More than a year after Brandon successfully hosted the national men’s curling championship, the accolades keep coming for the city’s efforts in crowning Canada’s best in men’s Curling in March 2019.
The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance announced on Tuesday its 2020 Canadian Sport Hosting Index, ranking cities and events based on national and international championships hosted in 2019 as well as those awarded for 2020.
Brandon as a whole was ranked 25th overall in Canada for 2020 in the hosting index itself when it comes to national sports events, down from 2019’s ranking of 13th. The ranking however was the 3rd highest amongst cities lesser than 50,000 in population.
Where the city shone the most was in a ranking of 2019 national events, where the 2019 Tim Horton’s Brier came in second only to November’s 2019 Grey Cup in Calgary.
The nine day tourney saw a reported total attendance of more than 75,000 with all matches taking place in the Keystone Centre’s Westoba Place. It’s impact extended far beyond entertaining fans, with a report last year placing an economic impact of $7.4 million in Manitoba.
The rankings were compiled prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Montreal was for the third consecutive year named as the top Canadian City for hosting sports events.
The full media release on the 2020 ranking can be read at https://canadiansporttourism.com/news/montreal-tops-canadian-sport-hosting-index-again-2020.html
While events in Brandon are temporarily on pause in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this week’s news hints at the very real likelihood of more exciting days to come in a city long established to have a knack for hosting major sporting events.