Brandon, MB. – With just over a month remaining until the start of the 2012-13 Western Hockey League season, Wheat Kings’ season ticket sales are closing in on the 2,000 mark.

During a Media Reception held at the Canad Inns Brandon on Wednesday afternoon, Wheat Kings’ general manager Kelly McCrimmon announced that a total of 1,969 season tickets have been sold for the upcoming season.

The club had sold over 2,200 by this point last summer.

“Our Home Opener is in 44 days, so we have a lot of work to do,” McCrimmon says. “We continue to believe that our value proposition of providing quality family entertainment at the most affordable prices guarantees great value for our customers.”

The Wheat Kings, who will kick off Training Camp later this month and will bring the curtain up on their 2012-13 regular season on Friday, September 21st vs Regina, sold over 2,900 season tickets last year and finished the year with an average attendance of over 4,100 per home game.

Wheat Kings general manager Kelly McCrimmon told the Media Reception that he believes there is a variety of reasons contributing to slower sales this summer.

“I always make refence to really it’s October 1 before you know for sure where you’re gong to end up with your season tickets, but when we’re behind like we are, it’s a little bit concerning,” he said, “and it could be a variety of things: Weather, people away, obviously July and August aren’t months where people are thinking about buying hockey tickets. It’s something that picks up a lot more in September, so again I think (the team is) not alarmed, but just a bit concerned that we need to get moving with those numbers.”

2012-13 Season Ticket Prices:

Adults        $425 plus GST
Seniors    $375 plus GST
Youth         $200 plus GST

$425 equates to a single game ticket price of less than $12 per game, which is still the most affordable ticket price in the WHL. Season tickets are also exempt from all Box Office agency fees of $3 per ticket, providing Wheat Kings’ season ticket holders with a 40% saving off regular admission prices.

Fans interested in purchasing 2012-13 Season Tickets or for more information on seat availability are encouraged to call the Wheat Kings at 726-3535 or visit the hockey club’s official website, located at www.wheatkings.com