$250 and hour?

[Norm 0]

The local rink that I play at charges about $250 an hour for ice (see here) and I've looked at other rinks to see what they charge.

It seems to be pretty consistant.

The question I have (to any rink managers and/or others in the know) is:

Why so much?

Is it cutting the ice afterwards? Is it having to have someone there? Insurance? To make up for when the ice isn't being used? What?

Just curious.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

here it's around 100 CDN for an hour.

[Norm 0]

That's $85 USD. Nice!!

Shoot! It almost be worth it to me to buy an hour just to work on crossovers.

Horrible horrible crossovers. And did I mention my stickhandling? Best not to trouble you with that.

But you have to take supply AND demand into consideration.

Is your cost low because of supply?

Is mine high because of a lack of it?

And who's demanding it?

I find this all so terribly interesting

[seanmccann 3]

I can drive 30 minutes and get basically free ice (if i'm lucky) It is about $75/h here.

[Norm 0]

you're not helping :P

[Jason Harris 31]

I've had conversation with rink owners/managers -- it's incredibly expensive to build a rink.

I've heard as low as $600K for a turn key operation, but I'm quite dubious about the quality. A guy in Denver who had done well for himself supposedly spent $2M to build a rink; it's not that elaborate, plus he has a sweetheart deal with the county for the land. If all that information is correct, you can see how difficult it would be just to pay back the debt service, especially since most rinks don't run at capacity all 24 hours.

I don't know why some areas have much less expensive ice rates. Maybe the cost of land is quite a bit lower? Maybe the rinks are more spartan? (We have a couple of rinks that cost $7M (two sheets) to $11M (three sheets) because of how extravagant they are.) Maybe there are more rinks or ponds available, creating a competition on prices?

[shute 4]

$250 an hour is freaking NUTS! in the summer i can rent GM place(where the canucks play) for less then that!

[delpiero81 0]

€250 for an hour here...

However the cost of building has been substained by our region and province public amministration and it's a lot of time ago, so don't know why price are so high.

Also because the rink is used all day by hockey, short track, figure skating, public skating...

Maybe the cooling implant plays the major role on the cost voices? (also because we dont have minus 30 celsius during winter, it is hard that we go below minus 10!).

Is there anyone that run an ice rink here and knows what are the main reason for cost in maintenance?

[driz86 0]

it seems entirely based apon the facility itself. for example, the community college's team here practices at a dome rink, basically an outdoor rink with a golf dome around it. They say they practice there because the icetime is so cheap and I'm assuming it is for that reason.

[Gongshow11 1]

That's $85 USD. Nice!!

Shoot! It almost be worth it to me to buy an hour just to work on crossovers.

Horrible horrible crossovers. And did I mention my stickhandling? Best not to trouble you with that.

But you have to take supply AND demand into consideration.

Is your cost low because of supply?

Is mine high because of a lack of it?

And who's demanding it?

I find this all so terribly interesting

its based on supply and demand. high demand and high supply, prices go down. id say in montreal there is at least 2 rinks in every town, so big big competitionm. hell there is even a rink known just for beer leagues and pickup

[Fletch 219]

$250 an hour is freaking NUTS! in the summer i can rent GM place(where the canucks play) for less then that!

That's awesome!

[Chadd 916]

Supply/demand is probably the biggest reason as mentioned but operating a rink in most areas of the US isn't cheap for certain times of the year. Rinks try to make as much as possible during the busy times to sustain them through the "down" season.

The two cheapest sheets of ice in my area are the old Hershey Park Arena, where the Bears used to play, and the Giant Center, where they play now.

[asdfa 0]

I don't know why some areas have much less expensive ice rates. Maybe the cost of land is quite a bit lower? Maybe the rinks are more spartan? (We have a couple of rinks that cost $7M (two sheets) to $11M (three sheets) because of how extravagant they are.) Maybe there are more rinks or ponds available, creating a competition on prices?

what do you mean by 2 sheets? do you just mean 2 rinks cost that much?

anyways, i know in T.O., most of the rinks were built around baby boom times (50's ish) so all of them are about 40-50 years old. the investment in the rinks is long paid for, and basically the rinks are used every day for games/practices. for the GTHL and NYHL games, the spectators have to pay $4 or so to get in, as well as the teams that have to pay to use them (i think), so they can make money that way. probably the reason your rink costs $250 is that that's the only way it makes money, and it doesn't make that money often

[DeI 18 0]

I don't remember exactly, but I think my HS is paying a little over $300 give or take per ice time, if it's any consolation. What kills me is that the rink sucks, but people don't want to drive 15 more minutes to get to a nicer rink with cheaper ice...

[ozolinsh_27 3]

165 cdn in regina, sk

however out in lebret.. about an hour drive, i can get it for 40 an hour.

[tokes 0]

I don't know why some areas have much less expensive ice rates. Maybe the cost of land is quite a bit lower? Maybe the rinks are more spartan? (We have a couple of rinks that cost $7M (two sheets) to $11M (three sheets) because of how extravagant they are.) Maybe there are more rinks or ponds available, creating a competition on prices?

what do you mean by 2 sheets? do you just mean 2 rinks cost that much?

anyways, i know in T.O., most of the rinks were built around baby boom times (50's ish) so all of them are about 40-50 years old. the investment in the rinks is long paid for, and basically the rinks are used every day for games/practices. for the GTHL and NYHL games, the spectators have to pay $4 or so to get in, as well as the teams that have to pay to use them (i think), so they can make money that way. probably the reason your rink costs $250 is that that's the only way it makes money, and it doesn't make that money often

2 sheets as in one building that contains two seperate ice surfaces.

[Jason Harris 31]

I don't know why some areas have much less expensive ice rates. Maybe the cost of land is quite a bit lower? Maybe the rinks are more spartan? (We have a couple of rinks that cost $7M (two sheets) to $11M (three sheets) because of how extravagant they are.) Maybe there are more rinks or ponds available, creating a competition on prices?

what do you mean by 2 sheets? do you just mean 2 rinks cost that much?

anyways, i know in T.O., most of the rinks were built around baby boom times (50's ish) so all of them are about 40-50 years old. the investment in the rinks is long paid for, and basically the rinks are used every day for games/practices. for the GTHL and NYHL games, the spectators have to pay $4 or so to get in, as well as the teams that have to pay to use them (i think), so they can make money that way. probably the reason your rink costs $250 is that that's the only way it makes money, and it doesn't make that money often

2 sheets as in one building that contains two seperate ice surfaces.

Correct. Two surfaces of ice for the Edge and three surfaces of ice for the Promenade.

I could be wrong abut the Promenade costing $11M; it might have been $9M, but who's quibbling? If we use the $2M for Foothills that I mentioned as a comparison, then you could see how three sheets would be at least $5M. On top of that, the amenities are more extensive at The Promenade: Concessions, larger pro shop, seats looking over the rink that can be sold for special games.

Further, the level of detail is night and day. Foothills is a metal half-dome, while the Promenade is stucco and rock, and is much closer to a highway, so the land had to be more expensive.

Basically, around Denver, outside of the guy who built Foothills around 1992 or 1994, only municipalities are building rinks because of how expensive they are -- leading to higher ice rates.

[hocckey77 0]

I don't know why some areas have much less expensive ice rates. Maybe the cost of land is quite a bit lower? Maybe the rinks are more spartan? (We have a couple of rinks that cost $7M (two sheets) to $11M (three sheets) because of how extravagant they are.) Maybe there are more rinks or ponds available, creating a competition on prices?

what do you mean by 2 sheets? do you just mean 2 rinks cost that much?

anyways, i know in T.O., most of the rinks were built around baby boom times (50's ish) so all of them are about 40-50 years old. the investment in the rinks is long paid for, and basically the rinks are used every day for games/practices. for the GTHL and NYHL games, the spectators have to pay $4 or so to get in, as well as the teams that have to pay to use them (i think), so they can make money that way. probably the reason your rink costs $250 is that that's the only way it makes money, and it doesn't make that money often

2 sheets as in one building that contains two seperate ice surfaces.

Correct. Two surfaces of ice for the Edge and three surfaces of ice for the Promenade.

I could be wrong abut the Promenade costing $11M; it might have been $9M, but who's quibbling? If we use the $2M for Foothills that I mentioned as a comparison, then you could see how three sheets would be at least $5M. On top of that, the amenities are more extensive at The Promenade: Concessions, larger pro shop, seats looking over the rink that can be sold for special games.

Further, the level of detail is night and day. Foothills is a metal half-dome, while the Promenade is stucco and rock, and is much closer to a highway, so the land had to be more expensive.

Basically, around Denver, outside of the guy who built Foothills around 1992 or 1994, only municipalities are building rinks because of how expensive they are -- leading to higher ice rates.

so it's gonna cost me like 15 mil + land to build my 4 sheet arena in So. Cal?

[Hockeyman9621 0]

you're not helping :P

I'll help... ;) I have free ice from 12-3 on week days up the street. But unfortunatly I can only get on there on half days and shit like that. Damn school.

[twistoffate19 0]

I get my ice for me and friends for about $65 CDN, because if we decide to rent it, we rent it for like 11pm-1am. Plus the fact I know the rink attentendants really well, they cut me a break.

[UMWhockey 0]

depending on the rink and where it is located in the country, it can cost upwards of $150-$175 per hour for the rink to keep the lights on, pay staff, and freeze the ice. The farther south you go, the harder it is to keep ice frozen. This is mainly due to poor building construction, since facilities cost so much to build that many rinks cut corners. It can also bee due to a rink not doing proper ice maintained. on average rinks are supposed to have about an inch and a half of ice. For every half an inch over that it costs on average about $750 extra a month in energy bills. You take that and put the ice in a poorly insulated building and it can be double that. Around where I used to live, $250 was average, with some rinks charging as high as $280. Now the rinks with large travel programs can charge that because there is a shortage of ice and they are forced to pay that price, hence supply and demand. Just one thing to think about though, well at least for those of you in the states, most rinks in the country don't make money. So whatever they are charging, most likely doesn't help them make enough money to turn a profit over the course of the year.

just my little rant.

[Eagles39 0]

At the rink my highschool plays at the ice is $400 an hour. When I heard it I just couldnt beleive how expensive it is.

[prenny207 1]

usually in basic economics... when there is a surplus in supply... cost goes down. this is the reverse when it comes to ice rinks.

especially in the metro detroit area. more rinks means more ice. lets take a rink that used to be busy from 6am til 2am. they would sell every open spot of ice they had. senior leagues would be playin from 10pm til 2am. now, put another rink in that town, and half the travel and house teams now go skate over at the new rink, cuz they want better times. so now the old rink shifts thier schedule... and now their senior leagues skate from 8pm-10pm and they might have a few spots open during the day. the new rink is also running the same schedule.

so the old rink used to charge one price for "prime time" ice, and a seperate price for Non-prime. well, they would pay the bills with the Prime ice, and make money with the Non-prime. now they are selling less ice, so they have to raise costs to cover bills and now hope to make a profit.

Meanwhile, the New rink is saying we are a nicer place, with a bigger lobby, and bigger rooms... and all the fancy crap (that a rink doesnt need IMO). But instead of finding NEW hockey players... they are simply stealing from the other rink. both are forced to keep hourly rates up to cover cost!

unless you are in a city that there is "demand" for ice that isn't available... you don't need another rink.

[delpiero81 0]

True, of course (like here) they can say: "we are the only rink available in the area, so if you dont like to pay our high price you can stay at home an play nhl06 on your playstation!".

So if i dont like their €250 the closest rink is 2 1/2 hours of mountain road...

Pretty bad situation... :(

[Buzz_LightBeer 969]

Just as an example, at the old rink i worked at there was an olympic sized oval, which costs $1200 per hour to keep it frozen, lit, and maintained...

multiply that by 24 hours a day...