The May 3-announced departure of the Vancouver Giants from the Pacific Coliseum could be a big opportunity for the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE).
The PNE says the “Rink on Renfrew,” which opened in 1968, might be able to bring in more big events without an anchor tenant, because it frequently has had to turn away concert and trade show promoters since the Western Hockey League (WHL) team debuted there in 2001.
“We will have more flexibility, and I imagine a number of those dates will fill in,” said spokeswoman Laura Ballance.
She added that the building has fluctuated between 120 and 150 event days a year. The Giants, who are moving to the 5,276-capacity Langley Events Centre, booked 36 regular-season game dates a year, plus ice time for practices and provisional playoff dates. The team’s deal created a near booking blanket from September to May, leaving limited blocks of consecutive days for other events.
“It was difficult for larger events and events that tend to book a long time out, so for some of the more significant concerts that ma be Rogers Arena was full and they were looking at us as the secondary venue,” she said. “It’s very difficult booking a year or year and a half out, and you’ve got uncertainty because the WHL schedule wouldn’t happen on that sort of time cycle.”
The Giants had no playoff games in their last two seasons, and the attendance fell to 3,332 last season from an average 4,269 in 2013-14. The team previously played in Langley when the Coliseum was used for the 2010 Winter Olympics short-track speedskating and figure skating meets, for which the Coliseum received a $20.4 million renovation.
“The challenge with the Coliseum was it was too big,” Ballance said. “Langley is a much more appropriate size venue; there are events that will go to Abbotsford [Centre] that will fit that size venue better than the Coliseum.”
Ballance said it would open up more opportunities not only for more public events, but also for film and TV shoots and special events. When the Giants missed the playoffs last year, the PNE booked a month-long rehearsal for U2’s Innocence + Experience tour.
The PNE doesn’t break down its Coliseum revenue. It reported a net $3.14 million from facility sales of $10.22 million for the year ended March 31, 2015. Of the 16 concerts held at PNE venues for 93,300 attendees during the fiscal year, eight were electronic dance music and two were mainstream live concerts at the Coliseum.
The departure of the Giants could repatriate some types of shows that had gone to the Abbotsford Centre for scheduling reasons. That 7,000-capacity venue lost its anchor tenant, the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Heat, when Abbotsford city hall paid $5.5 million to buy out the Calgary Flames farm team’s lease after the 2013-14 season.
The Global Spectrum-managed venue’s 2015 annual report showed gross event revenue of $2.12 million for 19 ticketed events that drew 57,281. Thirteen of those events were between September and May. WWE Live had the biggest gross ($216,328), but Chris Tomlin drew the biggest crowd (6,538).
In Point Grey, the University of British Columbia’s Thunderbird Arena, which opened in 2008, can hold up to 8,000 for concerts. It’s limited by its location and commitments for Canadian Interuniversity Sport hockey on weekends in October, November, January and February.
In April, it hosted concerts by Metric, Death Cab for Cutie and The 1975; it has no other concerts listed on its calendar.
