This is on Steve Ewen's twitter account:
Steve Ewen
@SteveEwen
April 14
@GoBCHL commissioner Chris Hebb says the Junior A league "could lose teams," out of the COVID-19 shutdown. Many of those clubs rely heavily on the cash they bring in from spring camps and those camps have been cancelled.
Hebb says that the @GOBCHL will approach the government looking for some sort of financial assistance. The league has gathered letters from the mayors of the 18 cities that have teams, Hebb says, that state what the clubs mean to those regions.
This is on the TSN Radio Vancouver twitter account:
TSN Radio Vancouver @TSN1040
April 14
LISTEN: Hebb - No bums in seats, plus no sponsorship dollars has killed the BCHL's revenue streams
BCHL commissioner Chris Hebb says that the league's franchises rely on ticket gate revenue and the sponsorship dollars, and that right now with no games happening and the sponsorship drying up, some of the league's franchises could be in dire straits.
BCHL commissioner Chris Hebb says that the league's franchises rely on ticket gate revenue and the sponsorship dollars, and that right now with no games happening and the sponsorship drying up, some of the league's franchises could be in dire straits.
This is posted on Gregg Drinnan's Blog:
Will some junior teams not make it?
April 13, 2020 Gregg Drinnan
One of the things I’ve been wondering about over the last month is whether there will be some junior teams who won’t answer the bell when it’s time to start another season, whenever that might be.
On Monday, Tyler Yaremchuk, who among other things is the host of Inside The AJHL on TSN 1260 in Edmonton, tweeted (@tyleryaremchuk) a couple of things that he has “heard about the AJHL” . . .
“As many as three teams are considering a sabbatical. They would take a season off and then reassess.
“The league will vote on whether or not to make players pay a fee to play next season. somewhere around $2,500 per player for the 20/21 season. Other CJHL leagues considering this as well.
“Finally, don’t expect this to impact the arrival of the new Blackfalds franchise. (It) should be okay to begin play in 2021/22.”
I fully expect that before we are out of this mess we will be hearing more about junior hockey franchises pondering their future, especially if the start of the 2020-21 season is delayed in any fashion.
None of these leagues were able to get anywhere close to a conclusion with their playoffs, which means a number of teams lost out on a great deal of revenue. In other words, the gravy train never did reach the station.
As well, junior A and junior B teams have had to cancel the spring camps they hold on an annual basis, all of which are revenue generators.
After Yaremchuk’s tweets landed, Trent Wilhauk, governor and vice-president with the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys, tweeted: “Because my phone is blowing up I will comment only that the Olds Grizzlys ARE NOT in this situation. Yes COVID19 has been financially hard on us losing possible camps but the Grizzlys are business as usual.”
Oh boy, this doesn't look good.
ReplyDelete