Empty seats galore expected at World Juniors in Edmonton this year

Without COVID-19 restrictions for the first time in two and a half years, the World Juniors will still be anything but normal in Edmonton this week.

A tournament usually packed with hype and excitement when held in Canada, tickets to this year’s World Juniors aren’t in short supply.

Lots of tickets still left for Canada’s first game (Ticketmaster.ca)

A quick check on Ticketmaster.ca reveals huge amounts of seats still available for purchase for every game. That includes all four of Canada’s round-robin games and even the gold medal game on August 20.

The tournament begins tomorrow.

The available tickets are all in the lower bowl of Rogers Place, with the cheapest standard tickets selling for $134.50 each. The cheapest standard tickets available for the gold medal game are $209.50.

Easy to find gold medal game tickets (Ticketmaster.ca)

Tickets are available, many of them, for as cheap as $48.50 on the opening day of the tournament in games not involving Canada.

This is highly unusual for a Canadian-hosted tournament, but also totally understandable given the circumstances.

Selling tickets for a rescheduled summer tournament, one which doesn’t feature Russia, was always going to be challenging for organizers.

Tickets first went on sale on May 10, which was 16 days before TSN’s Rick Westhead first reported an alleged sexual assault involving multiple members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior team.

A dark cloud has cast a shadow over this tournament ever since, with some even calling for the tournament to be cancelled entirely.

You might also like:
• 9 big-name players still available in NHL free agency right now