The Moose Jaw Warriors once again had less than positive news to report on the financial front during their annual general meeting on Thursday afternoon at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, but as in past recent seasons with similar situations, things are far from looking dire.
There’s still plenty of cash in the bank and plenty of community support, now it’s just a matter of fixing a few things when it comes to money leaving the franchise.
The Warriors reported an overall loss of $280,413, more the double the $106,719 deficit they put up in the 2021-22 campaign.
Two of the largest hits included $159,000 for rent for the Moose Jaw Events Centre, and a further $441,898 went to the city from signage and suites, shared upgrades and the club seat and community rink split, for a total of $601,481.
With the deficit, the Warriors opted to once again defer their $200,000 payment to their multiplex pledge commitment, with eight of 10 payments totalling $2,100,000 having been made to date.
“Financially, we aren’t happy showing a deficit, but with sports itself and our team, we’re still having challenges with the market,” said Warriors president Chad Taylor. “Expenses are rising and we have to find a way to contain them, maybe address some things behind the scenes.
“Unfortunately fans and season ticket holders will be paying a bit more money coming into next year, but at the end of the day we need a better agreement with the city on the lease and we’re working towards that.”
Positive changes in that direction could be coming in the near future, even as early as within the next month.
“We’re in negotiations right now for the upcoming year and working toward a new agreement. The new city manager (Maryse Carmichael) has been very receptive and understands the situation we’re in, and it’s also something to acknowledge that with the facility itself, the weight has been put on the Moose Jaw Warriors and we have to find a way to balance things out.”
The news wasn’t all bad financially, as the team continues to have $747,606 in their bank account and the education fund is at a comfortable $308,963.
As a result, fans have little to worry about when it comes to the overall health of the Moose Jaw Warriors.
“The community always steps up for this team, no matter what,” Taylor said. “The Moose Jaw Warriors are healthy; they have money in the bank. But we always need to do a better job finding a new fan to become engaged and be part of what the Moose Jaw Warriors bring. It’s about community, getting people out to hockey games and it takes one person at a time…
We have great corporate partners, great fans, great volunteers and this club will be just fine.”
The AGM marked the final one for Taylor as president of the team, as his term comes to an end and he plans to let someone else take over the position.
Naturally, his time with the Warriors has come with a lot of memories.
“Just the amount of people I’ve met over the years, some of the superstars I saw play as they were growing up and some great businessmen,” he said. “It’s a thrill and a great privilege to be one of the four community teams and work with such a great network of businessmen… there have been lots of cool highlights, definitely.”
Three positions on the board of directors were up for election, with Bob Dougall, Maggie Sinclair and Shea Jameson filling those spots by acclamation.
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