With Canada out, demand for World Juniors tickets plummets
Posted Jan 3, 2019 1:22 pm.
Last Updated Jan 3, 2019 3:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’ll be quiet around Rogers Arena Thursday, as it’s a day off for the World Juniors. The buzz around the tournament has also taken a hit, now that Team Canada is out.
Kingsley Bailey with Vancouver Ticket says demand has dropped “significantly” since Wednesday’s loss to Finland.
“In days of old, everybody could count on Canada in a gold medal final. I guess some of the kids and some of the people that never had a chance to witness that were really, optimistically hoping that that was going to happen. It didn’t happen, and all of a sudden, the interest is gone.”
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He thinks hockey fans should take interest in the tournament for the sport, instead of solely for a specific country. “Every single country right now is playing great hockey … You’ve got to watch some future NHLers.”
“The progression of these kids coming over from Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden … even Kazakhstan’s playing a lot better than they were 20 years ago.”
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Action at the World Juniors continues Friday with the semi-finals at Rogers Arena. Bailey says lower bowl tickets for those semi final games are going for $150 to $200, but could be much more if Canada was playing.
The gold medal games is on Saturday.
