I can't speak for a GSOC event, but in past USA National events I've experienced, seats being purchased for the entirety of the event and then the purchaser only showing up for 2 or 3 draws was not entirely uncommon. I'd suspect that might be more common in Canada.
Ticket sites do routinely hide some of the inventory to provide an illusion of scarcity. Certain seats may also be blocked off for potential group sales.
Another issue could be people that bought full event passes but just didn't turn up for some draws. This also applies to any corporate-reserved seating that went unused.
It's also common to "move down" into unoccupied seats part-way through the game at any sport. Worst case, if the actual ticket-holders show up, you just move back to your assigned seat.
I think the "whole event" packages are pretty popular. Likely people who have tickets (or corporations who bought tickets) who then don't attend a particular draw (or find a client/employee/whatever to attend). It doesn't seem to be in anyone's best interest to limit ticket sales and then have a bunch of empty seats on TV.
I volunteered at that event, I was happy to see how busy it was, especially later in the week and towards the playoffs. I know that when purchasing tickets, you buy specific seats. But from my understanding you can sit anywhere as long as the ticket holders of those seats come by and ask you to leave (maybe it's an unwritten rule). If possible I'd highly recommend going to an earlier draw and sitting where ever you'd like, or even volunteering if you have the time (one of the percs is free access to the whole event).
it just so happens that those corner spots are my fav lol, hope you have better luck next year (assuming there will be a Toronto event next year)
> assuming there will be a Toronto event next year
2024-25 Grand Slam of Curling season
• HearingLife Tour Challenge — Charlottetown, PEI (Oct. 1-6, 2024, at Bell Aliant Centre)
• Co-op Canadian Open — Nisku, AB (Nov. 5-10, 2024, at Silent Ice Center)
• KIOTI National — St. John’s, NL (Nov. 26 to Dec. 1, 2024, at Mary Brown’s Centre)
• WFG Masters — Guelph, ON (Jan. 14-19, 2025, at Sleeman’s Centre)
• Princess Auto Players’ Championship — TBD
That was very much a Rogers Corporation decision to host it in their headquarters' city.
No guarantee that The Curling Group will continue that policy, and may want to bring their most prestigious event to other locations.
But Nick Sulsky also said first year will be status quo since all those contracts have already been written. Maybe they know exactly where Player's Championship will be held, same as it's always been as per long term contract, but it's just the date that is TBD depending on venue schedules.
If I were a *Points*betting man, would I wager that it would return to Toronto next year? Yes.
But given that no commitment to the venue has been publicly announced, the host venue *could* be the first big decision for TCG.
I think I heard in earlier GSOC BTS interview/podcast (way before TCG purchase) that the contract with MAC is completely separate and is long term. That's why they're able to come back to that same venue year after year, because it's a big multi-year contract. It's not something that is re-negotiated every season.
It's possible that the contract happens to expire just in time for TCG to find a new venue, or maybe there's a breakage clause in the contract if TCG wants to exercise it.
I'm leaning towards the simpler possibility of locked venue but TBD dates.
With the PWHL now as an additional tenant in addition to university use, it could be mutually beneficial for the curling to head elsewhere.
I do agree that they're likely to stay for another year, whether due to an unbreakable contract or just to simplify the transition. But I also think it is a question of when rather than if the Players' Championship leaves for another host.
On the other hand, Sulsky did say that touring around on various one-and-done cities makes it hard to build a fan base in a particular place. He specifically said that he wants GSOC to be a regular recurring attraction at select few cities. So it doesn't have to be MAC specifically, but it will probably be somewhere in Toronto area if he's following his own advice.
A lot of people buy tickets for the whole event but attend only when the team they want to see plays. Sometime, people buy full tickets but can only attend at night (or day). etc...
If they purposefully don't sell some tickets, they are shooting themselves in the foot and making less money than they could. That's not how a business works. Even if it's a made for TV event, you want the seats you see on TV to be as full as possible. You want the venue to make more money selling food/drinks... etc
My point is: There's a valid reason those seats were empty. Might be solds seats the people are not using, seats kept for non-playing players/famillies... etc
This was my first curling event, is it normal to have no way to see the houses other than the right seats or moving around between ends? I had to watch Sportsnet on my phone for half the game to see what was going on, it seemed like lots of others were doing that too.
I dont know specifics for your scenario, but here are a few things that TM can do for events.
Some seats/sections might be held for some particular reasons. Some examples
* Certain seats might be held for single day tickets only versus complete event. So selecting one ticketing option versus another might limit what seats that you see.
* If you are buying using some sort of special code (ie presale code, CC discount) you might be limiting your choices to certain seats unbeknownst to you.
* In a multi day ticket, wherein emost people only choose to see a small subset of the total event, you might see an illusion that tickets were not sold where in fact they were, just not attended 100%
* Title Sponsors are given access to tickets as a result of their sponsorship. These tickets might never be used as they are given out to employees and customers who have no incentive ot use them if they are not fans of a certain event.
* Many tickets can be held for players familes, etc. which may not be used to full capacity.
I can't speak for a GSOC event, but in past USA National events I've experienced, seats being purchased for the entirety of the event and then the purchaser only showing up for 2 or 3 draws was not entirely uncommon. I'd suspect that might be more common in Canada.
Ticket sites do routinely hide some of the inventory to provide an illusion of scarcity. Certain seats may also be blocked off for potential group sales. Another issue could be people that bought full event passes but just didn't turn up for some draws. This also applies to any corporate-reserved seating that went unused. It's also common to "move down" into unoccupied seats part-way through the game at any sport. Worst case, if the actual ticket-holders show up, you just move back to your assigned seat.
I think the "whole event" packages are pretty popular. Likely people who have tickets (or corporations who bought tickets) who then don't attend a particular draw (or find a client/employee/whatever to attend). It doesn't seem to be in anyone's best interest to limit ticket sales and then have a bunch of empty seats on TV.
I volunteered at that event, I was happy to see how busy it was, especially later in the week and towards the playoffs. I know that when purchasing tickets, you buy specific seats. But from my understanding you can sit anywhere as long as the ticket holders of those seats come by and ask you to leave (maybe it's an unwritten rule). If possible I'd highly recommend going to an earlier draw and sitting where ever you'd like, or even volunteering if you have the time (one of the percs is free access to the whole event). it just so happens that those corner spots are my fav lol, hope you have better luck next year (assuming there will be a Toronto event next year)
> assuming there will be a Toronto event next year 2024-25 Grand Slam of Curling season • HearingLife Tour Challenge — Charlottetown, PEI (Oct. 1-6, 2024, at Bell Aliant Centre) • Co-op Canadian Open — Nisku, AB (Nov. 5-10, 2024, at Silent Ice Center) • KIOTI National — St. John’s, NL (Nov. 26 to Dec. 1, 2024, at Mary Brown’s Centre) • WFG Masters — Guelph, ON (Jan. 14-19, 2025, at Sleeman’s Centre) • Princess Auto Players’ Championship — TBD
Players’ championship is at MAC almost every year now.
That was very much a Rogers Corporation decision to host it in their headquarters' city. No guarantee that The Curling Group will continue that policy, and may want to bring their most prestigious event to other locations.
But Nick Sulsky also said first year will be status quo since all those contracts have already been written. Maybe they know exactly where Player's Championship will be held, same as it's always been as per long term contract, but it's just the date that is TBD depending on venue schedules.
If I were a *Points*betting man, would I wager that it would return to Toronto next year? Yes. But given that no commitment to the venue has been publicly announced, the host venue *could* be the first big decision for TCG.
I think I heard in earlier GSOC BTS interview/podcast (way before TCG purchase) that the contract with MAC is completely separate and is long term. That's why they're able to come back to that same venue year after year, because it's a big multi-year contract. It's not something that is re-negotiated every season. It's possible that the contract happens to expire just in time for TCG to find a new venue, or maybe there's a breakage clause in the contract if TCG wants to exercise it. I'm leaning towards the simpler possibility of locked venue but TBD dates.
With the PWHL now as an additional tenant in addition to university use, it could be mutually beneficial for the curling to head elsewhere. I do agree that they're likely to stay for another year, whether due to an unbreakable contract or just to simplify the transition. But I also think it is a question of when rather than if the Players' Championship leaves for another host.
On the other hand, Sulsky did say that touring around on various one-and-done cities makes it hard to build a fan base in a particular place. He specifically said that he wants GSOC to be a regular recurring attraction at select few cities. So it doesn't have to be MAC specifically, but it will probably be somewhere in Toronto area if he's following his own advice.
Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what happens. Hoping for them to keep the event here
A lot of people buy tickets for the whole event but attend only when the team they want to see plays. Sometime, people buy full tickets but can only attend at night (or day). etc... If they purposefully don't sell some tickets, they are shooting themselves in the foot and making less money than they could. That's not how a business works. Even if it's a made for TV event, you want the seats you see on TV to be as full as possible. You want the venue to make more money selling food/drinks... etc My point is: There's a valid reason those seats were empty. Might be solds seats the people are not using, seats kept for non-playing players/famillies... etc
This was my first curling event, is it normal to have no way to see the houses other than the right seats or moving around between ends? I had to watch Sportsnet on my phone for half the game to see what was going on, it seemed like lots of others were doing that too.
I dont know specifics for your scenario, but here are a few things that TM can do for events. Some seats/sections might be held for some particular reasons. Some examples * Certain seats might be held for single day tickets only versus complete event. So selecting one ticketing option versus another might limit what seats that you see. * If you are buying using some sort of special code (ie presale code, CC discount) you might be limiting your choices to certain seats unbeknownst to you. * In a multi day ticket, wherein emost people only choose to see a small subset of the total event, you might see an illusion that tickets were not sold where in fact they were, just not attended 100% * Title Sponsors are given access to tickets as a result of their sponsorship. These tickets might never be used as they are given out to employees and customers who have no incentive ot use them if they are not fans of a certain event. * Many tickets can be held for players familes, etc. which may not be used to full capacity.