Winnipeg Jets

[pspeid]

Less than 13k at the home opener? Winnipeg is in big trouble.

Seriously? The doom-saying is beginning already? It's one game.

[thebasketballgeek]

Less than 13k at the home opener? Winnipeg is in big trouble.

As long as there’s a team playing in a college arena with 5k seats and the Jets evaluation keeps rising it’s the least of the NHL worries. With True North investing even more into the DT with the upcoming Portage Place Redevelopment I would be shocked to hear news of the team moving for at least the next decade.

Anyways good 6-4 win against the Panthers. Almost blew the lead but we thoroughly outplayed the team that went to the SCF last year. That first line is looking special and it seems Scheif is playing with a purpose so far.

[trueviking]

Yes. It is a big deal that the smallest market in North American pro sports is having significant problems selling tickets. It’s not just one game. It’s the home opener. If you can’t sell tickets to that, what happens on a Tuesday in February when they are struggling.

True North investing in downtown is hardly a reason to dismiss a serious issue with the team. Sell the team for a billion dollars to an owner in Houston and suddenly the charitable development of Portage Place doesn’t matter.

Being slightly better than the worst problem the NHL has isn’t exactly something to boast about. Phoenix comes with a market of five million people. Winnipeg is extendible to the NHL if it isn’t viable.

[pspeid]

I'm sure the team would have wanted a sell-out for their first home game of the season. They probably would like to see sell-outs for every game, but my gut feeling is that they are a bit more realistic than that.

I don't have any direct information about the team's financial standing, so this is just conjecture on my part. When the team was moved to Winnipeg, I'm guessing Chipman, et al knew they could count on a few seasons of sell-outs in their first few years. I'm also reasonably certain they knew that wouldn't last forever, and looked to the long-term viability of a team in Winnipeg that could expect to sell X number of seats per game over a season. i also expect that at some point they knew the team would have to be supported by income other than ticket sales, snack foods, jerseys and TV revenues.

My guess is they can see some potential trouble ahead, but they are not yet packing up the skate sharpener and heading back down to Atlanta. I think the big contracts for Sheif and Helle are a sign that the team realizes being essentially a development team for larger NHL centres won't cut it. They need to have an exciting product, one with at least a decent chance of playoff appearances, in order to make it work here. I think Chipman really does want to make it work, and will try everything he can before throwing in the towel.

Will time make a difference? If the city continues to grow, if the bounce-back from Covid continues, if the growth of residential building downtown and addressing the homeless/addiction problems get a serious boost, I think it will. There are signs that all this will happen or is happening.

So, I'm going to try to buy a few more game tickets, pick up a new jersey, do what I can to support the Jets, and the symphony and the ballet and other institutions that have felt a hit the past few years. They're all important to the fabric of life in this town.

[thurmas]

jets lose out of 4.5 to 5.5 million on last years average attendance, it hurts but not end of the world and a couple of playoff games they likely broke even. Looking at single game ticket prices online in the upper deck in Wpg many go for between 97 and 108 cdn. Looking at Dallas and Detroit similar seats go around 73 to 77 USD. So if we could get some currency help hopefully things improve and we can sell tickets a bit cheaper to attract more fans. Also jets fan engagement is still in the dark ages and can use some help and should likely look to Bombers for some best practices ideas.

[BlackDog204]

Yes. It is a big deal that the smallest market in North American pro sports is having significant problems selling tickets. It’s not just one game. It’s the home opener. If you can’t sell tickets to that, what happens on a Tuesday in February when they are struggling.

True North investing in downtown is hardly a reason to dismiss a serious issue with the team. Sell the team for a billion dollars to an owner in Houston and suddenly the charitable development of Portage Place doesn’t matter.

Being slightly better than the worst problem the NHL has isn’t exactly something to boast about. Phoenix comes with a market of five million people. Winnipeg is extendible to the NHL if it isn’t viable.

^This

People in Winnipeg cannot compare our market with Arizona, since the NHL desperately wants a team in Arizona. Phoenix is one of the fastest growing cities in the US, approaching 5 million people. This is why the NHL has given them all the brakes in the world, and that includes playing in a 4600 seat arena.


The NHL was forced to put a team in Winnipeg, since they had no other alternatives for Atlanta except to fold the team. If Winnipeg ever is in a position like it was in the 90s, the NHL would have no problem relocating this team.

Winnipeg loves the Jets, and our city now has 900,000 people in the metro area. However, as ticket prices continue to increase, it is conceivable that the league is starting to price itself out of our market. The only solution I see, is for large Winnipeg corporations to gobble up 50% of the seats. Otherwise, we are in big trouble.

[BlackDog204]

I don't have any direct information about the team's financial standing, so this is just conjecture on my part. When the team was moved to Winnipeg, I'm guessing Chipman, et al knew they could count on a few seasons of sell-outs in their first few years. I'm also reasonably certain they knew that wouldn't last forever, and looked to the long-term viability of a team in Winnipeg that could expect to sell X number of seats per game over a season. i also expect that at some point they knew the team would have to be supported by income other than ticket sales, snack foods, jerseys and TV revenues.

Chipman did a lot of research in 2011. He concluded that a team would work here, due to the economics of that time period. The Canadian Dollar was at par and the salary cap was 1/2 of what it was back then. Today, the dollar is only 0.75 US, and the salary cap is nearly double what it was 12 years ago. It's also like this in Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Places that would always sellout between 2006-15. Now its rare to have sellouts in small markets in Canada.

True North did not anticipate the salary cap rising so fast, as well as the Canadian Dollar being devalued. COVID did not help either.

[Oilkountry]

Chipman did a lot of research in 2011. He concluded that a team would work here, due to the economics of that time period. The Canadian Dollar was at par and the salary cap was 1/2 of what it was back then. Today, the dollar is only 0.75 US, and the salary cap is nearly double what it was 12 years ago. It's also like this in Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Places that would always sellout between 2006-15. Now its rare to have sellouts in small markets in Canada.

True North did not anticipate the salary cap rising so fast, as well as the Canadian Dollar being devalued. COVID did not help either.

At the same time they bought the team for 200 million if I remember possibly even less? its most likely worth 700+ in a bidding war today so even if they lost 10-15M per season i would imagine they would still come out far in the black. Secondly i see manitoba stepping in to bail out the rough seasons before the team moves

[rrskylar]

Yes. It is a big deal that the smallest market in North American pro sports is having significant problems selling tickets. It’s not just one game. It’s the home opener. If you can’t sell tickets to that, what happens on a Tuesday in February when they are struggling.

True North investing in downtown is hardly a reason to dismiss a serious issue with the team. Sell the team for a billion dollars to an owner in Houston and suddenly the charitable development of Portage Place doesn’t matter.

Being slightly better than the worst problem the NHL has isn’t exactly something to boast about. Phoenix comes with a market of five million people. Winnipeg is extendible to the NHL if it isn’t viable.

Having the home opener on a Saturday afternoon wasn’t exactly a stroke of genius!

13401 for a home opener is brutal, hard to believe there were once over 10K on a waiting list for season tickets a decade ago!

[Biff]

I was at the game. My perception was there was a fair amount of empty seats in the lower bowl in between the goal lines. Those seats are almost assuredly sold as season tickets but were no shows. As mentioned above, the afternoon game likely didn't help...I hate and never go to afternoon games. I only went because it was the season opener.

On a positive note, the pre-game in TNS was great. Tons of people all in Jets jerseys, music playing. I got to have a beer while being outside amongst the new towers. It was really great. Too bad our weather doesn't really permit this for all the games.

[Ozabald]

Having the home opener on a Saturday afternoon wasn’t exactly a stroke of genius!

13401 for a home opener is brutal, hard to believe there were once over 10K on a waiting list for season tickets a decade ago!

Ottawa had 20,011 for its home opener (which is 107% of capacity); on a Saturday afternoon.

[EdwardTH]

Ottawa had 20,011 for its home opener (which is 107% of capacity); on a Saturday afternoon.

Ottawa also survived years of 13k crowds to get here.

Flames & Devils were both had almost 2000 empty seats for their home openers. Sharks, Panthers, & obviously Coyotes have all had plenty of seasons with 13k crowds.

The attendance is disappointing but it's still a big overreaction to conclude the team is gonna fold and move. Winnipeg insecurities on full display.

I feel like this is kind of an ego thing. We spent years boasting about how we're the best hockey market on earth and now we have to mentally adjust to the reality that we're very much a poor small-market team. Egos are bruised, that Winnipeg pessimism kicks in and everyone thinks the sky is falling. But historically low-rent teams soldier on and weather these droughts just fine, management tends to play the long game and doesn't just pull up the stakes and move willy-nilly, unless you've got a situation like Atlanta where the management doesn't really want to run a hockey team at all.

[bomberjet]

I believe the Jets have turned A corner with the fan base. Still work to be done. But moved on from 2 pieces, signed the other 2 pieces long term. This provides some direction on what we can expect from the team.

Chevy is staying from what I can tell. See what happens with coaching next year. Team leadership is locked up. Now it really is up to Chevy to stock up come trade deadline if they're truly in a 'win now' moment.

If this is the post pandemic, apathetic slump and things turn around, pretty good. If the ticket sales thing lingers on for years and continues to decline, all while the team is supposed to be 'winning now', not so good.

[pspeid]

Ottawa also survived years of 13k crowds to get here.

Flames & Devils were both had almost 2000 empty seats for their home openers. Sharks, Panthers, & obviously Coyotes have all had plenty of seasons with 13k crowds.

The attendance is disappointing but it's still a big overreaction to conclude the team is gonna fold and move. Winnipeg insecurities on full display.

I feel like this is kind of an ego thing. We spent years boasting about how we're the best hockey market on earth and now we have to mentally adjust to the reality that we're very much a poor small-market team. Egos are bruised, that Winnipeg pessimism kicks in and everyone thinks the sky is falling. But historically low-rent teams soldier on and weather these droughts just fine, management tends to play the long game and doesn't just pull up the stakes and move willy-nilly, unless you've got a situation like Atlanta where the management doesn't really want to run a hockey team at all.

IMO awesome does of reality. I would guess, though, in addition to the "Winnipeg insecurities", we most likely also see a contingent that seriously wants to see the team, and the city, fail.

Who are they? Some may be locals who feel they've been "wronged" by the city in the past. Some may be out-of-towners who are looking for a reason to crap all over someone else's home (and, by extension, pump up their own cities), and some are just negative types who apparently would rather embrace the worst-case scenario than risk hoping for something good and being disappointed.

I don't think this is a "Winnipeg" thing as much as a "people" thing. I see it frequently non-line comments about news events in other cities. It's not going to go away any time soon, but it shouldn't be surprising to see "the sky is falling" comments about anything and everything.

Go Jets!!

[lotw_wpg]

This I believe is being overblown. I know people who have season tickets, don't like afternoon games and tend not to go to games on Saturdays because of the lake and other events. Hell, I was at a friend's lake this weekend, lol.

[BlackDog204]

Ottawa had 20,011 for its home opener (which is 107% of capacity); on a Saturday afternoon.

Ottawa may not be the best example, as they have had attendance problems for the past 5 years.

Edmonton and Calgary were only at 90% capacity for their home openers, and Edmonton has an arena that is only 7 years old.

[The Jabroni]

The attendance is disappointing but it's still a big overreaction to conclude the team is gonna fold and move. Winnipeg insecurities on full display.


People are "memeing" at this point, because of not only the insecurities, but also a wide variety of reasons. From the current economic situation we are all in with the post-pandemic world, the pandemic itself, years of anxiety with certain players, coaching, the "inter-years" when we had no NHL team, etc.

People will inhale the copium of the typical 'Pegger behaviour of self-deprecating humour with blatant statements of moving the team, folding it, firing everybody in the coaching staff, trading players, etc.

I've heard and seen it all in various social media. It's funny, but also tiring. :rolleyes:

[lotw_wpg]

People are "memeing" at this point, because of not only the insecurities, but also a wide variety of reasons. From the current economic situation we are all in with the post-pandemic world, the pandemic itself, years of anxiety with certain players, coaching, the "inter-years" when we had no NHL team, etc.

People will inhale the copium of the typical 'Pegger behaviour of self-deprecating humour with blatant statements of moving the team, folding it, firing everybody in the coaching staff, trading players, etc.

I've heard and seen it all in various social media. It's funny, but also tiring. :rolleyes:

People just love sh*tting on Winnipeg. It's very annoying.

[optimusREIM]

People just love sh*tting on Winnipeg. It's very annoying.

Especially people from Winnipeg.

[pspeid]

Especially people from Winnipeg.

It's certainly the go-to position for a segment of the population, but as I pointed out, if you read comments about other cities from their residents, you'll see a similar pattern.

[Ozabald]

Ottawa may not be the best example, as they have had attendance problems for the past 5 years.

Edmonton and Calgary were only at 90% capacity for their home openers, and Edmonton has an arena that is only 7 years old.

Rogers Place in Edmonton has a capacity of 18,347 for hockey. The attendance for the Oilers home opener was 18,347. I think that's a sell-out; not 90% capacity. You are right about Calgary.

[Laramie45]

Just wait until the NHL adds two more expansion teams to the league.

The Jets received $21.6M USD for the Kraken and will probably get $60M USD after the next round of expansion.

The Jets may not make another conference final run but an expansion fee provides the same kind of cash and more - so I expect the NHL to add two American teams by 2028.

[pspeid]

J

The Jets may not make another conference final run but an expansion fee provides the same kind of cash and more - so I expect the NHL to add two American teams by 2028.

Atlanta 3.0, later to be known as Quebec City 2.0.

[optimusREIM]

Seems that by the time Quebec gets a team, it’s arena will be obsolete

[ericmacm]

Atlanta 3.0, later to be known as Quebec City 2.0.

Hockey is pretty unlikely to fail in Atlanta again. Metro Atlanta has grown by over 1M people since the Thrashers left in 2011. The city is a lot different now. Forsyth County, where the proposed arena project will be located, is one of the richest counties in the US, and the richest in Georgia itself.

If a team ends up landing here, it will be successful, full stop.

[BlackDog204]

Holy moly!

I've never seen the arena this empty. The Jets are playing in front of at least 3,000 empty seats today! And this is Saturday night!

https://twitter.com/brent_bellamy/status/1714440025642086661

[BlackDog204]

Hockey is pretty unlikely to fail in Atlanta again. Metro Atlanta has grown by over 1M people since the Thrashers left in 2011. The city is a lot different now. Forsyth County, where the proposed arena project will be located, is one of the richest counties in the US, and the richest in Georgia itself.

If a team ends up landing here, it will be successful, full stop.

I concur.

The Thrashers started off doing very well in terms of attendance. If we really analyse how the team did in terms of ticket sales, it was not until after AOL/Time Warner sold them to the ASG Group, that the team took a nosedive.

The ASG did not market the thrashers, and did not spend the money necessarily to keep them competitive, especially during their final 3 years. If the disastrous AOL/Time Warner deal did not happen, and Ted Turner was still running things, the Thrashers would have never failed.

[BlackDog204]

Seems that by the time Quebec gets a team, it’s arena will be obsolete

As much as I want to see the Nordiques return, Quebec will never get a team. 15 years ago was the best chance for any Canadian city to land a franchise, but the ship had sailed by 2015.

[thebasketballgeek]

What a pathetic performance and now Villardi’s hurt just great.

[Ozabald]

Tonight’s attendance - 11,226

Let the excuses start in 3..2..1..

[drew]

No excuses. TNSE is learning the hard way that attracting new customers is way harder than retaining existing ones.

I say this as a newly non-season ticket holder, for the first season since the return of Jets 2.0.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/12/12/customer-retention-versus-customer-acquisition/

[lotw_wpg]

Ya, there are no excuses for this. Falling attendance is terrible for the Jets and, overall, will be bad for the city if we lose them.

[blueandgoldguy]

Chipman did a lot of research in 2011. He concluded that a team would work here, due to the economics of that time period. The Canadian Dollar was at par and the salary cap was 1/2 of what it was back then. Today, the dollar is only 0.75 US, and the salary cap is nearly double what it was 12 years ago. It's also like this in Calgary, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Places that would always sellout between 2006-15. Now its rare to have sellouts in small markets in Canada.

True North did not anticipate the salary cap rising so fast, as well as the Canadian Dollar being devalued. COVID did not help either.

If anything they anticipated a more rapidly increasingly salary cap. Years ago, not long after the year long lockout, Bettman and the front office projected revenue growth and the salary cap of the NHL in the coming decades. Around 2022 - 2025 they projected a $120 million salary cap. If the league anticipated this, I'm sure True North knew about it.

Regarding the Canadian dollar being devalued, fair point. It has been around 75 cents for close to a decade now. With that said, I distinctly remember Chipman on the radio shortly after the Jets returned and their financial model was predicated on a .80 cent dollar...so they are not too far off on what they considered to be viable long-term.

Granted it certainly would help if we could see a few or several years of an .80 or greater dollar. It would help the Canadian teams' revenues vs. the American teams...put us on a more even playing field.

[blueandgoldguy]

Bah what does that Bret Bellamy know? Just another negative Whinepegger that wants the city to fail time and again.;)

On a serious note, TruViking and the Biffs, Boffs and Buffs of this thread have an insider's knowledge on various construction proposals prior to them being leaked to the public. Would any of you happen to know if Winnipeg's business community has stepped up this past summer to increase the percentage of Jets business season ticketholders' accounts from 15% (numbers from Chipman)?

If not, I wonder why the business community won't support the Jets to the same extent as other cities...where season tickets are comprised of at least 45% businesses (again a number Chipman used)? That means even Ottawa - a city with a smaller corporate base than Winnipeg - managed to accrue at least 45% of their season ticket base from businesses.

[pspeid]

Bah what does that Bret Bellamy know? Just another negative Whinepegger that wants the city to fail time and again.;)

On a serious note, TruViking and the Biffs, Boffs and Buffs of this thread have an insider's knowledge on various construction proposals prior to them being leaked to the public. Would any of you happen to know if Winnipeg's business community has stepped up this past summer to increase the percentage of Jets business season ticketholders' accounts from 15% (numbers from Chipman)?

If not, I wonder why the business community won't support the Jets to the same extent as other cities...where season tickets are comprised of at least 45% businesses (again a number Chipman used)? That means even Ottawa - a city with a smaller corporate base than Winnipeg - managed to accrue at least 45% of their season ticket base from businesses.

Yes the amount of business-purchased tickets will certainly go a long way to predicting the future financial stability of the team.

On another note, who's Bret Bellamy? What Saturday night was this? i thought the Jets have played their two regular season home games on a Sunday afternoon and a Tuesday night?

[wags_in_the_peg]

Holy moly!

I've never seen the arena this empty. The Jets are playing in front of at least 3,000 empty seats today! And this is Saturday night!

https://twitter.com/brent_bellamy/status/1714440025642086661

No that is a Tuesday night, 2nd game of the year. Either way, still not good.

Disposable income is at an all time low...

[thurmas]

Lots of reasons attendance is poor. Summer of not knowing if players would stay. Expensive tickets and food and drinks. A downtown that is not very appealing to be in with lots of problems. A mediocre hockey club and a city that is blue collar and can only spend so much on sports.

[cheswick]

Holy moly!

I've never seen the arena this empty. The Jets are playing in front of at least 3,000 empty seats today! And this is Saturday night!

https://twitter.com/brent_bellamy/status/1714440025642086661

That was last night, and their first game was a Saturday afternoon.

[EdwardTH]

Bah what does that Bret Bellamy know? Just another negative Whinepegger that wants the city to fail time and again.;)
.

I love vike but it IS so classic Negativipeg! Imagine if people just went to a game to enjoy the hockey without wringing their hands about how many tickets sold and how we stack up against some other city. Everybody loves to make fun of the Coyotes but have you seen the games there? They have a better atmosphere than we do with less than half the fans. Their fans could wallow in depression like we do over their situation but instead they just show up to enjoy a night out and have a good time. If the folks in the stands got a little loud and had a little fun instead of sitting in silence and taking pics of empty seats then more people might actually want to go to games.

No excuses. TNSE is learning the hard way that attracting new customers is way harder than retaining existing ones.

I say this as a newly non-season ticket holder, for the first season since the return of Jets 2.0.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/12/12/customer-retention-versus-customer-acquisition/

I see this over and over from ex-season ticket holders, but, other than price, what exactly do you want them to do? Price is already among the cheapest in the league. Do you just need more schwag or what?

[drew]

^ sure, swag.

Special season ticket holder events. Anything really. Oher than continuously increase ticket prices, make it difficult to move seats and give first dibs on playoffs...

They didn't plan for the inevitable time when just having the team back would be good enough. Now they are gonna have to work to get us back. And its not like I am some sort of anomaly. The empty seats speak for themselves.

[thurmas]

On hfboard apparently san jose had 10500 and buffalo 12500 the other night so we aren't the only ones.

[BlackDog204]

On hfboard apparently san jose had 10500 and buffalo 12500 the other night so we aren't the only ones.

In fairness, San Jose has a horrible team. Buffalo has missed the playoffs 12 years in a row.

The Jets are expected to make the playoffs if they remain healthy.

[EdwardTH]

^ sure, swag.

Special season ticket holder events. Anything really. Oher than continuously increase ticket prices, make it difficult to move seats and give first dibs on playoffs...

They didn't plan for the inevitable time when just having the team back would be good enough. Now they are gonna have to work to get us back. And its not like I am some sort of anomaly. The empty seats speak for themselves.

I guess I just don't understand how, in the grand scheme of things, getting a goodie bag once in a while would suddenly make it worth it? Seems like people just can't afford tix anymore, which is understandable, but they're too proud to admit they can't afford it or something lol.

At the end of the day the market for pro sports tickets is going the same way as everything else, regular people getting priced out because they're competing with corporations that have more money than they know what to do with. Those big companies in the US will keep buying half the season tickets because it's nothing to them, and the prices will keep going up. Not unlike housing where all the stock is being bought up by investors with deep pockets and regular people are priced out.

[drew]

It's not what the swag is necessarily, it's just reinforcing the idea that the customer is valued. And not just there to pray at the alter of our NHL saviours, TNSE.

[bomberjet]

Being a season ticket holder for almost a decade now, I understand Drew's point.

You pay them $10k to go to their hockey games for one year. And there is nothing coming back to keep you interested.

Sure, it's your choice to pay the money. But there is no incentive for me to keep my tickets anymore. I can easily get tix to the games I want, with no risk of putting out $10k. They need to understand this, but don't. Or just don't know what to do about it.

I feel this is very much a Chipman, old man out of touch type thing.

[thurmas]

The weak cdn dollar hurts in that they can't offer big discounts like american teams can. Also the past 2 summers of so much news always on players and coaches not wanting to be here hurt as well when I look at the pictures from the crowd last night its a very old and very white crowd. Bombers games much more diverse crowd. The demographic changes in Canada the past decade have been so strong that hockey is really losing out on future generations due to costs inaccessibility and it being such an old boys club.

[cheswick]

On hfboard apparently san jose had 10500 and buffalo 12500 the other night so we aren't the only ones.

Over the first few games of the season Winnipeg is averaging the least pure attendance and the least % of building filled. (Arizona hasn't played at home yet)

https://www.hockey-reference.com/friv/attendance.cgi

[thurmas]

Over the first few games of the season Winnipeg is averaging the least pure attendance and the least % of building filled. (Arizona hasn't played at home yet)

https://www.hockey-reference.com/friv/attendance.cgi

Its concerning the corporate base in Winnipeg needs to step up

[CoryB]

No excuses. TNSE is learning the hard way that attracting new customers is way harder than retaining existing ones.

^ sure, swag.

Special season ticket holder events. Anything really. Oher than continuously increase ticket prices, make it difficult to move seats and give first dibs on playoffs...

They didn't plan for the inevitable time when just having the team back would be good enough. Now they are gonna have to work to get us back. And its not like I am some sort of anomaly. The empty seats speak for themselves.

I had been part of a group that shared Jets season tickets since the team returned. We are all at different points in life now and that group structure was not working well anymore so we ended it. I changed to directly getting a quarter season from the team. They made it such a miserable experience I am not sure I will renew.

My wife is super busy at work and we have learned over the past couple of seasons weeknight games don't work well for us. For the 2022/2023 season the Jets offered a quarter season pack that was weekend games. That sounded like a good match for us. So I reach out to the team about getting that pack. Except they cannot tell me if the pack they want be to sign up for is a weekend pack or not. That should have been enough of a warning sign to send me running, but I pushed past it.

Then they announced the split of tickets and confirm I am on a weekend pack, much after that first conversation. It looks great at first glance but then I look at it a little closer. There are six weekends between the start of October and end of April (30 weeks) and I cannot attend games on six of them, or 20%. While turned out of the 10 games in my pack 4 of them (40%) are on those weekends. So I reach out to the team to see if we can maybe change two games.

I see I have one game the team has classified as a top price tier game I cannot attend and there is a different one a couple weeks earlier that would work. Seems to be a like for like exchange. I ask the team and get told no, unconditionally. Apparently you can only receive games on a secret list that isn't available publicly anywhere.

That's okay the second game I wanted to exchange is for one on the secret list. I ask to trade a middle price tier game for the middle priced tier game on the list. Get denied again.

Apparently you can ONLY exchange games on the secret list for other games on the secret list. And guess what, none of the games in my package are on the list.

Another email to the team explaining how this seems wrong and asking them to reconsider.

Eventually they did give in and let me trade the second game. But that left me with the top priced game I could not attend. Worked my connections and found someone willing to buy that game. Then found someone else willing to swap the home opener for a different game I could attend.

Seriously at that point I am truly asking myself why I am not just buying single game tickets.

The team is going to need to do a lot more than giving me a free bobble head per seat to convivence me to stay.

[Jammon]

I had been part of a group that shared Jets season tickets since the team returned. We are all at different points in life now and that group structure was not working well anymore so we ended it. I changed to directly getting a quarter season from the team. They made it such a miserable experience I am not sure I will renew.

My wife is super busy at work and we have learned over the past couple of seasons weeknight games don't work well for us. For the 2022/2023 season the Jets offered a quarter season pack that was weekend games. That sounded like a good match for us. So I reach out to the team about getting that pack. Except they cannot tell me if the pack they want be to sign up for is a weekend pack or not. That should have been enough of a warning sign to send me running, but I pushed past it.

Then they announced the split of tickets and confirm I am on a weekend pack, much after that first conversation. It looks great at first glance but then I look at it a little closer. There are six weekends between the start of October and end of April (30 weeks) and I cannot attend games on six of them, or 20%. While turned out of the 10 games in my pack 4 of them (40%) are on those weekends. So I reach out to the team to see if we can maybe change two games.

I see I have one game the team has classified as a top price tier game I cannot attend and there is a different one a couple weeks earlier that would work. Seems to be a like for like exchange. I ask the team and get told no, unconditionally. Apparently you can only receive games on a secret list that isn't available publicly anywhere.

That's okay the second game I wanted to exchange is for one on the secret list. I ask to trade a middle price tier game for the middle priced tier game on the list. Get denied again.

Apparently you can ONLY exchange games on the secret list for other games on the secret list. And guess what, none of the games in my package are on the list.

Another email to the team explaining how this seems wrong and asking them to reconsider.

Eventually they did give in and let me trade the second game. But that left me with the top priced game I could not attend. Worked my connections and found someone willing to buy that game. Then found someone else willing to swap the home opener for a different game I could attend.

Seriously at that point I am truly asking myself why I am not just buying single game tickets.

The team is going to need to do a lot more than giving me a free bobble head per seat to convivence me to stay.


I gave up my season tickets this year after sharing for 12 years since the return. After they threatened legal action on our group when we told them that we could no longer afford our seats, it really left a sour taste in my mouth. Last year, all we received was a lousy cooler bag for season tickets and a 20% discount on items at the Jets store and concessions. That's not they way you attract season ticket holders. I have provided my feedback to TNSE every season about how to improve the experience. Then, last season, we were going to switch seats and join another group, only to find out that they included these seats as part of the remodeled section, upped the price and offered the owners no option to relocate. So they (having owned four seats in two sections as business owners) dropped all four.

That shows you how people feel about TNSE. Chipman has a lot to learn about business as a hockey owner. This year, I'm saving my money and might buy last minute tickets to games I want to attend, but I have to admit, I'm really not missing the games or the experience. Some of the people working for TNSE are rude and miserable and it certainly doesn't add to the experience. Mind you, I have also met some real gems working for TNSE as well.

[bomberjet]

Thye only thing keeping me on season tix was access to playoff tix. This past years playoffs show there is no need for me to keep the tickets. I could get playoff tix at similar prices to what I was paying.

Previous years it was a huge plus for us to have seasons, such as during the 2018 run.

Now, it's easier. Getting a discount on beer is not driving me to keep my seasons. It's basically just me supporting the team with our season ticket package (as they wish haha).

[lotw_wpg]

I have season tickets and probably will have them for the end of time because it does help with business; plus, I don't want them to leave again, and it's also a plus to take the wife out for the night away from the kids. Hit up a restaurant after or before and watch some hockey. I do agree that the prices at concession are nuts. My wife doesn't buy anything lol. But I might have a beer or two when I go. The staff I deal with are friendly.

The negative I have for the arena experience is the fan experience. I've been to many arenas, and it's a ton of fun; the Jets fan experience is a whimper in that avenue. Also, if I were the city/province, I would try to drum up more development in the downtown area. There isn't much activity Downtown after 6 p.m., which would affect overall game attendance.

[thurmas]

Bombers just 500 seats shy of sellout for regular season finale. Have a winning product that people can afford to attend and that's welcoming environment and you have success. Listening to all the red tape true north made season ticket holders go through plus the high prices and with downtown not desirable to be at they all snowball into what they have today.

[bomberjet]

They need to revamp the gameday experience completely. Like completely change how the games are presented. Basically, rebrand the team. Still Jets, still Winnipeg. But do something new.

First thing is cancel the people screaming into the microphone.

[TimeFadesAway]

first thing is cancel the people screaming into the microphone.

make some nooooiiiiisssseeee

[drew]

They need to revamp the gameday experience completely. Like completely change how the games are presented. Basically, rebrand the team. Still Jets, still Winnipeg. But do something new.

First thing is cancel the people screaming into the microphone.

Yeah, the people that can afford season tickets aren't the same people who that whole yelling game day experience is going to impress. It doesn't have to be a church service in there, but the really aren't appealing to most people in that arena with the current set up (assuming it is still like it was last year).

[EdwardTH]

Bombers just 500 seats shy of sellout for regular season finale. Have a winning product that people can afford to attend and that's welcoming environment and you have success.

Yeah price is the main complaint everyone has, but if you sell more tickets at a lower price point you end up with the same revenue. Selling 15% more tickets, beer, hot dogs etc at 15% lower prices put you right where you started to what's the point? Still seems like for most fans all this fuss has more to do with the ego blow of seeing all those empty seats than the actual economics.

The negative I have for the arena experience is the fan experience. I've been to many arenas, and it's a ton of fun; the Jets fan experience is a whimper in that avenue. Also, if I were the city/province, I would try to drum up more development in the downtown area. There isn't much activity Downtown after 6 p.m., which would affect overall game attendance.

Can you give some concrete examples of what they do in other buildings, because I hear this talking point all the time but never any real examples. Do they need a band in there? Cheerleaders? Medeival battles? What? And I feel like half these comments are saying it's too loud and obnoxious and the other half saying it's too quiet and boring lol.

Without examples this always just seems like typical finicky Winnipeggers making excuses to stay home and grumble.

[thurmas]

Apparently jets season ticket base this year is only 9500. That's pretty weak especially with so many hockey fan boys in corporate offices in the city. To me their goal should be to get it up to 11500 to 12000. Big 4 sports due to costs most fans cannot afford season tickets anymore thats why cfl works here so much better.

[drew]

Without examples this always just seems like typical finicky Winnipeggers making excuses to stay home and grumble.

Do you have season tickets?

[EdwardTH]

Do you have season tickets?

No, I can't afford them. Not sure what that has to do with anything. I'm asking what the folks who complain about the "arena experience" are looking for.

[drew]

I spent somewhere in the neighbourhood of $20k on season tickets (12 seasons in a group of 4 people sharing 2 seats). I think that gives me (and others like me) the right to gripe, even if it's for seemingly trivial reasons.

[thurmas]

Jets lose again 5 to 3 to Vegas and attendance only 11521. Even jets 1.0 were around 12.5 or 13.5 most nights. Looks like will be a very long year.

[Ozabald]

Jets lose again 5 to 3 to Vegas and attendance only 11521. Even jets 1.0 were around 12.5 or 13.5 most nights. Looks like will be a very long year.

Something has broken. Or perhaps, this is the true size of the market which can support NHL hockey; which will not be good for the long term future of the team.

The poor attendance is being noticed by the national media such as TSN; the Jets players notice it; as do the visiting players.

In the end, perhaps Winnipeg is just too small of a market and income levels are too low to support Tier-1 level pro sports. Likely Quebec City would have the same issues; though their market catchment area is larger than Winnipeg and they can play the card of being the Quebecois(e) team. Realistically, the only market to support another team in Canada is the GTA.

[thurmas]

We seem to be doing the worst but other markets are struggling too. Washington ended their sell out streak. Calgary Buffalo and San Jose having rough attendance. The games are just too expensive and you can enjoy it as well if not better from home these days.

[bomberjet]

What they do in other arenas. Vegas for example puts on a huge show. Winnipeg turns the lights low and puts a video on the jumbotron. Then Winnipeg gets a guy on the microphone to yell at you.

[EdwardTH]

I spent somewhere in the neighbourhood of $20k on season tickets (12 seasons in a group of 4 people sharing 2 seats). I think that gives me (and others like me) the right to gripe, even if it's for seemingly trivial reasons.

Maybe I came off the wrong way but I'm not trying to dump on season ticket holders for complaining, just genuinely trying to learn what kinds of things they could do to improve the fan experience.

[drew]

Maybe I came off the wrong way but I'm not trying to dump on season ticket holders for complaining, just genuinely trying to learn what kinds of things they could do to improve the fan experience.

You should work for TNSE, because right now, they should be scrambling to figure this same information out.

There isn't one magic bullet. It's just been a slow burn of eroding season ticket support, especially since covid.

[optimusREIM]

You should work for TNSE, because right now, they should be scrambling to figure this same information out.

There isn't one magic bullet. It's just been a slow burn of eroding season ticket support, especially since covid.

Covid was a major turning point, but attendance was tailing off slightly just prior to covid.

I think there are a multitude of factors at play. Obviously disposable income being one, but someone mentioned the weak business community support. I don't know if that's because tax rules have changed making these sorts of things not a tax write-off, or if the market is truly that weak. I don't know. It seems across the board people generally don't go out as much.

[wags_in_the_peg]

great discussion happening on Twitter from "Joe Daley's Sports", over 125 comments. many say yes "yelling from in-house announcer" but also, beer & food $. However there quite a few complaints over safety outside arena. Zombies string out on drugs scare people, violent or not, it's fact.

hire more security or police for walking patrols for more than directing traffic and advertise it, wonder if that would help?

[thurmas]

When jets returned in 2011 I naively thought all these pubs and restaurants and maybe night clubs would open up nearby but never happened its such a dead zone outside of the building. Add on the terrible in game experience and ridiculous food and bev prices why would people wanna go.

[EdwardTH]

Even jets 1.0 were around 12.5 or 13.5 most nights.

Yeah that was when you could get good seats for $35. I punched it into the inflation calculator and that should be $63 today - what's the average now, $130? And they're not even that high compared to the rest of the league. I know everyone wants to dump on the city all the time but maybe we should be proud of the 11k crowds. Winnipeggers are drawing a line with a league that has sucked out every penny it can and priced regular folks out across the board.

I don't know. It seems across the board people generally don't go out as much.

This really is a thing. I go to a park or for a walk and the only people out and about are speaking Ukrainian, it's been like that all year. We have a couple of them at work who have talked about the cultural difference, mainly, Europeans go out and DO stuff in the evenings. I hope those people get to go home some day, but if/when they do our city is really gonna be a ghost town. Winnipeggers just seem to want to sit on their couches all day every day.

[thebasketballgeek]

This really is a thing. I go to a park or for a walk and the only people out and about are speaking Ukrainian, it's been like that all year. We have a couple of them at work who have talked about the cultural difference, mainly, Europeans go out and DO stuff in the evenings. I hope those people get to go home some day, but if/when they do our city is really gonna be a ghost town. Winnipeggers just seem to want to sit on their couches all day every day.

Not just Europeans. Asians also go out after dinner almost religiously for their evening walks when I lived in Waverley West. I would know because my mom did it every day. Hell because my part of Bridgwater was heavily Chinese I would see a large workout full of elders every morning at the park. Are you telling me other neighborhoods in Winnipeg are just empty, desolate parks in the evening and morning times?

North American culture is so depressing. Just come back from work, eat dinner, watch TV, maybe walk your dog or clean a bit, and then sleep while praying for the weekend to arrive ASAP. What a boring life…

[Jammon]

Yeah that was when you could get good seats for $35. I punched it into the inflation calculator and that should be $63 today - what's the average now, $130? And they're not even that high compared to the rest of the league. I know everyone wants to dump on the city all the time but maybe we should be proud of the 11k crowds. Winnipeggers are drawing a line with a league that has sucked out every penny it can and priced regular folks out across the board.



This really is a thing. I go to a park or for a walk and the only people out and about are speaking Ukrainian, it's been like that all year. We have a couple of them at work who have talked about the cultural difference, mainly, Europeans go out and DO stuff in the evenings. I hope those people get to go home some day, but if/when they do our city is really gonna be a ghost town. Winnipeggers just seem to want to sit on their couches all day every day.

I wholeheartedly agree. I know people who get free tickets to Jets games and give them away or don't use them because they prefer to watch at home.

The Jets have lost season ticket holders and the corporate community. And it's solely because of the way they have been treated. This is all on TNSE. They are the only ones who can accept the blame for how sour things have turned.

[pspeid]

Yeah that was when you could get good seats for $35. I punched it into the inflation calculator and that should be $63 today - what's the average now, $130? And they're not even that high compared to the rest of the league. I know everyone wants to dump on the city all the time but maybe we should be proud of the 11k crowds. Winnipeggers are drawing a line with a league that has sucked out every penny it can and priced regular folks out across the board.


Great comments overall and I think this one really hits the mark. I really think the Jets are a great asset to the city, but there comes a point where the price of keeping a civic amenity can become prohibitive. Sadly, if the Jets do price themselves out of this market, the media, especially in larger centres, will most likely focus on the "failure" the Winnipeg market. The narrative of the "little guy" (or in this case, the small market) able to compete with the big cities is largely embraced only by other small markets.

[Wpg_Guy]

True North has a lot of other revenue streams that makes jets 1.0 incomparable. Owning the building being the largest difference, I wouldn’t worry too much about low attendance, for now.

[pegcityboy]

I think this Jet attendance situation has to be put in some perspective, Jets sold out for 11 years and sold out all playoff games, and after three games at home this year the sky is falling and we are moving the team, Ottawa somewhat because of Eugene Melnyk was getting crowds under 10,000 right before Covid and sold out their opener this year , and the second game they had 5000 empty seats. It happens. I share 4 P3s tickets since the Jets have come back and I do think True North were arrogant and had the feeling you should be happy you have season tickets to see NHL hockey and kinda took their season-ticket holders for granted which they have to try to repair, for their loyalty season ticket holders should get more benefits than we do, ( Adam Lowry recipe and BBQ apron doesn’t cut it ) add in Covid and people finding other things to do, inflation and ticket prices and concessions going up and up and people not satisfied with team performance and you have the perfect storm that has to be reversed and all the parties involved , True North , Season Ticket Holders , Business community has to work together on fixing . It is definitely fixable as sellouts every game for years is because we are a passionate hockey city and all those people who didn’t renew haven’t moved away , True North just has to find a way to get those people back and get the excitement back of having a NHL team in this market . They have an advisory committee now made up of season ticket holders which is a good start to bridge the gap between ownership and season ticket holders .

[pspeid]

They have an advisory committee now made up of season ticket holders which is a good start to bridge the gap between ownership and season ticket holders .

From the sounds of it this is a good step.

[BlackDog204]

Something has broken. Or perhaps, this is the true size of the market which can support NHL hockey; which will not be good for the long term future of the team.

In 2011, things were different. The ticket prices and concessions were far cheaper. The dollar was on par. Attendance problems only started after COVID, and TNSE has been brutal in terms of game day experience and customer service. This creates a perfect storm for loss of interest in going to Jets games.

Winnipeg in itself, has grown from 745,000 in 2011 to 900,000 today, which is a higher growth than most metro areas in North America.

Likely Quebec City would have the same issues; though their market catchment area is larger than Winnipeg and they can play the card of being the Quebecois(e) team. Realistically, the only market to support another team in Canada is the GTA.

This is simply not true. Winnipeg has outpaced Quebec City in population growth for the past 15 years, and now has nearly 40,000 more people than Quebec. Additionally, there were numerous studies conducted in the 80s/90s in the aftermath of Saskatoon buying the St.Louis Blues in 1983 (the NHL vetoed the sale, and took control of the team temporarily).

It was found that very few (1% of ticket holders) were from outside the Winnipeg CMA area. There was a notion that people all over Saskatchewan would attend the Saskatoon Blues games, however market research had proven this false for games on weekdays (the majority of games).

It was the same for Quebec. if we were looking at 100km radius, I have no doubt that Quebec would have more people than Winnipeg, but the problem is that only 150-200 people would make the journey outside the CMA. As for being a "Quebecois" team, this would work against the Nordiques. One of the reasons the NHL was leery of the group trying to bring back the Nordiques, was that he was an admitted separatist. It should be noted that one of the reason people dreaded playing in Quebec in the 80s and 90s, was of the language barrier. Since that time, there was far fewer French Canadians in the NHL.

Also of note, around 2011, a research group had determined that Canada could support up to 11 teams (Quebec City, Hamilton, GTA 2, and a second team in the Montreal area). This is no longer the case. It's probable that Toronto could probably support two NHL teams, but good luck convincing the Leafs to share their territory with a new team, unless they are given well north of one Billion dollars in territory fees.

[BlackDog204]

When jets returned in 2011 I naively thought all these pubs and restaurants and maybe night clubs would open up nearby but never happened its such a dead zone outside of the building. Add on the terrible in game experience and ridiculous food and bev prices why would people wanna go.

This was never going to happen, since the area around the arena is a dead zone, with very few residential units. It's very similar to Edmonton, which has not seen an explosion of night clubs or restaurants since the new arena opened in 2016.

[Oilkountry]

Winnipeg.....we need to talk.

11K fans for a game is unacceptable, No matter how "meh" this team is. I understand chipman's unwavering loyalty to players and staff is an issue. I understand tickets are too expensive. But go back to 1996. "save our jets" should ring in your ears like the "true north chant" did in 2011. This stand off with the fans isnt cute. Oilers fans stuck with the team through the worst 2 decades hockey had ever seen. rexall stayed full. Youre not even close to that now. You have a playoff calibre team.

You wont get a 3rd kick at the can. You're not Atlanta. Go find a group of 5-10 Couples and buy season tickets, if 1000 groups did that all would be righted. Make a date night with your partner out of it. Ask your boss why they aren't advertising with the Jets. Don't sit back and watch this team move for the last time. Don't try and put out the fire after its blazing. The Jets are the lifeblood of the city without them winnipeg is just a bigger Regina.

Take action before its needed

[thurmas]

Winnipeg.....we need to talk.

11K fans for a game is unacceptable, No matter how "meh" this team is. I understand chipman's unwavering loyalty to players and staff is an issue. I understand tickets are too expensive. But go back to 1996. "save our jets" should ring in your ears like the "true north chant" did in 2011. This stand off with the fans isnt cute. Oilers fans stuck with the team through the worst 2 decades hockey had ever seen. rexall stayed full. Youre not even close to that now. You have a playoff calibre team.

You wont get a 3rd kick at the can. You're not Atlanta. Go find a group of 5-10 Couples and buy season tickets, if 1000 groups did that all would be righted. Make a date night with your partner out of it. Ask your boss why they aren't advertising with the Jets. Don't sit back and watch this team move for the last time. Don't try and put out the fire after its blazing. The Jets are the lifeblood of the city without them winnipeg is just a bigger Regina.

Take action before its needed

Sorry but feeding ones family is way more important than feeding millionaire hockey players who don't want to be here. If the team leaves then so be it. the economics of the game make it a sport now only for corporate big shots no one else. Maybe you should get your priorities reassessed to waste thousands of your hard earned dollars every year on millionaires who don't care about you ou your ciy that's pretty sad. Long live the CFL league of the common man!

[Oilkountry]

Sorry but feeding ones family is way more important than feeding millionaire hockey players who don't want to be here. If the team leaves then so be it. the economics of the game make it a sport now only for corporate big shots no one else. Maybe you should get your priorities reassessed to waste thousands of your hard earned dollars every year on millionaires who don't care about you ou your ciy that's pretty sad. Long live the CFL league of the common man!

that's how you feel. Youre entitled to that, I think it Would hurt a lot of people if the team moved. What i'm saying is if 10 couple's shared season tickets it would be 1800 a year for 2 seats. Thats alot more manageable :shrug:

[thurmas]

that's how you feel. Youre entitled to that, I think it Would hurt a lot of people if the team moved. What i'm saying is if 10 couple's shared season tickets it would be 1800 a year for 2 seats. Thats alot more manageable :shrug:

All the power to them if they wanna do that however when we have the richest man in Canada owning the team and the club controlling the arena and its revenues and the first way they start a season ticket campaign is to threaten to move the team again then they are incredibly tone deaf and deserve to have a few years where they lose money. They should be offering food and bev promos more discounted tickets when sun belt teams come that aren't rivals. They should be bugging bettman day and night to host a nhl draft as we are long overdue to help bring in more revenue. Tons of things they can be doing but are just a old boys network still. They need a Wade miller in there who busts his ass 24-7 reaching out to all fans and businesses.

[blueandgoldguy]

that's how you feel. Youre entitled to that, I think it Would hurt a lot of people if the team moved. What i'm saying is if 10 couple's shared season tickets it would be 1800 a year for 2 seats. Thats alot more manageable :shrug:

I'm gonna be the one to break it to you. It won't be up to Joe or Jane Blow fan organizing some unwieldly ticket sharing arrangement (where do you come up with these ideas!:haha:), it will be up to businesses either buying season ticket packages or current stakeholder businesses adding more seats to their current allotment. If a decent-sized business has 10 seats, maybe add 5 more. If a large business already has a suite, then add a few dozen seats on top of that. A member of the HFBoards stated that one big corporation had a suite and a decent number of season seats in another Canadian City while in Winnipeg they had only a suite....these are the types that need to up their commitment.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Lots Cheers for Jets last night in Edm. Huge ex-Wpg living there now

[BlackDog204]

Winnipeg.....we need to talk.

11K fans for a game is unacceptable, No matter how "meh" this team is. I understand chipman's unwavering loyalty to players and staff is an issue. I understand tickets are too expensive. But go back to 1996. "save our jets" should ring in your ears like the "true north chant" did in 2011. This stand off with the fans isnt cute. Oilers fans stuck with the team through the worst 2 decades hockey had ever seen. rexall stayed full. Youre not even close to that now. You have a playoff calibre team.

It would really help if a fan from another province cheering for another team, did not try to tell us what to do. First off, the "Save the Jets" movement was in 1995, not 1996. Second of all, the lean years for the Oilers were from 2006-15, coincidentally when the province was experiencing a record oil boom, combined with low housing prices, and some of the highest average wages in the nation. It also helped that tickets were less than 1/2 of what they are today. During the Oilers lean years, it should be noted that every Canadian team was selling out all their home games, no matter how they performed on-ice.

It should be noted that I was living in the Edmonton area from 2011-15, and I had no problem getting two secondary tickets on the market for $50 or under.

You wont get a 3rd kick at the can. You're not Atlanta. Go find a group of 5-10 Couples and buy season tickets, if 1000 groups did that all would be righted. Make a date night with your partner out of it. Ask your boss why they aren't advertising with the Jets. Don't sit back and watch this team move for the last time. Don't try and put out the fire after its blazing. The Jets are the lifeblood of the city without them winnipeg is just a bigger Regina.

Typical outside who knows nothing about the economic realities of the city. Your "solutions" to the Jets attendance woes, are naive at the very least. Nobody is going to support the Jets out of necessity, when it means falling behind on mortgage payments, or basic household necessities.

Furthermore, you drastically overestimate how important the Jets are to the community. I lived through the departure of the Jets 1.0 as a teenager. It was very depressing when the Jets moved, but life went on. By the time the Pan AM Games were held, the Jets were ancient history. People either became fans of other teams, or went to Moose games.

It was not as a big deal as you make it out to be. The economy and population of Manitoba actually improved from the dark days of the 90s. We built an arena in 2004, and skyscrapers were constructed during the non-Jets days. To imply Winnipeg is doomed without the Jets, and would be nothing without them, is silly. It should also be noticed that professional sports teams contribute less than 1% to the economy of a city (directly or indirectly).

[bomberjet]

I believe there is a direct link at this point in time re: attendance between Bombers success and Jets woes.

If you sketched up a graph, Bombers are at near all time highs in attendance. 4 straight sellouts, with another one to come in the west final. Jets 2.0 are at all time lows.

Said it before, hoping we're seeing the bottom with the Jets. Personally I feel a little better about the Jets since the trades and singings. I know there are some who have abandoned the Jets since the COVID restrictions. 5%-10% of the fanbase is in that category is a lot of at risk ticket sales.

[Ozabald]

All the power to them if they wanna do that however when we have the richest man in Canada owning the team and the club controlling the arena and its revenues and the first way they start a season ticket campaign is to threaten to move the team again then they are incredibly tone deaf and deserve to have a few years where they lose money. They should be offering food and bev promos more discounted tickets when sun belt teams come that aren't rivals. They should be bugging bettman day and night to host a nhl draft as we are long overdue to help bring in more revenue. Tons of things they can be doing but are just a old boys network still. They need a Wade miller in there who busts his ass 24-7 reaching out to all fans and businesses.

Winnipeg does not have the hotel capacity in its downtown to host the NHL draft. It only has two downtown hotels which are suitable for visiting NHL teams - Fairmont and Delta.

Vancouver hosted the NHL draft in 2019 and here's what their successful bid included. The bid had to block 5000-6000 hotel rooms per night over a four day period to accommodate: 1400 staff members from the 31 teams; 150 NHL staff members; 2300 family members and agents for the draft eligible players; media. In the end, nine downtown Vancouver hotels hosted 3 or 4 teams each; each hosted team was guaranteed access to meeting space in their hotel; there was conference space to host a 500 person coaches conference; media events; league meetings.

How is Winnipeg able to host the NHL Draft?

[pspeid]

I believe there is a direct link at this point in time re: attendance between Bombers success and Jets woes.

If you sketched up a graph, Bombers are at near all time highs in attendance. 4 straight sellouts, with another one to come in the west final. Jets 2.0 are at all time lows.


I wouldn't doubt if this had something to do with it. I'm sure the Jets and Bombers share many fans, and if they have to choose between one or the other, they're going to choose the one with the most promise of entertainment.

It seems like were watching a media "blood in the water" frenzy over the Jets early season attendance woes. The issue gets repeated and repeated until it becomes a Biblical-scale disaster in some people's minds. Of course it doesn't help when some parties want to turn it into an opportunity for city-shaming, but that always seems to have been part of the allure of professional sports.

For that Edmonton fan who was so quick to dismiss a Winnipeg without the Jets as just a larger Regina, I'd be careful of slinging mud, it tends to splash back. I know a number of people in the States who, if you ask them to describe what they know about Edmonton, will only be able to mention either the Oilers (if they're hockey fans) or the big mall. Is Edmonton more than the Oilers and a kitchy shopping mall? To a resident, yes, to an outsider, it's just another frozen wasteland in northern Canada. It's all perspective.

[CoryB]

Go find a group of 5-10 Couples and buy season tickets, if 1000 groups did that all would be righted. Make a date night with your partner out of it.

I've been in one of those groups but got into into it when the smallest ticket package you could buy was a half-season. Now you can easily get 2,4,8, and 10 game packs directly from the team. Instead of getting a half season or full season from the team if someone wanted to follow your advice I would suggest the couples that are interested in Jets tickets organize a group buy and get the same pack for the same game and make arrangements to have a block of seats together. Then we you are going out for "date night" it isn't just you but a bigger group. Being a planned activity for a larger group puts a fair bit more pressure on you to actually attend.

I believe there is a direct link at this point in time re: attendance between Bombers success and Jets woes.

If you sketched up a graph, Bombers are at near all time highs in attendance. 4 straight sellouts, with another one to come in the west final. Jets 2.0 are at all time lows.

In terms of ticket prices the Bombers and Jets are not even on the same level. You can get a full season of Bomber tickets, including Banjo Bowl and the playoff game for as little as $264.

Bombers just 500 seats shy of sellout for regular season finale.

Saturday's Bomber season finale was very much a paper sellout. It has the least fans in attendance all season.

Something people that aren't Bomber season ticket holders may not know is if you cannot attend a game earlier in the season there is a process to return those tickets and in trade you normally get tickets for the last home game. So if I have two tickets normally and cannot attend one game I then have four tickets for the finale. While there are only two of us so we cannot us the extra tickets. The thinking is you sell them or give them to friends etc. Reality is a lot of those tickets go unused.

Additionally there are long time season ticket holders that never go to the late season games. The weather is a huge factor and it can definitely make it a lot less enjoyable experience for an average fan, never mind if you are more likely to feel the affects of long exposure to cold weather as some people do.

I had a picture from the season finale in 2013 show up in a memory this past week. I had actually taken it to show how empty the stands were. For those that do not remember, that was the season the Bombers won around 3 games the entire season and many times the game was long over before halftime. I actually saw the picture before attending the Jets game on Thursday and then the Bomber game on Saturday. The Jets very much reminded me of the feeling from that 2013 picture. And the Bomber game while a bit better attended than 2013 it was not a lot better attended despite what the ticket sales numbers tell you.

[bomberjet]

If I'm deciding whether to spend my money going to a Bomber or Jets game, Bombers take the cake right now. There are undoubtedly many people in this boat.

You can get tickets for same price as a Jets game, except it's a premium Bomber ticket vs nosebleed Jets ticket. Concessions are a wash. Bombers are cream of the crop, projected for another Grey Cup final. Games are fun to go to.

This is not the Jets only issue, but IMO why we are seeing 11k+ fans vs 13k+ at Jets game right now.

[thurmas]

Jets announced Rick Bowness wife Judy suffered a seizure last night he's taking a leave of absence. Praying for a speedy recovery for her.

[Jammon]

Winnipeg does not have the hotel capacity in its downtown to host the NHL draft. It only has two downtown hotels which are suitable for visiting NHL teams - Fairmont and Delta.

Vancouver hosted the NHL draft in 2019 and here's what their successful bid included. The bid had to block 5000-6000 hotel rooms per night over a four day period to accommodate: 1400 staff members from the 31 teams; 150 NHL staff members; 2300 family members and agents for the draft eligible players; media. In the end, nine downtown Vancouver hotels hosted 3 or 4 teams each; each hosted team was guaranteed access to meeting space in their hotel; there was conference space to host a 500 person coaches conference; media events; league meetings.

How is Winnipeg able to host the NHL Draft?

The NHL owners and NHL are in the midst of a major review of the NHL draft. Less focus on the teams and more focus on the players. Rather than each team sending massive delegates, each team would be sending a few delegates (I heard 2 or 3) which means that any NHL city could potentially host the draft.

[Ozabald]

The NHL owners and NHL are in the midst of a major review of the NHL draft. Less focus on the teams and more focus on the players. Rather than each team sending massive delegates, each team would be sending a few delegates (I heard 2 or 3) which means that any NHL city could potentially host the draft.

Another step of the Americanization of the NHL. This proposal would be horrible. The NHL Draft is very unique and should remain as is.

[lotw_wpg]

Our hotels are abysmal compared to bigger cities. The only hotel I tell people to stay at is the Inn at the Forks.

[Jammon]

Our hotels are abysmal compared to bigger cities. The only hotel I tell people to stay at is the Inn at the Forks.

Some are for sure. But The Delta, Fairmont, Fort Garry, Inn at the Forks and Mere are all nice enough. I travel a lot for work and I stayed at one of the hotels being used for the draft in Nashville and then in Vancouver and neither of them were any nicer than what we have in our downtown.

[BlackDog204]

I believe there is a direct link at this point in time re: attendance between Bombers success and Jets woes.

There is no link whatsoever.

The Jets only missed the playoffs once since 2017. It's not like they are bottom dwellers.

[BlackDog204]

For that Edmonton fan who was so quick to dismiss a Winnipeg without the Jets as just a larger Regina, I'd be careful of slinging mud, it tends to splash back. I know a number of people in the States who, if you ask them to describe what they know about Edmonton, will only be able to mention either the Oilers (if they're hockey fans) or the big mall. Is Edmonton more than the Oilers and a kitchy shopping mall? To a resident, yes, to an outsider, it's just another frozen wasteland in northern Canada. It's all perspective.

This is so true. I moved to Edmonton from Calgary for a better job, and not a day goes by that I do not hate myself for doing so, especially since housing prices have dramatically increased in Calgary. Edmonton is one of the most depressing cities in the World. You know a city sucks, when their claim to fame, is having a large outdated mall as it's best attraction.

Even people from Edmonton openly admit that Calgary is by far the best city in Alberta. The Stampede is better than Klondake Days. The LRT is better. The roads are better. The climates is better due to the Chinooks. Calgary is closer to the mountains, and it's a much cleaner city with less crime. Sometimes I wish I could go back to 2019, and ahve someone beat me to a bloody pulp, if it meant keeping me from moving to this God-forsaken wasteland.

[Ozabald]

This is so true. I moved to Edmonton from Calgary for a better job, and not a day goes by that I do not hate myself for doing so, especially since housing prices have dramatically increased in Calgary. Edmonton is one of the most depressing cities in the World. You know a city sucks, when their claim to fame, is having a large outdated mall as it's best attraction.

Even people from Edmonton openly admit that Calgary is by far the best city in Alberta. The Stampede is better than Klondake Days. The LRT is better. The roads are better. The climates is better due to the Chinooks. Calgary is closer to the mountains, and it's a much cleaner city with less crime. Sometimes I wish I could go back to 2019, and ahve someone beat me to a bloody pulp, if it meant keeping me from moving to this God-forsaken wasteland.

Edmonton's river valley is much nice than Calgary's; UofA is better than UofC; and there's no comparison between sports facilities - c'mon, McMahon Stadium and the Saddledome.

What's Winnipeg's claim to fame? A dead and dirty downtown; pothole riddled roads; "what's a LRT?". If Edmonton is depressing; what would you describe Winnipeg as being?

[BlackDog204]

Saturday's Bomber season finale was very much a paper sellout. It has the least fans in attendance all season.

This is not even remotely close to being true.

Additionally there are long time season ticket holders that never go to the late season games. The weather is a huge factor and it can definitely make it a lot less enjoyable experience for an average fan, never mind if you are more likely to feel the affects of long exposure to cold weather as some people do.

I had season tickets for over a decade, and attendance actually increases in the fall. During the summer months, too many people are away at the beach, and attendance suffers. In the fall, all games are on the weekend, and everyone has locked up their cabins by October, which is great for attendance. Weather has never had an adverse effect for football in Canada, especially in Winnipeg.