Hey, hear the news? Check out the ticket prices for the opening ceremonies: Nearly 120 bucks! Or, perhaps I am from the old school where a buck is a buck. I will stay home and throw another stick on the fire – perhaps the opening ceremony will be televised, but don’t hold your breath. I think I will be paying dearly for this project anyway. But, enuff is enuff!

opening ceremonies are being telecast on TSN Feb. 13th at 7pm. My question is why is the Aquatic Centre closed – who needs a pool during the winter games???

I support the winter games, But I think they missed the mark on it. Why charge $120 on tickets and may be sell 600 tickets. Or sell it $20 and sell 5000 tickets and sell coffee, t shirts and other memorabilia.

Definitely will look better on the camera, Instead of 1200? athletes, with only 600 in the crowd.

Some how the mentality of the organizers were, its a major center like Vancouver.

Aquatic center will be used for synchronized swimming. Yes opening ceremonies ticket price is high, but other events and competitions are very reasonably priced. Tickets start at just $5, and a full week pass is $68.

Calling them the Winter Games doesn’t exactly cover what’s taking place,.

1st Week Feb 12-Feb 20th. Non winter sports will be. Archery, ringette, artistic gymnastics, target shooting (Airgun) Wheelchair basketball.

2nd Week Feb 21st-Mar 1st. Squash, badminton, table tennis, synchronized swimming, judo.

Then of course you have all the Winter sports. Mens and Womens hockey, skiing, long and short track skating, figure skating, etc;

I doubt they will have a problem getting a full house on opening night when you consider that they have at least 1500 athletes, managers, family, and of course (perhaps) four or five thousand volunteers. Plus a host of dignitaries, politicians, etc; etc; etc;.

So batten down the hatches as your favorite restaurants, hotels, motels, etc will not be able to accommodate you for approx. 18 days.

The opening ceremonies will be sold out with or without you. Stay home and watch it on TV, or don’t….no one will miss your groaning and moaning and the “Sky is falling” attitudes.

Personally I plan to take in as much as possible and enjoy the largest event that has ever been in PG, and the event that has the most potential to have the single biggest POSITIVE impact on our community Canada wide EVER. I also plan to speak to as many of the THOUSANDS of out of towners who will attend as I can and let them know what a great place PG is to live and work.

Since we can not use certain buildings and we have a yearly membership–do we get a credit for the time loss ?

That’s the right attitude, realitycheck. The Games are coming whether we like it or not, and you might as well make the best of it and be as welcoming and accommodating to all the visitors as possible.

All the local curmudgeons and naysayers can stay in their homes for two weeks. They won’t be missed.

Lol most of these comments make me laugh with the crappy attitude I tell ya. Not sure how many think that this is just a Prince George event and no one will come. I think you all will be pretty sorry in a few weeks just like Palopu sorta said, have fun finding your favorite seat in your favorite restaurant.

Expect longer traffic delays, especially on weekends! Not to mention the strain it may put on local services such as transit (especially now that it is free), taxi cabs, grocery outlets, and the list goes on and on. All these people will arrive over a few days before the games even begin and it will take a bit to sort out. Better take your weekly dose of reality because this event is quickly approaching!

I am one of the 4,500 games volunteers. I am looking forward to Prince George feeling like a city that is buzzing with excitement. If it takes me 5 minutes longer to get somewhere, I don’t mind. I plan on enjoying as much of the games as I can and I even plan on smiling when I meet some of you grumpy people – if you leave your house!!! 18 days will fly by and then everyone can go back to complaining.

I for one, saw first hand what the Summer Games did for Kamloops. If, after this is all said and done, the same can be said for PG, we will be great shape.

Things BOOMED after the summer games. I would expect the same here in PG.

We are already seeing large investments in the hospitality sector considering it is now public knowledge how under capacity PG is for hotels. Just wait until potential investors come to PG to experience the games and see opportunity everywhere!

Anyways, I too agree that the ticket prices for the opening ceremonies are high, but I will be going to a lot of the hockey (which is quite fairly priced)

Speaking of the hockey, specifically mens, take a look at some of the alumni from past CWG. We are talking NHL superstars and Olympic gold medalists. Get out and see some of the games, you won’t be disappointed. Also, don’t forget that the Cougars have 4 of their Bantam draft picks from last year playing in the tournament.

Hasn’t speed skating been moved to Fort St John already?

Yawn! Wake me up when it is over.

As usual there is a lot of hype surrounding these type of projects.

Lets keep in mind that since 1967 there have been 24 summer and winter games.

In 2007 the Winter Games were held in Whitehorse Yukon. Anyone remember?? 2011 Halifax NS. ??? 1995 Grande Prairie AB,.????

Attendance at these games is not really great, mainly because of the limited accommodation. Prince George is a prime example. With 3000 athletes, plus managers, coaches, family, etc; they eat up the motel, hotel, and restaurant space pretty fast. So the majority of ticket sales comes from people who live in the host City.

Hotels, motels, in Prince George have been booked by the Winter Games people over a year ago. They are trying to get people to take in guests because of the shortage of space, or they will have to commute from Vanderhoof or Quesnel.

Now common sense should tell you that if you cannot get a hotel room in Prince George for 18 to 20 days, that unless you make a day trip, you will not be coming to good old PG.

What this means, is that people from Prince Rupert/Kitimat/Terrace/Ft St John/MacKenzie/McBride/Quesnel/Williams Lake and all points in between will be shut out of attending because of the lack of accommodation.

So here is the skinny on these types of events. The hospitality industry ie: Hotels, Bars, Restaurants, will make a profit. The retail industry will lose money. This have been proven through various studies over the years. As an example at the Salt Lake City Olympics the hospitality industry made $87 million in profits, while the retail industry lost $157 Million.

The loss is due to what is called displacement. In other words, people from out of town who usually come to Prince George to spend the week-end, shop, gamble, etc will not come during the games, because they cannot get accomodations. Therefore the retail industry loses revenue, because they have lost their customers,. This money is not made up by the visitors/athletes/coaches etc; who travel with the games.

Have a nice day.

JB said “All the local curmudgeons and naysayers can stay in their homes for two weeks. They won’t be missed.”
From the comments a lot of the curmudgeons make I suspect they stay in their home yeaar round anyway lol

What realitycheck said times two!

Palopu: “Now common sense should tell you that if you cannot get a hotel room in Prince George for 18 to 20 days, that unless you make a day trip, you will not be coming to good old PG.”

You say this as if it’s supposed to shock people. This happens in any town or city where a major event occurs. So what?

There are still lots of homes available for rent in you are coming in from out of town. Check canadagames2015.ca website for a list. Don’t forget that all of the part-time employees at hotels, restaurants, stores etc will also benefit from the extra work hours during the games.

As usual JohnnyBelt you miss the point. So I will take it slow and easy on you so that you can understand.

The point is that RETAILERS will lose BIG money. The hospitality industry will make BIG money.

And it does not happen in any town or city where a major event occurs, because these events only occur every 2 years, and it is the people who put on the games that take up all the space. If it was a major hockey game you would only have to accommodate a few players and coaches. Same for a name band etc.

With the winter games 3500 people will arrive in the City and take up all the space usually used by retail shoppers. These shoppers will stay home and spend the money in their home town. PG business will lose this revenue.

I guess we will have to wait until after the games to see the outcome, however a walk through any shopping mall during the games should give us a pretty good indication.

As usual Palopu, you are making a point based largely on your own negative biases and very little on fact. I will speak slowly so that you have time to get over yourself.

The people who normally would come to PG to shop (mostly) at the big box stores and gambling, etc. will miss out for 18 days and will come back after the event. The people who are visiting for the Games will shop as well, but you seem to not want to acknowledge that.

Let’s quit with the BS. Stop pretending as if you cared about retail impact, when really you have an anti-Games agenda and want to portray it in the worst light possible. This is something you should be more forthcoming about.

Personally if I need groceries I will still buy them if the games are on or not, and if I need a pair of shoes I will still buy them.

Two different kinds of shoppers JB. I can just see all these athletes and their entourage lined up at the airport with thousand of dollars of retail goods to take home with them,.

You seem to miss the point that once the money that is usually spent in Prince George on a week-end is spent somewhere else, its GONE. Coming back in two weeks is an entirely different shopping event.

I point out the retail impact so that people are aware that there is a down side to these games. If we just listened to the snake oil salesmen we wouldn’t know that.

As an example. Tax payers in Prince George will pay approx. $200.00 in additional taxes over five years to put on these games. In addition if they want to go to the grand opening it would cost them $120.00 per ticket.

So simple mathematics tells us that although we pay extra taxes for the games, a number of people will not be able to attend the opening because they will not be able to get tickets. Just saying.

I don’t give a crap about the games but I don’t begrudge anyone, local or otherwise, having a good time in PG. And those poor retailers will be paying property tax in April regardless of their sales volume in February.

I agree strictlyspeaking. My point was that there are winners and losers for these types of events from a monetary stand point.

In any event if you don’t catch this one then your s.o.l. because the Winter Games will not be back in BC until sometime after 2035. Unless of course you plan to travel to other Provinces to see them.

Realitycheck; your going to take in as much of the games events as possible. Good for you! But as a pensioner on a fixed income-I will not. It’s just not in the budget-eating and paying utility bills comes first. I will be avoiding that downtown area altogether.

It’s a big money making event, built off the back of volunteers and amateur athletes.. Nobody really knows where all the money is allocated, from all the games revenue. Some goes to pay the cost of the rental facilities, a lot of pockets are stuffed as well.

I see the hockey costs more than a WHL game, and yes the opening games prices are a joke…. it will be interesting to see how it all plays out a few years down the road.

I’ve never understood the idea that these type of events make any money after the costs to host are totaled . If that was the case the province of BC should be in great shape after hosting the winter Olypmics . Oh and since when is 16 yr old boys hockey “mens” hockey .

It will be interesting to see how the RV parks do during the games. Will they all be lined up at Walmart and the casino? Most in the north have RV’s for when they travel, and if they come knowing hotel rooms will not be available, and the temperature stays mild, then we could see a lot of RV’s in town with no place to park… no municipal sani dump either.

From what I can see we blew it. The last mayor knew it and cut and run before facing the music. PG has done very little to seize the opportunity. Like for example a local entrepreneurial champion about to franchise nation wide taking advantage of the national exposure, or a suit of new hotels in place for the games instead of just after, or some RV accommodation in the bowl area….