2020 TIM HORTONS BRIER, LEON’S CENTRE, KINGSTON, ON

 

FEBRUARY 29 – MARCH 8

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The 2020 Tim Hortons Brier in Kingston was a great success on all levels and a fitting celebration of the birth of the (Royal) Kingston Curling Club and 200 years of curling in Kingston.

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Our Brier has been noted, by players, national media and curling officials, as “One of, if not the best ever” and “a model for small city Briers”.

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Mid way through the Brier, the Curling Canada folks were all smiling — their ticket sales budget was met and surpassed. A day later they were ecstatic when Brier Patch (and what a Patch it was!) sales exceeded budget. Curling Canada wants to come back to Kingston as soon as the city is again ready to host a major Canadian Championship.

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The curling was spectacular! The players loved the curling ice conditions and thrilled the in-arena spectators and the over 40 million TSN audience with amazing, “highlight reel” shots throughout the competition.

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Brad Gushue and his team from Newfoundland-Labrador were very worthy champions and deserving of their victory over Team Alberta, skipped by Brendan Bottcher. It was Team Gushue’s third Tim Hortons Brier championship (2017, 2018) and Team Bottcher’s third consecutive Brier final loss.

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Total Brier attendance was great! Paid attendance was over 96,000 but well more than 100,000 fans, team family and friends, media and curling officials packed Leon’s Centre for many of the draws. Our Brier looked great on TSN!

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The positive, ‘immediate’ economic impacts on the city and province were very significant. Over 8 million dollars for Kingston and over 11 million dollars for Ontario!

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The hotels were full, the bars and restaurants were packed and downtown retailers did booming winter business.

The long-term beneficial impact of the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier on tourism in Kingston is impossible to predict but it will be absolutely huge!

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Undoubtedly the greatest impact of our hosting of four very successful Curling Canada Canadian Championships (2012 Canadian Juniors at the Strathcona Paper Centre in Napanee, 2013 Scotties at the K-ROCK Centre , 2017 Travelers at Cataraqui G&CC and 2020 Tim Hortons Brier at LEON’s Centre) will be growing the reputation and fame of the Kingston area as a preferred venue for any major sports championship — for ALL sports, across Canada!

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The legacy of curling in Kingston continues to grow.

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All of this “wonderfulness” did not just happen. It was the result of a whole lot of financial backing and support and a whole lot of work by many people.

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Sincere thanks to Tim Hortons, AGI, Curling Canada, the City of Kingston, Tourism Kingston, Kingston Accommodation Partners (KAP), the province of Ontario, Kingston Transit, Downtown Kingston BIA, Leon’s Centre, Taylor Auto Mall and PrintFusion.

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But without our teams of volunteers, the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier would not have been possible!

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Special thanks to all our official Brier volunteers and to the army of 50/50 volunteers!

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The 2020 Tim Hortons Brier was a great success and all five GKC curling clubs will benefit financially which hopefully will help every club grow, prosper and improve the sport of curling in the Greater Kingston Area.