The four-team race to host the 2020 Memorial Cup is down to three after the Victoria Royals announced they were withdrawing their bid.
The remaining franchises still in the running are the Kelowna Rockets, Kamloops Blazers and Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Royals’ announcement was made on Tuesday.
At first blush, it looked like Victoria was in the driver’s seat, as the franchise has stable ownership and a very good rink, the city has never hosted the tournament before and B.C.’s capital city is a beautiful place to visit in spring. However, on August 20th, the bidding race was turned on its ear when Lethbridge city council decided to top up the Hurricanes’ bid with $1 million in extra funding.
“We’ve got the airport that’s up and running and can take on an event like this, the hotels, the restaurants and the people that have gotten behind similar events of this magnitude that run without a hitch,” Lethbridge 2020 Memorial Cup Bid committee chair Bill Reddick told Global News in Lethbridge. “We’re ready.”
From Victoria’s point of view, Lethbridge’s $1 million top-up was something to consider, but it wasn’t the tipping point in why the Royals withdrew their bid. Lethbridge city council said it will provide $750,000 in cash and $250,000 in kind to cover facility costs.
“That’s not something we wouldn’t be able to overcome; it’s not always about the money when it comes to where’s the best place to put on the event,” said Royals general manager Cam Hope. “It was a combination of things. Really, it wasn’t so much that we didn’t think we could win the bid as whether or not it would be the best Memorial Cup in history in 2020 or 2023. And it’s really as simple as that.”
Calling the 2020 bid a dry run for the 2023 Memorial Cup, Hope noted that Victoria is also helping host the IIHF 2019 world junior hockey championship.
“Again, not a huge thing, but we’re also hosting half of the world juniors this year,” said Hope. “Going back-to-back to junior-hockey supporters with a big ask on tickets is not perfect.”
When it comes to the Memorial Cup, the CHL’s four-team championship tournament rotates annually between the WHL, OHL and QMJHL. In 2020, it’ll be the WHL’s turn to host. But regardless of which league hosts the event, each bid must include a profit margin. That margin is then divided, with every team in the host league getting a slice of the financial pie.
Generally speaking, small WHL markets like Swift Current and Cranbrook will never host the tournament as those small rinks can’t financially compete with larger rinks, such as the ones in Kelowna, Kamloops or Lethbridge. Still, small markets like Swift Current and Cranbrook are guaranteed money from the tournament, which is a benefit for the league as a whole.
The Kelowna Rockets say they plan to forge ahead with their bid, with team president and GM Bruce Hamilton stating the deciding factor won’t be money, but “how good the bid is and how good the team will be.”
Hamilton added the team won’t be asking city council for money, as their bid will be based on sponsorships, but will apply for city, provincial or federal grants if they’re available.
The WHL will announce the winning bid in Calgary on Oct. 3.
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