The Yorkton Terriers became a team in 1972. For the past 45 years, they have held the title of the most elite hockey team in Yorkton, and they’ve expanded from a team into an entire organization.
Over the past few seasons, the junior hockey club has had its shares of highs and lows – from 2014 when they were the best junior A team in the country, to the following year when they were unable to clinch a spot in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs.
Since the team was created, the community of Yorkton has supported the Terriers.
But throughout the past few seasons, that community support has been dwindling, and it’s become evident in the Terriers’ financial books. The past three seasons have ended in a financial deficit for the organization. And as the 2016-2017 season wraps up, they’re expecting the same result.
The Terriers’ team treasurer Gerry Smysnuik said they want to be open with the city of Yorkton.
“We want the community to be fully aware of our poor financial situation before it’s too late to turn it around,” said Smysnuik.
Expense and income breakdown
Smysnuik provided a breakdown of the costs that the team faces each season.
The team operates on a regular season budget of $500,000 - $600,000. The biggest expense is salaries, making up 25-30 per cent that budget. Other significant costs include billet costs (12 per cent of total expenditures), travel expenses including bussing, meals and accommodations (13 per cent of total expenditures), payments to the city of Yorkton for ice rental, office rental and other services (10 per cent of total expenditures) and hockey equipment and sticks (5 per cent of total expenditures).
Smysnuik added there are so many other costs that look small on paper, but they all add up.
On the revenue side, Smysnuik said the team’s top sources of revenue are corporate sponsorships (30 per cent of total revenue), season tickets and game day admissions (25 per cent of total revenue), and souvenir sales (4 per cent of total revenue). The rest comes from fundraising activities including the home lottery, sportsman dinner and the home game 50/50 draws.
Smysnuik noted that while expenses have not increased over the past three years, the team has seen significant decreases in many revenue streams over that time.
Season ticket sales have dropped 33 per cent. In the 2014-15 season, sales were more than $145,000. In the 2016-17 season, ticket sales were $95,000 – an indication that public support has weakened.
Over this three-year period, the team has also experienced a drop in fundraising revenues. Their farm project income has dropped dramatically by $30,000.
The sportsman dinner raised $15,000 this year, which was $7,000 lower than what was raised the year before.
The home lottery makes money ($35,000 in 2016-17 and $48,000 in 2015-16). However these amounts are not reaching the full potential of the fundraiser, if the lottery were to sell out.
As a result of the revenue decreases, the team continues to show deficits that have all but wiped out the team’s accumulated equity. Both Smysnuik and Terriers president Dave Baron made it very clear: if the club doesn’t see more public support, the viability of the team is questionable.
“We’re not sure if we’re quite at the spot to cry wolf. Maybe not right now, but you can see it,” said Baron.
“We’re really close I think,” added Smysnuik.
They’re also hoping to add to their volunteer pool to allow things to run a little more smoothly.
“In addition to our financial challenges, we are lacking in the number of volunteers we have to run game day operations and many of our off-ice fundraising projects,” said Smysnuik.
Smysnuik and Baron agreed that the volunteers they have now are great, but they need a bigger pool to draw from so they don’t burn out the volunteer base they currently have.
Costly playoffs
The Terriers made it to the SJHL playoffs this past year. They were hoping the additional games would generate additional revenue for the club. But that wasn’t the case.
In the past, playoff game ticket sales were high, but this year the sales were underwhelming. The first playoff game pulled in 717 people, while the second saw only 589. Both of those numbers were below the regular season attendance average which was 863 according to the official numbers on the SJHL website.
The Estevan Bruins, who the Terriers faced in their quarterfinal playoff round, saw more than 1100 fans at all three games they hosted against Yorkton.
“The expenses of going to [Estevan] to play hockey, keeping players here an extra few weeks, it all costs money. So to not generate a lot from ticket sales, again, put us in a bind,” said Smysnuik.
Elsewhere in the SJHL
With a population of nearly 20,000 people surrounding the Yorkton area, the Terriers should be seeing one of the largest fan turnouts in the league. About 10 per cent of that population would fill up their home rink, the Farrell Agencies Arena.
Kindersley, with a population of approximately 5,000 people, has a team facing similar issues. The Kindersley Klippers team president Brett Sautner said they see the same lack of attendance at their rink.
“Every club should be run off your gate, but it’s not,” Sautner told Yorkton This Week. “We don’t bank on getting fans anymore. We have to get our money some other ways.”
Sautner said like the Terriers, their corporate sponsorships have remained consistent, and their fundraising makes up a large portion of their income each year.
“We [make] about $65,000 in ticket sales,” said Sautner. “Our corporate is over $200,000. Fundraising is at $100,000. So the ticket sales is something we don’t even rely on anymore.”
He added that their ticket sales have been declining every year.
Flin Flon Bombers president Henry Kosar told the Flin Flon Reminder in February that they have a good fan base, but they also face a constant struggle of getting more fans to every game.
Every team faces highs and lows from season to season. Things can change every year. But the decline in fan attendance appears to be a trending pattern for every team, every season in the SJHL.
Benefit to the community
While their main focus is on the ice, the Terriers also bring a lot to the city of Yorkton.
Smysnuik said from their $500,000 to $600,000 budget for operating each year, he estimates 75 per cent of that is spent in Yorkton.
“There’s a benefit to having us here,” he said.
Part of the money the Terriers put back into local businesses goes to things like hockey equipment, busses, team meals and billet costs (groceries, living expenses, etc.)
When they host games against teams from away, it benefits local hotels, restaurants and stores.
Yorkton mayor Bob Maloney spoke to this, and said junior hockey has always been a big draw for the city of Yorkton.
“People are coming from all over the area, not just the city of Yorkton,” said Maloney. “They’re watching a game, staying the night, going shopping, and that’s huge for our economy.”
Maloney added that if the hockey team is unable to survive in the coming years, it would definitely be a loss to the city of Yorkton.
“We’re hopeful that people will get out and support the club,” added Maloney.
A Terriers economic valuation report was conducted by Jim Thiessen for the SJHL at the end of 2015. The report showed high numbers of financial benefit from the Terriers organization in the community.
The most noteworthy number offered was the total financial benefit (total money spent in or created in Yorkton) of the team at the end of that year, which was $1,297,049.
That number came from two important values: the community income coefficient ($589,568) and the sales coefficient ($707,481).
The community income coefficient measures the money left in the community after some money is spent outside of the community resulting in a ‘financial leakage.’
The sales coefficient is created as part of the economic multiplier of money, as every dollar spent in a community has additional spinoff value.
Both totals were published by Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation.
In addition to the financial benefit to have the Terriers in the community, the team, coaching staff and board of directors strive to take part in as much volunteer work as they can.
This includes but is not limited to: visiting local schools to read to young students, being involved with Big Brother Big Sisters, assisting with minor hockey teams, visiting seniors and participating in the Terry Fox run and the Habitat for Humanity project.
The key to success
The bottom line is that things need to change if the Terriers are going to be part of the community for years to come.
Smysnuik said the message that they want to convey is simple.
“Firstly, we want to thank the corporate community for their financial support and look forward to their continued support in the future,” he began.
“Secondly, we want the public to know that their support is critical to this team’s success. We need them to financially support the club by buying season tickets or game day tickets and attending our games. We need the public to also financially support our fundraising projects like our annual lottery and sportsman dinner,” he said.
“And finally, we have to expand our volunteer base so that we have sufficient help to run game day operations and our various fundraising projects,” he concluded.
Anyone interested in volunteering can contact the Terriers’ office to get started.
Community support will help bring the Yorkton Terriers back to being a successful organization, both on and off the ice.
The Terriers’ annual general meeting will be held on Monday, June 26 at 7 p.m. in the National Bank room at the Gallagher Centre. Everyone is welcome, and all are encouraged to attend to learn more.
