Quebec stands apart by subsidizing National Hockey League (NHL) preparatory matches with millions. Without paying a penny, cities like Halifax and Wichita, Kansas, hosted the Bettman Tour before the regular season kicked off.
Less than half of the approximately 15,000 seats at INTRUST Bank Arena – the amphitheater in Kansas’ largest city – were occupied when the Arizona Coyotes faced the St. Louis Blues on September 23. It is impossible to know whether the event turned out to be profitable. One thing is certain, taxpayers would not have had to foot the bill in the event of a deficit.
“We worked with a local promoter who came to an agreement with the teams and took the financial risk of organizing this match here,” replies A.J. Boleski, general manager of the complex. No government entity offered financial assistance for this game to be hosted in Wichita. »
The municipality corroborates the words of the person who runs the amphitheater: taxpayer money was not used to present professional hockey in a city that does not have an NHL team. Unlike what is planned in Quebec in 2024, where the Los Angeles Kings must settle down to play two games in five days at the Videotron Center from October 2 to 6, the Wichita duel was only one meeting you for one night.
This decision by the Legault government was strongly criticized in a context where we agree to subsidize a professional team while public finances are “tight”, according to the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard. NHL hockey could also have been presented at no cost to taxpayers, since the Montreal Canadiens had offered to play in Quebec without requesting public financial support.
The outcry even seems to create a certain unease within the CAQ troops. On Thursday, the Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Lévis, Bernard Drainville, recognized that the timing of the announcement had been poorly chosen.
“I hear the criticisms, I understand them and I agree with you that the timing is not ideal,” he said, on the sidelines of an announcement at Laval University.
Recognizing that the granting of the subsidy was “not unanimous”, Mr. Drainville tried, as best he could, to defend his government by considering that it was an “investment” to remind the circuit Bettman that Quebec “exists.”
Halifax is among the cities considered by the NHL to be “neutral grounds” where a preparatory clash can be held. The Pittsburgh Penguins and their captain Sidney Crosby – originally from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia – spent four days there at the end of September before facing the Ottawa Senators on October 2 at the Scotiabank Centre.
“Our organization has not obtained funding to host this match […] and to our knowledge, no funding has been requested,” says Erin Esiyok, director of marketing and communications at Events East, manager of the amphitheater of approximately 12,000 spaces located in downtown Halifax.
The Nova Scotia government has not taken out its checkbook, a spokesperson, Susan Mader Zinck, confirms to La Presse.
The Press also checked with Independence, Missouri. Last September 30, the Dallas Stars and the Blues visited this city of 122,000 inhabitants for a clash. At the time of writing, the municipality had not responded to questions sent by email.
Salt Lake City, described as a location of potential NHL interest, has been the site of preseason games for three years in an event called Frozen Fury. The Kings faced the San Jose Sharks at Vivint Arena – which seats 14,000 spectators in hockey configuration – on October 5.
“We are sponsoring the game through the Jazz, but we are not hosting it ourselves,” says Bridget Farfel, vice president of communications for the Utah Sports Commission.
Each year, this non-profit organization – partly funded by the state – sponsors several dozen events, such as freestyle skiing competitions, speed skating competitions and professional golf tournaments. In 2021, its sponsorship spending was approximately US$5 million for all events.
Among NHL preseason games played on “neutral ground,” some have taken place in the city where a team’s American Hockey League (AHL) farm club is located. This is the case for the Dallas Stars. The training took place in the HEB Center in Cedar Park, home of the Texas Stars.
The place was the scene of a pre-season duel between Dallas and the Coyotes on September 24.
“This game was part of the Dallas Stars program and Cedar Park did not offer financial support for this event,” assures Fran Irwin, spokesperson for the municipality, by email.
