Two-team curling Tankard a result of travel expenses, commentator says

A local sports commentator is questioning why a provincial curling competition is being held in Labrador, given that only two teams are playing.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Tankard, the provincial men's curling championship, is being held in Labrador City this week. The winner will get to represent the province at the Brier in Calgary later this month.

The competition is going to be pretty thin at the event, as only two teams are competing in the Tankard.

Brad Gushue's St. John's rink is the heavy favourite against Gary Wensman's team from Labrador City.

Too expensive

St. John's sports commentator Carl Lake said distance and travel expenses have a lot to do with the low participation.

"It doesn't make economic sense for these guys to go to Labrador," he said.

"It would cost in the vicinity of $9,000 per team from the island to go to Labrador to play in the Tankard."

According to Lake, curling association members in Labrador really wanted to have the tournament there, and stuck to their guns despite the low participation.

"Mark Nichols is with the Gushue team, and the fact that Mark is from Labrador means they want to go Labrador," he said.

Lake said given the cost of going to Labrador, and the fact that the Gushue team is widely expected to win, it's unlikely teams from outside of Labrador would want to make the investment.

"It's too expensive to go there," he said. "These teams that participate in the curling leagues here, don't have sponsors who give them $50-100 thousand a year."

The men's tankard is set to run in Labrador City until Sunday.