The dropping Canadian dollar is bound to impact at least a couple of local sports teams this summer.
Thunder Bay Border Cats owner and general manager Brad Jorgenson and Thunder Bay Chill owner Tony Colistro on Thursday both said they’re bracing for increased costs on everything from league dues to travel south of the border.
The Border Cats, the lone Canadian team in the Northwoods League, a college summer circuit, are likely to be hit hardest.
The Cats play 36 games in the United States from late May through mid-August, and Jorgenson said he’s paying close attention to the state of the loonie, which as of Thursday had climbed above 73 cents U.S. Earlier this year it slumped below 70 cents for the first time in several years.
“As the only sports team in an American league, predominantly our expenses are in the American (dollars), Jorgenson said.
“It has a huge effect on us – a huge negative effect.”
Not only are league dues owed in U.S. funds, but so too are their coach’s salaries. Equipment is another expense generally paid for with the greenback.
Jorgenson said the one thing the team is trying to ensure is those higher costs don’t get passed on to fans through higher ticket prices.
“We haven’t done that as of yet, but we will certainly be looking at that,” he said. “It’s a difficult thing. You just can run your operation better to negate the negative effect of the dollar, something you really have no control over. And it’s really frustrating.”
Colistro has it a little easier on the expense side, at least when it comes to travel. The Chill play just seven road games, two of which are played in Winnipeg.
However, unlike Jorgenson, the Chill will be will raising ticket prices slightly in 2016 to help offset the added cost.
Neither the Northwoods League nor the Premier Development League are expected to step in and help defray costs for Canadian clubs. The PDL has six teams playing north of the border this season.
“The league obviously hasn’t mentioned anything like that, like billing our league fees at par. And we haven’t really made that request either,” Colistro said. “We’ve obviously had some good years where our dollar was good.
“But obviously if it continues like this, the longer it goes, it’s definitely going to have a huge impact on our operations. We’ll just try to do what we can for this year.”
Both Jorgenson and Colistro said the impact of the lower Canadian dollar will not hurt the recruiting process, since none of their players receives a salary.
