The City of Kamloops says the first weekend without in-and-out privileges at the Sandman Centre went off without any major problems.

The Friday night Blazers game was the first to implement the single-entrance policy, which Events Supervisor Sean Smith says has been brought in ahead of the Memorial Cup.

“What implementing it has done for us at this time is just let people get used to it during the Blazers playoff run and then by the time Memorial Cup comes, it is just normal practice.”

Smith tells NL News there were no issues reported to his office after Blazers games on Friday and Saturday.

However, he did concede that not everyone is happy with the change that will now apply to all ticketed events at the Kamloops arena, and not just concerts.

“There have been some concerns expressed but you know what, I think we did a pretty good job of letting people know,” Smith said, on the NL Noon Report. “It’s been in the news for quite some time, since back to February, and we had some signs put up a couple weeks ago.”

The City of Kamloops announced earlier this year that it was looking at stopping people from coming in-and-out of Blazers games as a matter of safety, citing reports of people drinking heavily in between periods with alcohol not bought inside the arena.

The move aligns the Sandman Centre with most other arena policies in the WHL and in other sports leagues in North America.

“Sandman Centre was one of the few remaining buildings in the WHL that has allowed in-and-out privileges up until now,” Smith added, noting that implementing the change now makes sense ahead of the Memorial Cup.

“We all know that when we go to the bigger sporting venues, [people] are not allowed to go in and out during the game either.”

Smith says special accommodations may be made in the case of an emergency, noting these new policies will help reduce ticket fraud. He also says it will also help Sandman Centre staff manage alcohol consumption which in turn will protect the arena’s liquor licence.