It’s Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. In that spirit, we thought we’d take a quick look at the prices of what hockey fans are spending when shopping for season tickets in their WHL city.

To try to get a fair comparison, we ignored club seats and seats on the glass. What we were looking for was the price of an adult season ticket that represents the majority of seats. Most WHL teams discount seats that are higher up or are in the corners but we used a mid-section sideline seat for our list.

We also ignored payment plans, “early bird” deals or season subscriptions that are offered by some teams. The prices reflect what would be paid buying a full season on the day before the season starts and making one payment.

For Canadian teams, prices are listed in Canadian dollars. For the US teams, prices are listed in both US dollars and Canadian dollars. The conversion was performed on xe.com on 11/27. Prices were compiled from team websites and include taxes and fees unless noted.

First, in alphabetical order:

• Brandon Wheat Kings $450.00 (plus tax?)
• Calgary Hitmen $613.32 (plus tax and fees, includes first 2 playoff games)
• Edmonton Oil Kings $709.00 (plus tax?, includes first round playoff games)
• Everett Silvertips $525.00/$594.89CDN (plus tax?)
• Kamloops Blazers $426.40 (includes first 2 playoff games)
• Kelowna Rockets $593.90 (includes first 2 playoff games)
• Kootenay Ice $565.00
• Lethbridge Hurricanes $546.45
• Medicine Hat Tigers $523.80
• Moose Jaw Warriors $460.00 (plus tax)
• Portland Winterhawks $698.00/$790.91
• Prince Albert Raiders $540.00
• Prince George Cougars $538.66
• Red Deer Rebels $599.00 (includes first 2 playoff games)
• Regina Pats $520.00 (plus tax?, includes first 2 playoff games)
• Saskatoon Blades $564.90
• Seattle Thunderbirds $576.00/$652.67CDN
• Spokane Chiefs $520.00/$589.20CDN (plus tax?)
• Swift Current Broncos $537.00 (plus tax and fees, includes first 2 playoff games)
• Tri-City Americans $525.00/$594.89CDN
• Vancouver Giants $639.00
• Victoria Royals $612.00 (plus tax?)

The first big difference is how teams display their prices. Some teams display the full price while others appear low but may end up costing up to $100 more than the displayed price. As a consumer, tax can be calculated but the vague “fees” makes it difficult to budget prior to purchasing.

7 teams include the first two games of the playoffs in their season ticket packages and Edmonton includes up to 4, as they include all the home games of the first round. No US Division team include the playoffs in their standard season ticket package.

Next,  in order from most expensive to least expensive:

1. Portland Winterhawks $698.00/$790.91CDN
2. Edmonton Oil Kings $709.00 (plus tax?, includes first round playoff games)
3. Seattle Thunderbirds $576.00/$652.67CDN
4. Vancouver Giants $639.00
5. Calgary Hitmen $613.32 (plus tax and fees, includes first 2 playoff games)
6. Victoria Royals $612.00 (plus tax?)
7. Red Deer Rebels $599.00 (includes first 2 playoff games)
8. Everett Silvertips $525.00/$594.89CDN (plus tax?)
9. Tri-City Americans $525.00/$594.89CDN
10. Kelowna Rockets $593.90 (includes first 2 playoff games)
11. Spokane Chiefs $520.00/$589.20CDN (plus tax?)
12. Kootenay Ice $565.00
13. Saskatoon Blades $564.90
14. Lethbridge Hurricanes $546.45
15. Prince Albert Raiders $540.00
16. Prince George Cougars $538.66
17. Swift Current Broncos $537.00 (plus tax and fees, includes first 2 playoff games)
18. Medicine Hat Tigers $523.80
19. Regina Pats $520.00 (plus tax?, includes first 2 playoff games)
20. Moose Jaw Warriors $460.00 (plus tax)
21. Brandon Wheat Kings $450.00 (plus tax?)
22. Kamloops Blazers $426.40 (includes first 2 playoff games)

The newest team in the league, Victoria, is toward the top of the list. Regina, one of the oldest teams in the league, is near the bottom of the list.

The last 2 teams to get new arenas, Moose Jaw and Seattle, fall at disparate ends of the pricing range. That seems interesting as usually a new building leads to higher prices but that doesn’t seem to be the case in Moose Jaw.

There are only 2 Western Conference teams outside of the top 11, Prince George and Kamloops.

The ranking of the teams slightly mirrors population sizes. Kootenay (Cranbrook) is the second smallest WHL city but falls near the middle of prices. Red Deer is smaller than the 4 cities beneath it but charges more.

Finally, standings with ticket price rank:

East Division

1. Brandon (21)
2. Swift Current (17)
3. Regina (19)
4. Prince Albert (15)
5. Moose Jaw (20)
6. Saskatoon (13)

Central Division

1. Medicine Hat (18)
2. Edmonton (2)
3. Red Deer (7)
4. Calgary (5)
5. Kootenay (12)
6. Lethbridge (14)

BC Division

1. Kelowna (10)
2. Victoria (6)
3. Kamloops (22)
4. Prince George (16)
5. Vancouver (4)

US Division

1. Everett (8)
2. Spokane (11)
3. Tri-City (9)
4. Portland (1)
5. Seattle (3)

Seattle with only 3 home wins and the 3rd highest season ticket price seems to be the worst value so far this season. Brandon, on the other hand, has just one regulation loss at home while having the 2nd lowest price. The Wheat Kings season ticket holders are getting their full value.

Vancouver is playing .500 hockey at home but overall they have the 3rd lowest point total in the league while having the 4th highest price.

Portland has the highest price but is tied for 14th overall point total in the league.

The lowest-priced teams in the Central and East Division, Medicine Hat and Brandon, respectively, have the highest point totals in their division. Saskatoon and Vancouver, the highest-priced teams in their divisions, are in last place of their respective divisions.