The Acadie-Bathurst Titan say they are in the market for new ownership after Leal Sports and Entertainment has parted ways with current management.
The team, who won the 2018 Memorial Cup, was put under the previous ownership with the condition that the QMJHL team stays in northern New Brunswick.
That same contingency remains in place for potential new ownership, the team says.
“Yes, there’s an economic impact, and yes, our fans in the seats is not where we’d like to see, but there’s still a lot of value,” Serge Theriault, the Titan’s president, said in an interview on Monday.
“There’s also a uniqueness. We still won a championship, and if you can make it a big thing in a small town or small city, it will be the place to go, and that’s where we failed on this current group of ownership.”
Attendance between the 2018-19 season and and the current season dropped nearly 25 per cent, slipping to last in the league with an average of 1,496 fans per game, according to Hockey DB
The city’s mayor, Kim Chamberland, says an aging population has amplified the difficulties in selling tickets.
She pleaded with residents, “In order for them not to leave, we need to support them.”
The QMJHL said in a release that they have no plans to move the team.
“So we, the current owners and the league, are going to work very hard to find new investors who want to keep the team in place,” said Mario Cecchini, the QMJHL’s commissioner, in a press release on Sunday.
“The people of Bathurst love their team and want to keep it, which is also what the QMJHL wants.”
A sports economist from Concordia University says that smaller markets like Bathurst aren’t alone in trying to fill the stands.
He says a shift to watching sports on TV during the COVID-19 pandemic has left many teams unable to re-fill season seats, as budgets become tighter.
“There are very few franchises in the CHL that would be financially viable,” said Lander.
“For the Titan, it will be difficult because the population of the region is large, and the population of the city of Bathurst is small. The team was in trouble just a few years ago, and needed a bailout from the government to keep afloat.”
Different team, similar woes
The QMJHL’s Cape Breton Eagles also felt a small drop but have slowly started to turn their attendance back around, according to the team’s financial manager, Joey Haddad.
The former Eagles’ star says Centre 200 has seen a 20 per cent increase in fan support this season.
The club helping to pay their way to a full building too, giving away $3,000 to a lucky fan if 3,000 spectators show up to a specific home game.
“It’s like someone’s winning the lottery,” he said on Monday.
“Leading into the final 13 home games and potentially the playoffs, we’re just trying to create that hype and attendance (has been) climbing game after game.”
Haddad says marketing to a smaller town makes for hard work to get fan attendance. Saying that it means you have to work harder.
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