Winnipeg | NHL Jets

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Highwayman

Have you even been downtown? People that go to Jets games park in the parking lots and parkade for the most part. They don't walk around downtown. Also it's not even bad downtown. You are just a typical grouchy person that will find fault in everything. They should have a thread ( I hate Winnipeg ) and you'd be in there all the time. I haven't found a thread this week where you commented anything positive. And we definitely won't get into what you think about Aboriginal Gas Stations.

The fact that someone would even suggest the Jets attendance problems is due to the arena being built downtown, is enough to wonder if they are suffering from early onset dementia. Most sports teams in North America have arenas downtown, for too many reasons to mention. Just look at teams who build arenas in the outlying suburbs in the past 50 years:

Ottawa (1996) - have been asking the province for fans to build a new arena, as nearly everyone hates the location
Cleveland (1974)- built arena off the freeway south of Cleveland. Lasted 20 years before closing, after DOWNTOWN arena was built
Florida (1998) - built arena off the I-95 turnpike far away from Miami. Attendance has been a problem for over a decade.
Arizona (2003) - built arena at the NW end of the city. Horrible attendance from the start. Moved out in 2022, and looking for a arena close to downtown.
Minnesota (1967) - built arena in suburban Minneapolis. Attendance bad by the late 80s. Team ended up relocating to Dallas in 1993.
New jersey (1982) - built arena off turnpike in suburban New Jersey, habitually averaging 13,000 people a game. Moved to Newark in 2007.

[thebasketballgeek]

What the hell guys there’s more to discuss about the Jets instead of attendance.

What about the fact the Jets are 1 point back from 1st in the Central, or the fact that Kyle 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 Connor LEADS THE NHL IN GOALS?

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

What the hell guys there’s more to discuss about the Jets instead of attendance.

What about the fact the Jets are 1 point back from 1st in the Central, or the fact that Kyle 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 Connor LEADS THE NHL IN GOALS?

As of this morning, Jets are 10-5-2, and I don't think many fans would have expected that going into the season.

I haven't been to a game in-person yet this year, but seeing their play so far has made me excited about their prospects for the season (and eager to start attending games again). Right now they're playing some exciting hockey. They seem motived as a team, the veterans are leading and their young players are showing some impressive skills. Most of all, they seem to be, for lack of a better word, a "happy" team. Winning does that, of course, but they seem to be there for each other.

I also look at the big name players they've "lost" over the years, and so far some of them haven't seem to have made the impact with their new teams that they were expected to. Linne is the most obvious example, but Du Bois hasn't really set L A on fire, and while Trouba has played well for the Rangers, I haven't seen that team win many Stanley Cups lately.

[lotw_wpg]

Kyle Connor is just so good. Connors in Winnipeg just rule man. For the attendance, I bet we slowly increase after the holidays. I'm not worried, gotta be optimistic. Jets are just too good for people to miss out on.

[Atrial78]

Yesterday I walked from Osborne Village to P&M and it felt quite lively downtown, but of course it was influenced by both the Santa parade and the Jets game. As someone originally from Vancouver, I have to say Portage Ave is a very cool and beautiful street. I really hope it can be revitalized and more businesses move back in there.

As for the Jets, it's great to see the pride in the team in this city. I'm still a Canucks fan, but I'll try to make a game or two this year to support the team!

[DLLB]

Originally Posted by Justanothermember

Are you a Flamers or a Knuckleheads fan?

In case you haven't notice, at least half the league is suffering attendance issues. This team isn't going anywhere.

NOPE, Jets fan all the way since the very 1st WHA game, then the Flames.

I sure hope you are right!

[DLLB]

Originally Posted by thebasketballgeek

What the hell guys there’s more to discuss about the Jets instead of attendance.

What about the fact the Jets are 1 point back from 1st in the Central, or the fact that Kyle 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 Connor LEADS THE NHL IN GOALS?

People are allowed to comment on whatever they want as long as it isn't nasty. It's a small market and attendance is important to the team.

[DLLB]

Originally Posted by lotw_wpg

Kyle Connor is just so good. Connors in Winnipeg just rule man. For the attendance, I bet we slowly increase after the holidays. I'm not worried, gotta be optimistic. Jets are just too good for people to miss out on.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

The arena location is not a factor in declining attendance.

Where are your facts to back this up?

A few ex-Jets season ticket holders I know say otherwise!

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Where are your facts to back this up?

A few ex-Jets season ticket holders I know say otherwise!

Out of curiosity, what are previous ticket holders on this forum saying? For myself, not going beyond one or two a year is strictly price. I'd like to attend more but can't really afford the 150-200 bucks for a night out.

[EdwardTH]

Literally every season ticket holder I've ever seen weigh in has said it's price, game-day experience inside the arena, poor customer service, not feeling appreciated. But come on guys it's rrskylar, we all know how he is. He believes the narrative he wants to believe and will never let reality change his mind.

[dmacc]

As a former season ticket holder it came down to
1) access to tickets cheaper than what I paid and the convenience of not being tied to undesirable games.
2) the increased inconvenience of putting in more effort to sell the games I didn't want to go to.
3) Playoff tickets being easier to get even if I wasn't a season ticket holder
4)Personal growth. I was 24 when they returned and had all the time in the world to go to games. When I started flirting with 30, my career, and growing family required more of my time.

Money, for me, was never the limiting factor and the location was actually very convenient for me. It's easier to travel downtown for a game than to a burb arena, unless that burb arena happens to be in your area of town.

[thurmas]

Just saw pictures of nov 15th Kiss concert that sold out. So does seem Jets attendance issues more tied to true north and poor treatment of ticket holders, the horrible season ticket campaign last spring of threatening to move and also the past 2 summers of constant media attention on people not wanting to play or coach in Winnipeg. These things will take time to fix. I do have concerns that Chipman always being so loyal doesn't have the gumption to follow through and make the changes to the sales and marketing staff in true north that is required as their fan appreciation approach needs tons of work.

[BuildUpWpg]

The Jets also had hot starts last season and the season before. Then descended into mediocrity for the rest of those seasons. I think that's the number one factor for the attendance decline. So I think many people aren't getting too excited just yet with another great start of the season. Will see if the defense can hold up to their great play or if they have just been over achieving so far.

Originally Posted by pspeid

As of this morning, Jets are 10-5-2, and I don't think many fans would have expected that going into the season.

I haven't been to a game in-person yet this year, but seeing their play so far has made me excited about their prospects for the season (and eager to start attending games again). Right now they're playing some exciting hockey. They seem motived as a team, the veterans are leading and their young players are showing some impressive skills. Most of all, they seem to be, for lack of a better word, a "happy" team. Winning does that, of course, but they seem to be there for each other.

I also look at the big name players they've "lost" over the years, and so far some of them haven't seem to have made the impact with their new teams that they were expected to. Linne is the most obvious example, but Du Bois hasn't really set L A on fire, and while Trouba has played well for the Rangers, I haven't seen that team win many Stanley Cups lately.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by BuildUpWpg

The Jets also had hot starts last season and the season before. Then descended into mediocrity for the rest of those seasons. I think that's the number one factor for the attendance decline. So I think many people aren't getting too excited just yet with another great start of the season. Will see if the defense can hold up to their great play or if they have just been over achieving so far.

Good comment!

[Jammon]

Originally Posted by dmacc

As a former season ticket holder it came down to
1) access to tickets cheaper than what I paid and the convenience of not being tied to undesirable games.
2) the increased inconvenience of putting in more effort to sell the games I didn't want to go to.
3) Playoff tickets being easier to get even if I wasn't a season ticket holder
4)Personal growth. I was 24 when they returned and had all the time in the world to go to games. When I started flirting with 30, my career, and growing family required more of my time.

Money, for me, was never the limiting factor and the location was actually very convenient for me. It's easier to travel downtown for a game than to a burb arena, unless that burb arena happens to be in your area of town.

Totally agree with 1-3. I'm single, so no family to worry about, but the way TNSE has treated their season ticket holders was the major reason why we dropped our seats. Two years ago, my friends were hit hard by the pandemic. One of our holders lost his job. I was the listed season ticket holder and I went beck to TNSE to say that we weren't able to uphold our agreement for the next year. I also stated that we were willing to defer for one year and would likely be able to resume our contract once our partners were re-established.

TNSE's response was "you must uphold your contract and if you don't, you will be hearing from our legal team." Paraphrased, but that was the krux of their response. It left such a sour taste in my mouth, we all decided not to renew. And guess, what? We all were in a financial position this season to do so.

Everyone I know who held season tickets have given them up outside of one couple I know. I probably knew of at least 15 different holders- all of them have dropped their season tickets for many of the reasons listed here. Not one person I know said that the arena location was a significant factor in their decision.

[wags_in_the_peg]

great deal - $99 2 upper deck tiks to some weekday games plus free bobblehead

[wags_in_the_peg]

i picked up 2 tiks to 2 games for the above

[EdwardTH]

Originally Posted by Jammon

Totally agree with 1-3. I'm single, so no family to worry about

Doesn't apply to you but I think the personal/family thing is a big one for a lot of people too though. I have young kids at home now and so do almost all of my friends, I would go to more games but I just don't have the time and neither do my friends. Which means TNSE has to figure out how to draw in younger people. Price is obviously a big factor there but it also kinda comes around to the "game-day experience" part again. They have to make it more fun inside the arena and it actually shouldn't be that hard to do. It's just that everything about their marketing, branding and in-game production is very dated and "boomer-y".

Other teams get creative and edgy with that stuff, like the jumbotron chirps in Dallas, the Vegas pageantry or Gritty's shenanigans - I worry TNSE is too old and stuffy to get on board with that stuff. They could easily hire some musicians and a cheer team (not cheerleaders, just more entertainment in the stands & concourses) but I worry that the TNSE version of that would just be some 50 year-old dudes playing Nickelback covers. Screaming "MAKE SOME NOOOOOOIIIISE" over the speakers every 5 mins appeals to no one.

Like it or not they've gotta get the tiktok crowd in there. I was at thermea a couple of weeks ago, we were the 2nd-oldest group of people in the whole place. $86 to get in, it was a reminder that young people do have disposable income, and the Jets are missing out on it by being lame and old-fashioned.

[TimeFadesAway]

Originally Posted by EdwardTH

Literally every season ticket holder I've ever seen weigh in has said it's price, game-day experience inside the arena, poor customer service, not feeling appreciated. But come on guys it's rrskylar, we all know how he is. He believes the narrative he wants to believe and will never let reality change his mind.

The things you said all factor in, along with a few seasons of team effort falling off before the end of the season. Location of the arena has nothing to do with it for me.