Junos Preview: Rogers Arena Preps For Canadian Music’s Biggest Night

Vancouver’s Rogers Arena, home of the beloved NHL team the Canucks, just hosted Prince Harry’s Invictus Games and is now gearing up for another televised spectacle, Canada’s biggest music awards show, the Juno Awards, on March 30.

The last Canucks game in the building is March 18 and they don’t return until April 2, leaving Insight Productions plenty of time to oversee set up. That’s unlike the time when the Junos were at Edmonton’s Rogers Place in 2023 and had to tear down immediately for an Oilers game the following day. 

But Rogers Arena, which celebrates its official 30th anniversary on Sept. 21 and sees 2 million people through its doors annually, knows the drill. The building has hosted the Junos three previous times, 1998 for the 27th annual awards, 2009 for the 38th, and, in 2018, for the 47th, always in March. 

The Juno Awards are broadcast on Canada’s public broadcaster CBC television and streamed on its digital channels, 5 p.m. PT./8 p.m. ET. Just yesterday, it was announced that the 2026 Junos will take place at Hamilton Arena in late March, following the venue’s $200 million-plus redevelopment.

The seating configuration for this year’s Junos, according to the map on Ticketmaster, appears to be general admission on the floor, including three pits, two smaller ones in front of the main stage and separated by a runway, and a giant one behind what is called the “Bubly Lounge.” Vancouverite Michael Bublé — and brand ambassador for the near-namesake sparkling beverage — is hosting. 

“Total ticket inventory would be just over 12,000, and nearly 10,000 of those are sold to the public,” says Céline Séguin, VP of administration at the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (CARAS), which runs the Junos. 

That’s in line with the arena’s average concert capacity reported to Pollstar, which is 12,170, although it can host up to 20,000 and seats 18,910 for hockey.

When the arena opened in 1995, it was known as General Motors Place until Rogers Communications bought the naming rights in 2010. It is owned by Aquilini Investment Group, which owns Canucks Sports & Entertainment, Vancouver Canucks and the Vancouver Warriors.

More recently, Aquilini committed to a three phase CAD $150 million  (US$104 million) investment into arena improvements, 2022-23 (inc. players’ dressing room and team staff area), 2023-24 (inc. new video board, ribbon board, VIP restaurant, glass, dashers, penalty boxes, and benches) and 2024-25 (new seats, with cup holders, in lower and upper bowl). This final phase will start after the hockey season.

Molly Ray, VP, live entertainment, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, spoke to Pollstar about the Junos, the improvements and plans for the 30th anniversary. 

Pollstar: What are some of the key things you have to do to go from ice hockey to awards show?

Molly Ray: We’re always here to create the best fan experience, not only for hockey fans in Vancouver, but we also have a lacrosse team, the Vancouver Warriors, as well as 50-plus concerts a year in the building. So, we’re constantly converting for many different events. 

We did host the (military benefit) Invictus Games last month, which was a phenomenal turnout and was such a joy to host so many incredible athletes. As far as converting the building, our team is ready to convert the building for any event that we need to prepare for. So, sometimes that entails multiple days of preparation. 

In this case, I believe the Junos are in the building for at least a week for us to ensure that we’ve got everything dialed and prepared. There’s lots of ancillary events happening around the city. Juno Week [March 28-30] is such an exciting time for the music industry and Vancouver couldn’t be more proud to host it this year. 

It’s hard to find a dark arena for a week during hockey season. Did you have enough notice to ensure no games would be scheduled for a week, or is that just a coincidence? 

We’ve been in talks with the Junos to make sure that they’re prepared well in advance, so we’re not converting from a hockey game right before the event. 

Obviously, the Canucks games are televised, but what goes into televising an awards show?

We work very closely with the Junos. They’ve got a phenomenal organizing and production team. Insight Productions produces the show and we’ve been working with them for over a year on all of the details and preparation and walkthroughs.  The production design is all handled by Insight Productions and CARAS. So we really take their direction on anything design-wise, as far as the stage and production. I really hand it to our event operations team, who is deep in the details with them on not only the broadcast piece, but also everything around the building for the fans and for the artists, for their red carpet. It requires quite a village for all of us to put this incredible show on and celebrate the music industry in Canada. 

What will you be having outside the building for fans? 

Across all of our events, as an example, for Olivia Rodrigo, we had her beautiful merch experience displayed out on our North Plaza. So, I imagine a lot of the excitement that the Junos will bring to the city will be on our North Plaza. Right outside of our SkyTrain, where people get off the public transportation, is where all the excitement will begin. 

You’re in phase 3 of building improvements. What are those?

At the moment, we are in the middle of planning our new seat install. That won’t affect the Junos because it’s starting after the Junos, but we are improving our seats in the bowl, replacing all of the seats and upgrading them. That’s a project that’s happening after the playoffs this year. 

And, we have a new state-of-the-art score clock. As well, we do have a new premium area called the Well Health Presidents Club, which is a beautiful dining experience. And back of house, we are always looking to improve space and room and make sure that they’re welcome and renovated to ensure that everybody who comes in from a tour is well set up for success. That’s always evolving. We’re always looking to improve those areas for our artists.

Do you have any plans this year to pump up the 30th anniversary? We’re very excited about our anniversary. We’re in the middle of the planning stages at the moment. The building turns 30 this fall, and we look forward to sharing more. Right now, we’re focused on making sure we replace our seats and get that sorted over the next year.