Titan officially moving to St. John's

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

The Acadie-Bathurst Titan are officially relocating to St. John's at the end of this season.

The Titan and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League made the announcement in a virtual press conference Friday morning. The move has been rumoured and reported for a few months now. The sale was finalized Thursday night.

The Titan, who have been at or near the bottom of the QMJHL's attendance figures for 15 years or so now, have officially been for sale since January. During the press conference it was revealed that three buyers came forward to purchase the team – but none had intentions of leaving the franchise in northern New Brunswick.

″I said it last January when the sale process began: the objective of the QMJHL and the Titan owners has always been to find local investors to keep the team in Bathurst," said commissioner Mario Cecchini in a news release. "However, none of the interested groups had any intention of operating the team in Bathurst in the medium term. My heart goes out to the Titan fans. I sympathize and understand their pain and frustration."

In what was a very transparent news conference, it was said that the Titan have been losing around $1 million per season.  

″It’s a sad day," said Titan president Serge Thériault, one of the 11 Titan shareholders. "The Titan has been an integral part of the Bathurst community for 27 years. The team gave us great moments and rallied the population. Unfortunately, we were playing in the smallest major junior market in Canada, and attendance dropped over the years. This made it impossible for us, the owners, to continue. I’d like to thank the Titan fans and corporate partners for their support since 1998.″

The Titan are averaging a league low 1,540 fans per game. There is obvious concern about second half attendance figures now that the sale has been finalized. 

According to the QMJHL, "the new Newfoundland club, owned by John Harvey Patten, John R. Steele and Jason Sharpe, will play at the Mary Brown’s Centre, which opened in 2001 and can accommodate nearly 6,300 fans for a hockey game."

Season ticket deposits can already be made.

Season ticket prices already released. https://t.co/xDhqRAUMdB pic.twitter.com/dLQB61y0ss

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) December 20, 2024

This is the QMJHL's second venture into the Newfoundland market. The St. John's Fog Devils entered the league with the Saint John Sea Dogs in 2005 but lasted just three seasons. Since then, St. John's has been the home of AHL and ECHL clubs.

The Sea Dogs will make their last ever visit to Bathurst – unless they meet in the playoffs – on New Year's Eve.