Scotiabank Centre and the Mooseheads finally announced their reopening plan for the 2020-21 season this afternoon, presumably with the okay of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.
Attendance in the building will be held to 20% of capacity, so under 2000 seats. Patrons will be confined within one of eight zones, all in the lower bowl, and each with its own dedicated entrance/exit doors, washrooms, and concessions. Seats will be grouped in bubbles of two to six, with none on the aisles and no crossovers between aisles. Which will actually make for a much more comfortable seating experience for most. Masks will be mandatory.
It’s hard to understand how this will make financial sense for the Mooseheads, whose attendance last year averaged over 7100, though the club is no doubt in better shape than most CHL franchises. The Thunderbirds of the National Lacrosse League were in a similar range last season. It shouldn’t make a big difference to the NBL Hurricanes, who averaged under 1500 last season. Commercial partnerships will likely be critical to sustain many of these organizations.
I would expect similar rules will be in place for other events, such as concerts or major sport events like the World Women’s Hockey Championship, postponed until next April. Whether that makes economic sense is a whole other question, of course.
If you are interested in being part of the Mooseheads’ experiment, the club is selling two bundles of 15 games each, at prices from $285 in the end and corner zones to $315 in the middle sections. No discounts for seniors or youth. Tickets go on sale to standard season ticket holders next Tuesday; to partial-season ticket holders on 17 September, and to the general public after that. Season ticket holders won’t get their regularly assigned seats but they’re being held for next season even if people decide to sit out the current season. The season starts the first of October with only Maritime division teams playing each other.
More information here.
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