The Ontario Hockey League is recognizing the Windsor Spitfires’ front office for its fan engagement work on the business side of the hockey operation.
The Spitfires have received the 2025-26 OHL Franchise Development Award in recognition of outstanding growth across multiple areas of the business.
The league says the club achieved significant increases in both corporate partnership and ticket revenue while continuing to strengthen fan engagement through creative promotions and themed events.
Director of Sales and Marketing Shannon Ricker says they view the WFCU Centre as an entertainment complex, and the hockey guys have come through with really good teams to sell.
“When you walk in the building, we want you to have fun. You may or may not love hockey, but we want to make it so you come back to another game,” he says.
Ricker says some of the fan engagement things the league liked included a $5,000 dash for cash event, theme nights with fun jerseys, and even a real wedding at centre ice involving a Spitfires fan.
“We chose Elvis’ birthday, and the fan was kind enough to let us get Elvis out there for his wedding, and he allowed Bomber, our mascot, to be part of the wedding party, and we did a real wedding within seven minutes on the ice between the second and third periods. The fans really loved it, and we got press from the East Coast to the West Coast,” he says.
Ricker says they’re lucky to have passionate fans, but they understand they’re competing with everything when it comes to how people spend their entertainment dollars.
“We feel if we put on a fun event that day, they’re going to come to another game, and it’s really paying off,” he says. “We had great attendance growth last year, and we have for the last five or six years to the point that I think we were fourth in league attendance out of 20 teams. We’re really proud of that.”
The Ontario Hockey League Business Award celebrates outstanding achievement and innovation across a variety of business, community, retail, broadcast, and fan engagement initiatives throughout the 2025-26 season.