Canada skip Brad Gushue calls out during men's draw seven action against Australia at the Pan Continental Curling Championship in Kelowna, B.C. on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Michael Burns **MANDATORY CREDIT**
Attendance at this week’s Pan Continental Curling Championships has been one of the few bright spots for a sport that is simply not packing fans into venues the way it once did.
The only problem is the world championship qualifier is being held in a curling club and not a traditional arena.
While a couple hundred fans filled the modest setup of bleachers, seats and the behind-the-glass viewing area in the Kelowna Curling Club, other major competitions have fallen far short of expectations.
“There’s some concern,” said Brad Gushue, who’s skipping the Canadian team at the world championship qualifier. “Is it a big concern? Not so much because we see the television numbers when it is on TV are still huge.”
The 2022 edition of the Pan Continental was held last fall in a 2,500-seat arena in Calgary. However, the venue was essentially empty for most draws.
Attendance woes could be chalked up to an inaugural competition that had yet to build a following. But the numbers have not improved this year.
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts last February in Kamloops, B.C., averaged 2,050 fans per draw in announced – not actual – attendance. That was down 20 per cent from the 2020 average of 2,578 in Moose Jaw, Sask., the last previous national women’s curling championship not impacted by COVID-19 pandemic limitations.
Numbers at the Tim Hortons Brier – now sponsored by Montana’s – were also lower. Last season’s event in London, Ont., averaged 3,184 fans per draw, down from the 4,003 average in 2020 at Kingston, Ont.
The PointsBet Invitational at the 1,500-seat Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ont., was virtually empty despite final games that featured big names like Kerri Einarson, Rachel Homan, Matt Dunstone and Reid Carruthers.
“When we played at the PointsBet, I was surprised at the lack of support for that event,” Gushue said. “On the flip side this week, the crowds have been great. The stands have been full here when we’ve played.
“Inside the club, it’s been full. So this has been well-supported from a fans and a volunteers standpoint. That has all been wonderful.”
Unlike the Brier and the Scotties, Curling Canada did not release attendance figures for the PointsBet competition.
The Grand Slam of Curling circuit, meanwhile, kicked off last month at the 2,170-seat Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, Ont., but it too was saddled by sections of mostly empty seats.
Attendance did pick up for the final weekend though – it appeared about half full for some draws – but a Sportsnet spokesperson said the network would not be sharing figures.
It’s all a far cry from the sport’s glory days a couple decades ago when NHL-sized hockey venues were used for some events.
The national championship attendance record of 281,985 was set at the 2005 Brier in Edmonton. That was nearly three times the total of 95,338 recorded last March in London.
As for ratings, it can be difficult to tell how many people actually watch live sports since specifics on viewership details can vary depending on which network is making them available.
TSN, which broadcasts the national and world championships, said the average audience for the 2023 Brier, Scotties, and PointsBet Invitational finals were up six per cent compared to 2022, a network spokesperson said in an email.
A spokesperson for Sportsnet, which owns and operates the Grand Slam of Curling series, said the men’s and women’s finals of its recent season-opening HearingLife Tour Challenge had a combined reach of 1.16 million viewers, per Numeris data.
Neither outlet provided traditional average audience figures.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023.
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