General Motors Place To Serve As Home For New Vancouver Ravens Lacrosse Franchise
VANCOUVER (MONDAY, July 16, 2007) - General Motors Place, the premiere sports & entertainment venue in British Columbia, will serve as home venue for the new Vancouver Ravens, the proposed National Lacrosse League franchise bidding to return to action in January of 2008.
The new franchise received conditional approval from the Board of Governors of the National Lacrosse League on June 19th and was given 30 days to satisfy a series of conditions in order to operate for the 2008 NLL season. The two major conditions identified by the league were the sale of 2,500 Season Tickets by July 19th and the submission of an arena rental agreement meeting NLL standards and expectations.
"Subject to our full approval by the Board of Governors of the National Lacrosse League this week, we're pleased to confirm our intent to play our home games at General Motors Place," said Bob Whitsitt, General Partner of Northwest Lacrosse LP, the proposed ownership group for the new Vancouver Ravens. "Given how important this condition was in the approval of our plan to bring the NLL back to Vancouver, we're very pleased with the approach and commitment of Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment in support of the new Vancouver Ravens and all British Columbia lacrosse fans."
In order to reach the second major condition for approval, British Columbia lacrosse fans have been showing their support by reserving Season Tickets for priority seating. Deposits of $25 per ticket are being accepted IN TRUST and are first-come, first-served on the priority wait list. Fans are able to make deposits at
www.ravenslacrosse.com.
Despite not being able to announce a confirmed venue until today, the franchise has already received more than 1,000 Season Ticket deposits and has written commitments for another 1,500 which it hopes to convert by the Thursday deadline.
General Motors Place is owned and operated by Orca Bay and is regarded as one of the premiere venues in North America. It is the home of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League and regularly hosts the biggest concerts on tour. With a capacity of 18,630 for hockey and lacrosse -- with Lower Bowl seating capacity for 9,000 -- it has also served as host venue for the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships and NHL All-Star Game and will host hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:43 am