Saginaw Prepares to Host 2024 Memorial Cup

The tournament for what has been called “The hardest trophy to win in hockey” is heading to Saginaw in 2024.

The Memorial Cup draws thousands of spectators from all around Canada and the US to watch the top teams from the Ontario, Western, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey Leagues compete.

Spirit President and Managing Partner Craig Goslin says that because of this, communities that apply to host go through a thorough examination.

“There’s four parts to the bid: There’s Hockey Operations, Business Operations, Logistics, and the Local Atmosphere,” said Goslin. “The local atmosphere included the entire region. It included Flint. We expect that we’re going to have an incredible amount of fan base coming from outside of our region to the Memorial Cup… It’s really an opportunity to showcase the good things that we’ve got here in our Great Lakes Bay Region.”

Goslin says that he expects every one of the 5,100 seats to be sold out at every game during the tournament next year, including some new box seats that will be installed. In addition, there will be improvements to the locker rooms at the Dow Event Center, and the Henry G. Marsh Bridge just outside.

What’s the payout for all this effort? The league estimates that between $20 and $30 million are generated within the hosting community each year.