She’s only been the senior vice president of business operations for the Women’s Professional Hockey League for just over three months, but her to-do list continues to grow. Among her challenges is deciding where next season’s six teams will play, perhaps the most urgent decision for Toronto, where demand is surging due to a shortage of tickets.
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But finding a bigger place to call home is easier said than done, and Scheer is just starting to look into it. There are countless factors at play, and with the PWHL only six weeks into its inaugural season, it’s too early to know what will happen next.
“When we talk about crawling, walking and running, we’re still crawling,” Scheer told the Star. “It’s too early to say, ‘Oh my gosh, these four games were great and we should do X, Y, Z.'” There’s still a lot to learn before making any major decisions. ”
Fans greeted players during the PWHL Toronto vs. New York game at the Mattamy Athletic Center on January 1st.
steve russell
Eventually, a decision will be made. The league has full control over arena selection, with decisions being driven by Scheer. She will align with Jayna Hefford, who leads the league’s hockey operations, and a four-person advisory board that includes pioneering tennis icon Billie Jean King and Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten. They are working together.
may be of interest
Scheer said the league just started business planning this month and discussions have not yet begun about where teams will play next season. Those conversations will likely begin while executives are in Toronto for the game at Scotiabank Arena.
As such, no decision has yet been made regarding PWHL Toronto’s future in Mattamy, league officials said.
“There’s a huge need in this city and we don’t want to leave it unattended,” Hefford told the Star. “We have to look at other options. But at the same time, we’re really happy with the current situation (with Mattamy) and I think it was a great place for us.”
appropriate capacity
If Toronto moves next season, which is a big assumption, the new arena would have to meet certain criteria.
The first is capacity. Hefford said when the league started looking for a venue for this season, he targeted an arena with a seating capacity of about 5,000. There are large facilities such as the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota, home of the NHL’s Wild, which can seat about 18,000 people, and smaller facilities like Mattamy.
According to sports economics expert Victor Matheson, it’s important to find the right middle ground between too big and too small.
“We put the wrong size crowd in a big stadium, so it looks much smaller than it actually is,” said Matheson, a professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. “It’s very important to get the stadium right-sized because it creates an atmosphere that people want to come back to. That’s a big deal, it’s difficult.”
Although it may mean there aren’t enough tickets to meet demand, selling out has additional benefits.
“Venue awareness is always important,” David Carter, a sports business professor at the University of Southern California and founder of the Sports Business Group, wrote in an email. “It’s important to create a ‘must-see’ atmosphere, and a half-empty building doesn’t create that excitement.”
Everything is not going well in the league. Brian Burke, a former NHL executive who heads the players’ association, said he’s happy with the league’s building but said it’s not perfect.
“Mattamy is great, but it’s small,” Burke told the Star. “Xcel Energy Center, this is an NHL rink. It’s beautiful. Might be too big on some nights… There may be better venues in St. Paul.”
“Mattamy (center) is great, but he’s small,” Brian Burke told the Star.
RJ Johnston toronto star
Other factors are involved
In addition to capacity, PWHL venues must match the professionalism the league strives for.
That means high-quality ice, adequate locker rooms, public address capabilities and emergency personnel on site, Hefford said. The venue also needs space for a dining room and weight room, Burke added.
The arena must also be safe. Burke said previous women’s leagues included venues deemed unsafe for players to enter or exit. That wasn’t an issue for her in PWHL, but it is a must in the future.
Another factor, and perhaps the most important, is finding areas where PWHL can control gaming revenue.
Financial arrangements vary by venue, Matheson said, but can often include facility fees plus a portion of revenue from tickets, perks and merchandise. A bad deal can mean trouble.
“That’s what doomed some of the early (Major League Soccer) sites. They weren’t able to get very good deals on other properties because they weren’t the anchor tenant,” Matheson said. “Selling a lot of beer and hot dogs at a game won’t do you any good if the proceeds don’t go back to the team.”
Scheduling can also be an issue for venues with other tenants. Even if Scotiabank Arena were a good fit, playing a full season there alongside the Maple Leafs, Raptors and big-ticket concerts could be a logistical nightmare.
“We’re not the main tenant in any of the buildings, so the sooner we can lock in a date before a competitor comes in, the better,” Scheer said.
And there’s the elephant in the room: location. Matheson said it would be cheaper to move outside the city, but the prevailing thinking today is that the arena should be centrally located.
“People like the whole gaming experience: being able to watch the game and go to a restaurant or do other things downtown at the same time,” he said.
“There’s a huge need in this city and we don’t want to leave it unattended,” Jayna Hefford told the Star.
steve russell
What are the options?
With that in mind, there are only a handful of arenas in the Toronto area that qualify.
“When I look at Toronto and things like the core of downtown Toronto, there are three facilities in my mind that are appropriate,” Hefford said. “We have Mattamy, Coca-Cola (Coliseum), Scotiabank, and more options if you want to go outside of the city.”
The Coca-Cola Coliseum, located at Exhibition Place just east of BMO Field, is home to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and has 8,140 hockey seats. Outside the city, the Paramount Fine Foods Center in Mississauga and his CAA Center in Brampton both have a seating capacity of about 5,000 people.
And then there’s the massive Scotiabank Arena, which seats about 19,000 and sits adjacent to one of North America’s busiest transportation hubs. But Scheer said just because a team sells once doesn’t mean it makes sense long-term.
“Just like with athletes, you can never get too good or too bad by winning or losing, and it’s the same in business,” Scheer said. “We’ll learn a lot from playing Scotiabank… but that doesn’t mean we should play 16 games at Scotiabank either.”
The 2,600-seat Mattamy Athletic Center, located two blocks north of Yonge-Dundas Square, is sold out for all home games.
steve russell
Matheson also warns against being too big, too fast.
“I see the temptation to say, ‘Oh, people love women’s hockey. It has to go 100 percent to Scotiabank, no matter what the rental price is,'” he said. “Early leagues failed because the costs ran away quickly. If you’re not careful, you can quickly exhaust your starting capital.”
What does the team think?
These complex decisions don’t bother the team, at least not publicly. In a way, Toronto is lucky to be treated by a league that owns all six teams.
“I’m not jumping in there,” Toronto head coach Troy Ryan said at a recent practice. “Our job is still kind of between the line and the board, so that’s where our focus is.”
Still, he’s surprised by the demand for Toronto’s games, especially Friday’s game against Montreal.
“(I thought), ‘Well, we’ve got 18,000 seats, so maybe I can wait a day or two and buy a couple more tickets,'” Ryan said, adding that the game was only a few hours away. He talked about getting tickets for family and friends before realizing they were sold out. “I’m probably going to grab what’s left…I’m definitely running out of tickets.”
PWHL seems to be similar. The question is how to fix it.
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