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Road games present financial losses for Storm hockey club

The Campbell River Storm made a modest profit during home games this season but suffered significant losses on the road
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Storm fans celebrate during a game Feb. 28 against the Nanaimo Buccaneers.

The Campbell River Storm made a modest profit during home games this season but suffered significant losses on the road.

Wes Roed, governor of the Storm, broke down the team’s costs and revenues for the Strathcona Regional District in January.

“For every home game, on average, we generate an $1,100 gate,” Roed wrote. “For every road game, the expenses are on average $1,200 – an immediate $100 deficit even before calculating expenses equalling a minimum of $2,400 plus per season. The picture, however, gets even bleaker from there.”

While the Storm generate $1,100 on average for home games, the team spends $710 each game on dressing room and office rent ($100), coaches ($150), programs ($100), referees ($290), a play-by-play announcer ($40), photographer ($20), and pucks ($10). That leaves the Storm with a $390 profit per game.

However, the team incurs expenses of $1,200 for each road game, paying $700 for a bus, $225 for a driver, and $275 for gas.

Subtracting the cost for each road game from the $390 profit from home games leaves the Storm with an approximate $800 shortfall, or $20,000 per season.

Roed and Storm co-owner Kevin Spooner asked the regional district, via the Strathcona Gardens Commission, in January to give the team a break in ice rental fees for a portion of the Storm’s playoff run and include the ice time as part of the team’s $33,000 annual fee.

“We hope that asking for the six playoff games will be within reason,” Roed wrote. “While it is true that the cost is only an additional $200-$300 per game, it is an amount that continues to push the deficit even further into the red.”

The Strathcona Gardens Commission, however, denied the request. Russ Hotsenpiller, CAO of the regional district, said he was concerned that the commission would be subsidizing a business and noted that an amendment to the entire licensing agreement would have to be made in order to satisfy the Storm’s request.

The commission did, however, purchase 10 tickets per game for promotional purposes and agreed to amend the licensing agreement between the regional district and the Storm to address future playoff games.