 Despite not making the playoffs last season, the Vancouver Canucks raised season ticket prices by about 7.5% yet, as of July 21, have suffered only about 100 account non-renewals. As reported by Brad Ziemer, Canuck COO Victor de Bonis anticipates meeting the 95% renewal rate the team has enjoyed over the past few seasons despite the poor performance on the ice and the attendant management turmoil. Even if the team were to see additional cancellations, there are over 4,000 names on the season ticket waiting list. The Canucks have sold out their previous 215 games at General Motors Place, a streak that began in November 2002. De Bonis noted, "We are forecasting player salaries to go up 15 per cent from where they were last year. Our price increase is about half the increase in the player salaries, so it's about seven and a half percent. We went out the year before with a 12-per-cent increase. We are trying to be sensitive to not having these prices go up and up and up while recognizing we want the resources to put the best team we can on the ice." Single-game prices are also expected to rise, possibly by as much as ten percent, but that determination won’t be made until the seats are released in September. For the 2007/08 season, those ticket prices ranged from $55 to $220, although season ticket holders paid prices discounted by up to 59%. "That's why sometimes you get a report that we are the highest-priced team in the league, because they go on every team's website and pick off the prices and we don't disclose the discount price," de Bonis said. "So we're actually third and fourth in Canada in most price categories because of the discount program for those season-ticket holders and we're actually the only team in Canada doing that." The team will cap season sales at approximately 17,000. That will allow them to withhold 300 per game in accordance with NHL requirements, and also guarantee tickets are available on a per-game basis. The enthusiasm in Vancouver contrasts slightly with the rest of the league, which reported in June that ticket sales had declined eight percent since January.
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Bill Johnson is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network
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