Sovereign Rule

Official Review by Joshua Guiher, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

The Reading Royals are the ECHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Royals play In the Sovereign Center, a 7,100 seat arena built in 2001. The arena was quite nice and made for an enjoyable experience.

Food & Beverage    4

For a minor league hockey arena, the Sovereign Center had a great collection of both traditional and non-traditional concessions. Besides your typical food staples, the Sovereign Center also had Kettle Korn ($2-$5), Pig Pit BBQ, which sold sliders for just $1 or a full sandwich for $6.50, grilled stickies, a coffee stand, cabana smoothies and Bavarian nuts. Also on the suite level, they had a great little sandwich area that also had some amazing carrot cake.

The traditional foods included pepperoni pizza ($6.50), nachos ($4.50), pretzels ($4), Berks jumbo hot dogs ($3.50) and kids dogs ($2.50). Every weeknight game for the entire season also features $1 night, where you can get hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and sodas for $1 each. I went on one of these nights and it was a bit disappointing, as the stands selling the $1 food were hard to find because they were unmarked and the hot dogs were not the Berks.

For drinks, they offered Coke products for $3 and $4 depending on the size. They also had lots of beer options, with draft beer costing $5 or $6 depending on the brand. They offered the traditional Labatt Blue, Coors Light and others, along with favorites from two local breweries Stoudt's Beer & Yuengling Lager. I highly recommend a Yuengling if you ever get the chance. They also had Jack Daniels cocktails for $6.

Atmosphere    4

Like most minor league sporting events I have attended, the atmosphere at the Royal's game was quite loud for the number of fans in attendance. A good portion of the fans were kids, who are always into all of the cheers and dance moves that the PA announcer is always encouraging people to partake in. There were lots of groups with signs and I heard cow bells, air horns and vuvuzelas throughout the night.

Personally I love minor league events because they allow you to be a little crazy. In fact, it is expected to some degree as the arena staff all wore buttons that said "Be loud, be seen, but keep it clean." For instance, on the concourse was a display of odd hats that have been collected after they were thrown on the ice for various hat tricks obtained by Royals players; a neat display that you would be unlikely to find in a NHL arena.

Neighborhood    2

Reading Pennsylvania is an old railroad town that has seen its glory days pass it by. In fact, the railroad tracks run right beside the Sovereign Center and you often have to wait for the train before you can cross the road. Reading is a more traditional town where stores close at 5pm and a good portion of them are closed on Sundays.

You only have to pay to park in metered spots from 8am till 6pm on weekdays so we found a spot just two blocks away from the arena. There is also a large parking garage right beside the arena so parking is never a concern.

Just across the river, only 3/4 of a mile from the Sovereign Center is the town of Wyomissing, which has a great revitalized shopping area and all street parking is free, just limited to 2 hours during weekday business hours. If you are in town visiting, this is where I recommend you shop and eat.

For restaurants, try Kramer's Peanut Bar, which is just a few blocks from the Sovereign Center right down Penn Street. The food is fairly decent and it has been featured on the travel channel. Another good place to try is the Speckled Hen Cottage Pub & Alehouse. They feature a different type of menu that has a home cooked feel to it.

Fans    4

The fans were really broken down into two groups, season ticket holders and families. The average season ticket holder seemed to be into the game because they enjoy hockey. The families were there for both the game and the entertainment value. The kids really seemed to enjoy the mascot, who went around most sections of the stands and was willing to pose for pictures.

The most popular entertainment seemed to be a ball toss during the 2nd intermission, where you can purchase a ball for $1 and you get to throw it out onto the ice. If it lands on a center circle, you won free food from Moe's restaurant.

The night I was there, attendance was around 50% of capacity, although the General Manager told me that games on weekends draw much larger crowds, getting close to sell outs on most occasions. As loud as it was with the smaller crowd, I imagine it is pretty incredible when the place is packed. I was also really pleased that the crowd knew the rules of hockey and did not complain at obvious penalties.

Access    3

As I mentioned earlier, parking was easy to find and if you didn't mind a two or three block walk, it could even be free. The ticket booth had sufficient windows and plenty of workers making things move very fast. In fact, it was one of the fastest moving I have ever seen. Once inside, the concourse was a little tight for the size of the arena, making it a little hard to get where you wanted to go. I can only imagine what it would be like when attendance is near capacity on the weekends. Bathrooms were clean and modern, although the toilets were not automatic.

Return on Investment    5

For $10, I was able to get a seat in row 15 right on the center ice red line. An amazing value for hockey, especially considering the team is one of the best in the ECHL this season (2011), having already locked up first place in their division. I was very happy with the value for my $10 and would have gladly paid the full $15 which is the weekend price.

Extras    3

I was real pleased to see the team offering $5 off coupons for all weekday games, plus $1 food & drinks. The staff was also helpful in allowing me to photograph from the suite level which was appreciated. Final extra point for the speed of the ticket booth, it really was efficient.