A championship season on the ice resulted in near record profits off the ice for the Swift Current Broncos.
The hockey club announced a profit of $561,500 for the year after winning the Western Hockey League championship in 2017-18.
“It was a fabulous year for the Broncos in 2017-18,” said Chairman of the Board Trent McCleary. “The success on the ice definitely rolled over into the success in the business operations. So at this time I would like to report a net profit of $561,000, which is second in history. That goes along with 2,406 season tickets, which are definitely a record for this franchise. It was a very successful year both on and off the ice.”
McCleary said that Shane Lacasse, Chairman of the Finance Committee, pointed out that the team made a profit of $567,000 in 1992-93 when the Broncos also won the WHL Championship.
The major factors in the record profit included an average regular season attendance of 2,512, up 506 fans per game from the previous season. 13 sold out playoff games saw another 2,890 fans per game watch the Broncos win their third WHL Championship in franchise history.
“We were sold out for 11 regular season games, all 13 playoff games,” noted McCleary. “We are starting the year with a record number of season tickets, I believe just over 2,150 season tickets for this year. The business operations with the franchise has done a very good job maximizing the on-ice product into the off-ice success as well.”
The near record profit follows up on a profit of $135,922 last year.
“I couldn’t be walking into a better situation financially,” said new Director of Business Operations Nathan MacDonald. “The people prior to me did a great job of building up an asset base that will help us provide long term security for the franchise in the community. I couldn’t be luckier in terms of the position that I’m coming into.”
The Broncos already have a solid start to the fiscal year with a record number of season ticket holders heading in the season, including a sold-out crowd at the season opener on September 21 when they raised the Eastern Conference and WHL Championship banners to the rafters at the Innovation Credit Union iplex.
“Again it goes back to being in a pretty fortunate situation to have that support roll over from past year,” said MacDonald. “It gives us some security for the year and allows us to think of some creative ways to innovate and to make their hard-earned dollars, to give them value in return for what they’ve contributed to us. Yeah the support’s amazing and I think you saw it in game one the excitement and energy in the building. It’s on us again to fulfill our duty and give them an experience that they are happy to pay money for.”
The Broncos also announced that the players and staff contributed over 550 hours in community engagement.
The Broncos Board of Directors, not unlike the hockey team, hockey staff, or business staff, will have some notable changes. Jim Plewis, the longest serving director, is retiring from the board after 18 seasons. Liam Choo-Foo has returned to the board after a leave of absence.
