 |
| The smaller arena at the Verdun auditorium has some sight-line issues |
Seriously. Oops for that idea.
Also: when Verdun hosts a minor hockey tournaments they charge $5 to enter.
So people have to pay to see their own kids play, something unheard of at such local tournaments.
About 100 adults pay up per game. There's 115 games throughout the five different levels.. so that's a nice little $60,000-or-so in Verdun's pocket for hosting the tournament, not to mention the money that comes in from the various sponsors they have hustled, so they've done a pretty good job at optimizing their revenues.
Verdun charges $500 per team to enter so each parent has to pay about $30 to have their kid participate in a tournament. That's pretty much standard, although McDonald's sponsored a spring tournament in Lachine that charges zero.
Verdun hits parents both with a team fee and also charges them to watch the games.
There are 40 teams in the tournament (five levels with eight teams each), meaning that Verdun receives about $20,000 in entry fees.
I was told by the tournament organizer that "almost half" of that money goes to Hockey Quebec. So let's say that Verdun keeps only $12,000 in team fee cash.
Then there's the estimated $50,000 or $60,000 gate, plus sponsorships, let's put it conservatively at $10,000.
That's about $80,000 coming into this tournament.
Verdun apparently charges a small fee for ice time and some little trophies have to be purchased and a few referees must be paid, perhaps that's a $15,000 expense.
So there's something like $65,000-$85,000 surplus coming in to Verdun from this event, it'd be interesting to see the exact numbers.
I have to agree with the speaker placement comment but need to correct you on the entry fees for the tourny.
ReplyDeleteI played all of my hockey in Verdun in the 80s and 90s and coached in the assosiation in the 90s and early 00s and the Tournoi Atome de Verdun always charged to enter. most little league tournament charges to enter. it's a way to have the money to buy tbe trophies, banners and other free stuff that they give the players. trust me, tbe tournament or the assossiation does't make money with this entry fee.
I want those speakers at my home. Verdan hear me.
ReplyDeleteIn Toronto & area some AA & AAA hockey teams/associations have admission fees of at least five dollars for everyone entering the arena including players, their family & friends for regular season/exhibition games.People have been known to wait in their cars (weather permitting)or go to Tims while the kid plays the hockey game as a family of 4 its 20 bucks times two or three times a week.Adds up over the course of a regular season not to mention tournaments through the year.This is on top of whatever the team registration fees are at the start of the season....
ReplyDeleteThis is really silly. Nobody should be charged to view a kid's hockey game. Period.
ReplyDeleteSome parents think that because they have paid for their kid's sports that is the total expectation of them. Often kid's sports practices can be treated like baby sitting. Some go off and do their grocery shopping.
Parents should partipate in one way or another. 50/50 draws and pub nights where you get prizes donated works as far as fund raising goes. Car washes too. Parents should know how to work the scoreboard.
Another thing they can do is help out the coach on the ice if they can skate.
Just turning up for games doesn't cut it.
It is also a nice thing if some kid's parents are struggling financially to quitely help them out with the costs.
Kid's sports are like a microcosm of society. Things work best when everybody pitches in.
Those things hanging down from the ceiling supports are they speakers or heaters ?
ReplyDeleteLooking at the picture, was it -20 in the arena?
ReplyDeleteI paid money to see either of my sons play in Tournaments in their minor hockey careers and in their adult hockey.It cost money to host a Tournament.You have to pay for the ice time and referees and the trophys or awards for the players.There is also a charge for a team to enter a Tournament.
ReplyDeletestevefredmond
Thanks for the comments.
ReplyDeleteI am aware that tournaments have bills to pay. But how much exactly?
Let's say the refs get about $50 a game, so that's $2,300.
I'm pretty sure the trophies and t-shirts don't cost $10,000.
The rest of the rink maintenance crew are working regularly-scheduled shifts anyway, so that shouldn't be an added expense.
I seem to recall paying about $60 for two ( or possibly three) tournaments last year and nobody charged entry.
This year I paid about the same but have been dinged with this added $25 expense.
I still think it's a bargain and an quite happy that Verdun has hosted this tournament.
But I think the municipality looks bad trying to squeeze families to see their kids.
NDG doesn't charge entry, nor did the four-or-five other local tournaments I attended.
If I ever have time I'll try to find out which places hold tournaments and how much they cost and what gets done with the money.
Hey Kristian...
ReplyDeleteMy son played organized hockey from the age of 5 to 18.
Here is how a lot of hockey arenas work.
1. Usually there is a bit of a subsidy from local taxes.
2. Aside from kids hockey there is ringette, roller hockey, figure skating, and beer leagues. Often older guys play hockey at 11 p.m. at night.
3. Kids hockey teams are expected to do some fundraising themselves for things like tournements. A 50/50 draw at each game or practice can add up. The key is to have parents involved. Car washes and pub nights with donated prizes and more draws can also raise funds.
#4 Hockey schools also help pay for the arena overhead.
#5 Don't forget the concession stand or bar/restaurant for revenue.
#6 It isn't the ice time at tournements that is expensive. It is the travel costs including motels and meals that add up.
What a lot of this sounds like to me is a number of disinterested parents who haven't been taught that they have an obligation to contribute to other activities surrounding their kid playing hockey. Some parents would rather be somewhere else it seems.
Seems to me, the city (Verdun or whoever) doesn't make anything on ticket sales. For tournaments, the organizing league collects the admission charge, with the city just watching to be sure they get the applicable amusement tax.
ReplyDeleteThe city makes its money from facility rentals: Ice time is a yearly schedule of hours and cost worked out in bulk with individual leagues. Concessions (pro shop and snack bar) are simply commercial leases.
Once you hit triple A there's an admission fee for regular league games. The justification is that it helps subsidize the cost of running the team. Considering that at AAA our fee was $2600, while AA was just $500. Admittedly, there's more travel costs in triple letters, but $2000 per player per year?
There are additional costs to the city depending on the level, although they're minor. When my kids were involved in it, the Zambonis ran on propane. House leagues got the ice refreshed at the start of each game. Double letters, every two periods, triple letters, after each one. So at least the fuel costs went up with each level of play. And of course the more you use a machine the more often it needs service, so there's another slight cost increase per tier.
I don't know what Zambonis run on nowadays- electricity, maybe?
Thing that's always bugged me about Zambonis: Why do they have headlights?
I've been in arenas several times during power failures, and the once or twice the Zambonis kept going, they just ran under the emergency lighting of the arena itself. I've never even seen them turn on the lights when dumping in the parking lot.
Someone once speculated that Quebec law dictates lights on all motorized vehicles, and that makes some sense, but come to think of it, electric wheelchairs (not scooters but wheelchairs) are a type of motorized vehicle, and they don't have lights...
Anybody really know why Zambonis have lights?
Last hockey thought: Some years ago, one of my son's teammates was very badly cut by an errant skate blade, resulting in severed nerve surgery. Anyone who's had a goalie kid can attest to the amount of damage a skate blade can do, and human skin is easier to cut than a goalie pad. I did some shopping ay a safety supply place on St.Jacques, and came up with a pair of kevlar sleeves, $15 and intended for use by butchers. They'll even stop a fish filleting knife! Dirt cheap when you consider the amount of protection they offer. The league convener (double letters) said there was no rule that would prevent their use (like too wide pads, too curved sticks etc.), and he suggested them to the teams and players. Nobody liked them. After all, safety equipment is chicken, and hockey's a macho sport, even on the youngest levels. So if there's any parents or coaches reading this, maybe do your kids a favour...