The Regina Pats are making one of their clearest moves yet to win people back: they’re lowering ticket prices.
That matters in a city where just about everything seems to cost more, and where the Pats have been trying to rebuild interest after a rough stretch. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2016, and the crowds have thinned out since Connor Bedard left in 2023. Even their first-round playoff loss in April to the Medicine Hat Tigers drew sparse attendance, especially compared with the Tigers’ smaller building and cheaper adult-youth-child ticket options.
“Accessibility, affordability,” said Pats CEO Gord Pritchard, when asked during a Thursday media conference what complaints have been heard from hockey fans.
For years, the Pats sat among the WHL’s pricier teams and did not offer reduced children’s rates at the box office. The club said those prices were needed because it did not own the Brandt Centre’s concession rights.
Now the team is changing course. For the upcoming season, the Pats have created family sections aimed at building future generations of fans.
They’ve also introduced cheaper tickets for mid-week games, added incentives for season ticket holders and cut all prices by 15 per cent. Leader-Post sports editor Taylor Shire detailed the club’s plans.
The ticket move is only one piece of a much bigger vision under owner Shaun Semple.
Semple’s Regina-based Brandt Group of Companies owns Brandt Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Pats and the Regina Red Sox of the Western Canadian Baseball League. Brandt also recently bought most of REAL District from the City of Regina, with that deal set to be finalized Sept. 1.
REAL District is already home to the Queen City Ex and includes the Brandt Centre, along with several buildings used for events such as Agribition and Canada’s Farm Show. Semple said the company has more plans for the area, including a distillery and a state-of-the-art, “immersive” nightclub with live concerts next to the upgraded hockey arena.
On Thursday, he said the goal is to spend tens of millions to turn REAL into something far more lively than it is now.
“When we look ahead and say, 'Well, what are we trying to do here?' - we've got to have a place that people are proud of," said Semple. "We've got to have a team that I know everybody's proud of. We've got a place that people want to come and gather and get excited about it.
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The reason the debate lingers is simple: the Canadiens were playing the long game, turning the package into rebuilding capital that helped them keep building out the roster and maneuver for other moves. Heineman and the draft picks became part of that larger asset pile, while Calgary had to decide whether the scoring it got in the moment was worth what it gave up. Even now, the trade sits right in the middle of the classic deadline dilemma: win now, or keep collecting pieces for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]