautiful facility, and I think perhaps the citizens were sold sort of a false bill of goods when it came to 'If you build it, they will come,'" said Chad Guy, owner of Chad Guy Productions, who's currently the production manager for American singer Morgan Wallen.

"That's just not the case unfortunately in this business where we need to make money. It takes ticket sales to do that."

Saskatoon has just seen a flurry of international artists announcing tour dates, with Snoop Dogg, Billy Idol and Heart all announcing SaskTel Centre as their sole Saskatchewan stops on upcoming tours.

"Saskatoon, it seems every other day or every other week there's a concert announcement. This past week, there has been four concert announcements, boom, boom, boom, boom, and we got nothing," said music fan Nathan Clearihue.

He said he chose the house he bought mainly for its proximity to Mosaic Stadium and the Brandt Centre, but with the exception of acts like Brooks in 2019 and Guns and Roses in 2017, it's been quiet on the music front at the venues.

Clearihue's hoping the potential new arena that's been discussed for the city's downtown might help with that. Saskatoon's SaskTel Centre has a seating capacity of about 15,000 seats, while the Brandt Centre has fewer than 6,000. Then there's Edmonton and Calgary, with bigger facilities and more people.

"We need something with more capacity, then we can start attracting bigger names. We can maybe steal a couple of shows from Saskatoon," Clearihue said.

That's also the hope for the city's mayor, who says a new arena for the city includes plans for about 10,000 seats, plus capacity for around 1,000 floor seats.

"The question becomes, we're competing with larger and more competitive buildings," Sandra Masters said during an interview on CBC's The Morning Edition.

Ticket sales are also a major issue. Most agree that Reginans aren't typically willing to shell out $200 a ticket for a major concert. 

"I hear from individuals, 'If you booked Elton John, I would buy the ticket,'" Masters noted. "You don't have the building to book the act so you can't sell the tickets. And it's a bit of a relationship and a momentum gain. You have to have consistency in delivering events and you have to have the venue."

That consistency and reputation for being able to put on concerts and sell tickets is definitely missing in Regina, said Guy.

"I will say that the concert business is a very tight-knit community, and a lot of these shows and opportunities are based on relationships that are formed over 20 to 30 years of doing business with promoters," he said.