The presence of three local teams wasn’t enough to boost attendance in any significant way at last weekend’s Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) men’s basketball championship.
The three-day tournament held at Scotiabank Place drew a combined attendance of 22,314, including ticket giveaways, according to Carleton’s athletics director Jennifer Brenning.
Brenning estimates that number would translate to around 14,000 tickets sold, which is about the average paid attendance of the three times Ottawa previously hosted the tournament, she said.
“Was I happy? No,” Brenning said. “I’m always wanting more people to come see this event. It’s fantastic basketball, it’s a great environment, I’m not sure what it is we can do to bring people out . . . I’m not satisfied with that.”
The fact that Carleton, the University of Ottawa and to a lesser extent McGill qualified for the championship was expected to improve ticket sales, but it didn’t quite work out that way.
“You’ve got two home teams both ranked nationally, you’ve got McGill, their first time in it in 33 years and some local talent on Acadia and Lakehead . . . you would think that would be a draw,” Brenning said. “I don’t know whether it’s the March break, time of year at school for students, it’s a heavy academic time, I’m just not sure what it is.”
Over the last few years in Halifax, the CIS Final 8 has drawn similar attendance numbers. Last year, there were 23,067 tickets issued and in 2011 there were 20,504, according to Atlantic University Sport communications manager John Keefe.
Paid attendance figures were not available.
It’s not necessarily a fair comparison, however.
The Halifax Metro Centre is located in the heart of the city. Scotiabank Place, on the other hand, is an isolated venue 25 kilometres out of town. Public transit service there is a nightmare, especially on weekends.
“With the driving conditions, it was less than 30 minutes to get out there, but it could be a factor,” Brenning said, adding she’s unsure whether hosting the tournament at a renovated Lansdowne Stadium would even be a possibility.
Halifax also has a long tradition of hosting the tournament—they did so for 20 straight years between 1988 and 2007.
Then again, Halifax’s population is less than half that of the nation’s capital.
Despite underwhelming ticket sales, the tournament is still expected to inject $5 and $6 million into the city’s economy, according to Ottawa mayor Jim Watson, who was also co-chair of the host organizing committee.
“It comes at a very good time in the calendar because this tends to be a slower period of time for tourists,” Watson said March 8.
Projections are based on the three years Ottawa previously hosted the tournament, which generated a combined economic impact of $15 million, and the effect of inflation, according to Senators Sports & Entertainment president Cyril Leeder.
To come up with a final figure, the number of hotel rooms that were booked, the number of out-of-town visitors, and average spending information will be considered.
It was expected that between 2,000 and 3,000 hotel room nights were used as a result of the tournament, according to Watson.
“There’s really a positive ripple effect,” the mayor said.
Although the economic impact is no doubt a positive, Leeder said it’s only part of the reason Senators Sports & Entertainment enjoys hosting the tournament.
“We’re a hockey town and we’re a hockey organization but this event in particular gives us a chance to shine the spotlight on basketball,” said Leeder, who was a member of the host committee himself. “We’ve got some pretty good programs here, Carleton obviously being the kingpin in the country. It really is great to give them the credit and spotlight they deserve.”
