It's a wrap - 195,771 turn out, placing 2005 games second all time
Posted on Wed, Jan. 05, 2005
By David Dodds
Grand Forks Herald Staff Writer
Herald Staff Write The consensus is that Grand Forks and Thief River Falls pulled off the most successful World Junior Championship ever held in the United States. That may be good, but local organizers already are coming up with ways the tournament could have been better. While naysayers say the tournament's total attendance didn't meet projections and overhyping the games misled people into believing tickets and hotel rooms were scarce, tournament organizers have their own list of positives.
They stress that this year's fan turnout was the best ever for a U.S. World Juniors, beating out metros such as Boston, Anchorage, Alaska, and Minneapolis. The games, held in Ralph Engelstad Arenas in Grand Forks and Thief River Falls, also were the first to receive national television coverage in the United States. ESPN2 televised most U.S. games. The games also provided a guarantee of about $800,000, another first for an American host.
Thorough critique
Early on, organizers suggested that the 2005 World Juniors could break all-time attendance records because of Grand Forks' proximity to Canada and because the NHL lockout would send hockey-starved Canucks here in droves.
The Canadians came, but attendance at other games, including Team USA's, were less than anticipated, bringing the tickets sold to 195,771. That's good for second all-time behind Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Tuesday's gold-medal game between Canada and Russia scored the highest attendance of the 2005 tournament, a sellout at 11,862.
"I couldn't think of any drastic changes that should've been done to anything that was done here," said Doug Palazzari, executive director of USA Hockey.
Still, Earl Strinden, interim general manager of Engelstad Arena, said there's room for improvement. He said a thorough critique session would take place immediately on how the tournament went, including a written report. The information could come in handy if The Ralph lands the tournament again.
Strinden said if organizers had it to do over again, he'd suggest that they nail down television contracts and sell advertising time much earlier. He said REA won't make a lot of money from television from this year's World Juniors.
USA Hockey will get the guarantee plus 80 percent of additional profits. The remaining money would be split between REA and the North Amateur Hockey Association.
Strinden replaced Todd Berning as arena general manager in October when planning for the World Juniors was winding down the home stretch. He said he's not critical of anything that was done by organizers who've worked on the tournament for the past two years.
Some complaints
Some have been unhappy with the way the tournament was advertised early on, with estimates that thousands would converge on Grand Forks and Thief River Falls, snatching up tickets and filling up hotel rooms. That perception may have actually kept people away, officials said.
"I'm a little surprised by all that," Palazzari said. "I don't know who started it, about the games being sold out and the motels being full.
"If someone needed a ticket, all they had to do was pick up the phone and make a call."
Another complaint had to do with the early push by REA to sell $455 tournament ticket packages. The arena later reduced ticket prices for some of the World Junior games, including games Monday as low as $5.
Strinden defended the tournament-package push, saying that those who had them, paid only $20 for games for which single-ticket buyers were paying between $40 and $50.
"Overall, the ticket packages that were sold early on were still a good buy," he said.
Shuttles popular
Todd Feland, director of public works in Grand Forks and a tournament volunteer, said about a dozen shuttle buses the city provided were popular.
"Especially among Canadian fans," he said. "We're quite pleased with the turnout on those, and the response we've received from fans is that they were really pleased that the city provided the service."
The cost for the shuttle service was built into the $200,000 that the city allocated for transportation, security and advertising at the World Juniors.
The city money, along with another $225,000 from the state, helped make up the tournament's total $4 million budget.
AI
