2011 CIS University Cup Tickets

[FreddyFoyle]

The host committee for the 2011 CIS University Cup presented themselves at a media conference today in Fredericton, NB and announced the ticket prices for March 24-27, 2011 tournament -- $140 CDN for all seven games, that's right, $20 per game. (That's about $130 USD today, but that might be $135 tomorrow with the yo-yo currency exchange rates ...) A little different than the Frozen Four, huh ...

There are six teams at the tournament, in two pools, and each team plays two games. The top teams in each pool meet for the University Cup.

The Aitken University Centre in Fredericton seats around 3750. In case anyone is interested Fredericton is about a three hour drive from Bangor/Orono (just make sure you have a passport so you can get back into the States .... thanks George Bush ...).

UNB season ticket holders get first crack at tournament tickets, but they go on sale to the public on July 15. The tourney should sell out.

Because CIS hockey is just not that big a deal for the media and most markets in Canada (Major Junior gets all the attention), the national championship tournament has to have a host team, 4 regional champions and a rotating wild card. The up side is you're usually playing in a more intimate rink vis-a-vis seating (i.e. not NHL size buildings) in front of crowd that knows university hockey.

Anyways, if you're interested seeing how the other half lives, within a day's drive of New England (8 hours from Boston) then come on over ...

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: 2011 CIS University Cup Tickets

The host committee for the 2011 CIS University Cup presented themselves at a media conference today in Fredericton, NB and announced the ticket prices for March 24-27, 2011 tournament -- $140 CDN for all seven games, that's right, $20 per game. (That's about $130 USD today, but that might be $135 tomorrow with the yo-yo currency exchange rates ...) A little different than the Frozen Four, huh ...

There are six teams at the tournament, in two pools, and each team plays two games. The top teams in each pool meet for the University Cup.

The Aitken University Centre in Fredericton seats around 3750. In case anyone is interested Fredericton is about a three hour drive from Bangor/Orono (just make sure you have a passport so you can get back into the States .... thanks George Bush ...).

UNB season ticket holders get first crack at tournament tickets, but they go on sale to the public on July 15. The tourney should sell out.

Because CIS hockey is just not that big a deal for the media and most markets in Canada (Major Junior gets all the attention), the national championship tournament has to have a host team, 4 regional champions and a rotating wild card. The up side is you're usually playing in a more intimate rink vis-a-vis seating (i.e. not NHL size buildings) in front of crowd that knows university hockey.

Anyways, if you're interested seeing how the other half lives, within a day's drive of New England (8 hours from Boston) then come on over ...

What kind of attendance does the CIS tourney typically draw these days? I can remember in the early 90s it was around 8-10,000 which is where the Frozen Four was back then. The Frozen Four didn't really start totally selling out until the late 90s.

 

[FreddyFoyle]

Re: 2011 CIS University Cup Tickets

What kind of attendance does the CIS tourney typically draw these days? I can remember in the early 90s it was around 8-10,000 which is where the Frozen Four was back then. The Frozen Four didn't really start totally selling out until the late 90s.

Really depends on the venue. The last two years in Thunder Bay it was not a sell-out and less than 3000. Before that in Moncton it was less than the capacity of 5000-6000. Alberta (Edmonton) I think had around 10K for the championship game at Rexall Place. Saskatchewan in 1998-2000 pulled close 10K for the UofS games.

But normally, host schools don't have access to NHL size rinks. Before 1998 the games were in Toronto for several years in a row, and the championship game was in Maple Leaf Gardens. However the Toronto media largely ignored the tourney back then, because only the Leafs matter in Toronto ...

Bottom line, unlike the CHL's Memorial Cup, the University Cup isn't hosted in large arenas (outside of Edmonton and Saskatoon), and not the kind of event that the bigger markets in Canada want. The good news is that usually, the tourney is now played in places where CIS hockey matters.