Meeting inside council chambers at City Hall for the first time since the pandemic began back in March of 2022, Saskatoon City Council has approved funding of $350,000 if the city’s joint bid with Regina to host the 2023 IIHF World Juniors is successful.
The funding would come out of a major special events fund which currently has nearly $662,000 of available funds.
Steph Clovechuk CEO of Tourism Saskatoon says they’ve sent a request to the province asking for additional funding. She says the World Juniors would bring over 300,000 fans to the 31-game tournament along with an anticipated $50 million dollars in economic impact.
John Howden, CEO of SaskTel Centre says with this bid, there is less time to take on capital upgrades at the arena unlike in 2010 which saw four thousand additional seats installed, 14 corporate suites added along with upgrades to the dressing rooms.
Howden says some things have been or will be changed out at SaskTel Centre.
“Before we even knew the World Juniors were coming with partner SEG, the Blades and the Rush, we just put in a new $800,000 dollars score clock that debuted about a month ago. And one other thing that came about lately is that our rink boards needed to be upgraded to the new WHL and NHL standards, so that’s something that’s actually going to be happening this summer.”
Howden adds a robust concert schedule over the next few months adds to the difficulty of taking on upgrades at SaskTel Centre.
Clovechuk adds the worldwide broadcasts on TSN will draw 120 million viewers, putting Saskatchewan on the global stage.
The joint bid between Regina and Saskatoon could see pre-tournament games hosted in other cities including Moose Jaw and Prince Albert.
Saskatoon and Regina last hosted the tournament in 2010. Both cities will have to submit a business plan to Hockey Canada by April 4th.
Russia was the initial host of the 2023 tournament but was stripped of the event following their invasion of Ukraine. The IIHF has since tapped Hockey Canada to find a host for the tournament.
