The Swift Current Broncos delivered mixed news at their Annual General Meeting on Sept. 29.
The team had an operating loss of $408,000, but announced an overall profit of $314,000 primarily due to expansion fees.
The Broncos finished the 2025-26 season with a 14-44-4-5 record, second last in the 23-team Western Hockey League.
“It was a difficult year,” admitted Chairman of the Board Trent McCleary. “We started off really good on the ice and then we had to let a coach go. That’s always difficult, both in the financial aspect of it and also in personnel.”
“Overall, like I said, it was a tough year not making the playoffs, but we had a sold out game the last game of the season, beating Moose Jaw, we’re happy with that. We’re hoping for better finances this year and hopefully a little better on the ice product,” he added.
“Most of the $400,000 is one time items. The only thing is you can’t have losses because we need to grow. We need to have bums in the seats. We need to produce revenue. We need to have fans. We need to have success. It is tough, but we think that we can get through this. We’re not, ‘Oh my god the walls are caving in’ by any stretch, but we do need support from the community and we’ve gotten great support,” said McCleary. “It was a tough year whenever we don’t make the playoffs. We usually try and budget for a no profit no loss and if we do make the playoffs then there will be a profit. But it’s tough when you have some one time items.”
Dominic LePan is entering his first season as the Executive Vice President of Business Operations after the departure of Kevin Simpson.
“Definitely some challenging areas with the club and also some positive areas of improvement. We’ve seen lots of growth on the corporate side, so we’ve proven that there’s lots of companies that will support the team and want the team here,” said LePan after the AGM.
“Obviously with the operational loss of just over $400,000 that’s the challenge that we have to take on. I always look at it like we’ve got to give people a reason to get off the couch and come to a game. Last year we really tried to increase the number of theme games and community support games and we’re trying to double that effort this season. Cancer awareness game, princes night, we’re going to have two skate with the Broncos games where individuals can come and skate with the full team. I think those events are important to our financial stability because it gives people a reason to come and also it brings the community together. We’re looking to build off the growth that we had last year in those areas.”
The Broncos expected to receive $75,000 from Victory+ for the streaming of games last season, but the company recently shut down so that money will not likely be recouped.
“I would say that there’s uncertainty regarding our streaming platform right now. That one is out of our control, so right now games are bing provided for free on YouTube. At some point the league is going to make a decision on what our streaming platform will be moving forward. That will have a big impact on our finances in general,” explained LePan.
“Obviously team performance helps to some degree, but to really be a sustainable team in this community long term you need lots of community support and butts in seats regardless of team performance,” said LePan.
The Broncos are out to a 2-1 start under new Head Coach and General Manager Travis Crickard.
“I do believe Travis is the right man for the job to lead this team and absolutely love the changes that he’s already implemented on the hockey side,” said LePan.
