The city doesn’t anticipate any financial problems at Servus Credit Union Place now that the St. Albert Steel will be moving to Whitecourt. In fact, the move could put more money in Servus’ coffers.
The city doesn’t anticipate any financial problems at Servus Credit Union Place now that the St. Albert Steel will be moving to Whitecourt. In fact, the move could put more money in Servus’ coffers.
Facility manager Diane Enger said the biggest impact for Servus Place would be on the ice time the team used to rent. With 17,000 possible hours of time available, the Steel accounted for 470 hours, which she said should be easy to fill in the short-term. Half of those hours are “prime time” evening hours, while the other half are afternoon slots.
“Definitely in the short-term we feel that can be allocated to our minor sport partners in the short-term,” Enger said. “In the long-term we want to ensure we have a good plan going forward to best meet the needs of the community.”
Servus will consult with affected groups next spring to determine a longer-term approach, particularly for ice available at Northstar Hyundai Arena.
“Part of our public consultation will be to determine if there is a want for an anchor tenant,” Enger said.
Chris Jardine, general manager of community and protective services, said there has been little talk of a future anchor tenant, but that it will discussed in the future.
“At the end of the day, we hope to have some kind of a marquee team that calls it home,” Jardine said. “We’re not going to rush into anything.”
Advertising
But as the Steel move on, they will not be taking their sponsors with them, which could mean more revenue for Servus Place.
Under the city’s agreement with the Steel, the hockey club received 60 per cent of advertising at Northstar Hyundai Arena by selling corporate sponsorships that included in-ice, board and stair riser advertising. That 60 per cent equated to 91 advertising spaces, which generated approximately $213,400 for the team.
Enger said those sponsors will run out their contracts with the Steel now that the team is leaving, which means the facility could sell the advertising spaces the team once controlled.
According to the St. Albert Steel’s 2011-12 sponsorship packages, in-ice advertising was valued at $3,000 per placement, board signs at $2,800 per board and stair risers at $2,300 each.
“There will definitely be an opportunity to increase our advertising revenue,” Enger said. “I think it’s a little too early to talk about that though.”
Jardine said he doesn’t expect the lack of anchor tenant to impact the draw of potential sponsors at the facility.
“Keep in mind the Steel had 30 home games, so even though they were considered our anchor tenant, they were not the lions’ share of the draw into the arena,” Jardine said.
Some Steel sponsors seem inclined to maintain a presence at Northstar Hyundai Arena. Chad Jenkins of Tim Hortons, which was a presenting sponsor for the Steel, said he will re-evaluate his sponsorship soon.
“Every year we review advertising options anyways and we’ve always been very supportive when it comes to recreation and sports,” Jenkins said. “On the one hand I’d like to say we like maintain some sort of presence, but on the other hand I’m not sure at what level.”
Jeff Hoffort, owner of St. Albert Dairy Queen, which was a bronze-level Steel sponsor, said he will continue to advertise in Northstar Hyundai Arena.
“We’ll still keep them. It’s also for other hockey games, we get the benefit out of that as well.”
