Winnipeg | NHL Jets

[bomberjet]

Like the comment about the tiktok crowd. I made the comment previously about re-branding of the team. Still Jets. Still Winnipeg.

[BlackDog204]

"Darren Pang said on #Blackhawks broadcast that Jets owner boarded Hawks’ bus to apologize to Connor Bedard for Winnipeg media’s continuous questions about made-up rumors in Corey Perry situation."

source: https://twitter.com/JeffAgrest/status/1731408102203777114


Allegedly, it was Winnipeg Sun reporter Paul Frieson that had asked questions about the rumours about Bedard's mother.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Nino signs 3 yr $12 mil contract, that's another great signing, love it!

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

"Darren Pang said on #Blackhawks broadcast that Jets owner boarded Hawks’ bus to apologize to Connor Bedard for Winnipeg media’s continuous questions about made-up rumors in Corey Perry situation."

source: https://twitter.com/JeffAgrest/status/1731408102203777114


Allegedly, it was Winnipeg Sun reporter Paul Frieson that had asked questions about the rumours about Bedard's mother.

I also saw this on Hockeyfeed.com. Very classy move by Chipman, and apparently an incredibly classless move by the Winnipeg media. Of course I don't really expect class from a publication like the Sun, but I find it interesting that, at this point there is zero, repeat, zero mention about the incident in any other on-line Winnipeg media.

Usually I try to be understanding of the local media. They have a difficult job, and, as consumers, we don't really know what sort of pressures the writers are under to produce content. In this case, however, I feel the criticism is probably valid. Sadly, I suspect that if the event does get reported, it will be couched in "freedom of the press" jargon, and portray the offending reporters as victims.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

Nino signs 3 yr $12 mil contract, that's another great signing, love it!

I agree-great move!!

[DLLB]

Only 11,468 at the Jets Carolina game and the Jets are now in 8th place overall. Where are the fans. I sure hope it gets better.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by DLLB

Only 11,468 at the Jets Carolina game and the Jets are now in 8th place overall. Where are the fans. I sure hope it gets better.

14,189 at Chicago game on Sat afternoon, how come not dancing in the streets about that instead of bringing up low attendance from last night?

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

14,189 at Chicago game on Sat afternoon, how come not dancing in the streets about that instead of bringing up low attendance from last night?

There's nothing to dance in the streets about attendance this year. The Jets have the second lowest % attendance with the second smallest building in the league. The only team doing worse % wise is San Jose who are having an abysmal season on the ice.

[blueandgoldguy]

Originally Posted by DLLB

Only 11,468 at the Jets Carolina game and the Jets are now in 8th place overall. Where are the fans. I sure hope it gets better.

It won't matter whether they are better or not. The underlying problems that existed for the potential joe blow ticket buyer are still present - higher costs of living associated with food and housing with wages not keeping up. Expect typical crowds of 11 - 12,000 for the rest of the regular season with the exception of 10 or so higher demand games.

Work on expanding the season ticket base with the corporate crowd will take place during the off season. Increase that base by 1000 per year (Chipman said it would take 3 years in an interview) and the Jets will have nearly 13,000 season ticket holders.

[pegcityboy]

Was at game last night people have to realize with a 10,000 season ticket base , between mini packs and walk ups Jets have TO SELL 5325 tickets per game that is almost impossible on a game by game basis , factor in 4 th game of the homestand and a Monday night that’s the crowds they are going to get . The 10 years of sellouts were with a season ticket base of 13200 so 2125 were needed to be sold each game for a sellout big difference, True North just has to chip away and get season ticket base up even 1000 a season then in 2-3 years attendance will be back up in the 14500- sellout range . I not sure getting to 13200 is attainable but Chipman does , but I do think with corporate support increasing from a Canadian City low 15% that definitely 12000 season tickets is very reachable. The one good thing is the empty seats for the vast majority of the games is the lower priced lower revenue upperbowl seats which isn’t as big a shot to the Jets revenues obviously. There are some good deals for Upperbowl tickets so the excuse of “too expensive to go “ isn’t really a good one .

[lotw_wpg]

Corporate support in this city is abysmal. Check out charity events; private businesses are barely in the 3rd tier of sponsorship level. Usually, government sponsorships hit first to the second tier, etc. I don’t know how you convince the cheap Winnipeg business owners to splurge on seats. I also don’t see that 15% going higher than maybe 20%. It's brutal. But Chipman is optimistic, so let’s hope.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by pegcityboy

Was at game last night people have to realize with a 10,000 season ticket base , between mini packs and walk ups Jets have TO SELL 5325 tickets per game that is almost impossible on a game by game basis , factor in 4 th game of the homestand and a Monday night that’s the crowds they are going to get . The 10 years of sellouts were with a season ticket base of 13200 so 2125 were needed to be sold each game for a sellout big difference, True North just has to chip away and get season ticket base up even 1000 a season then in 2-3 years attendance will be back up in the 14500- sellout range . I not sure getting to 13200 is attainable but Chipman does , but I do think with corporate support increasing from a Canadian City low 15% that definitely 12000 season tickets is very reachable. The one good thing is the empty seats for the vast majority of the games is the lower priced lower revenue upperbowl seats which isn’t as big a shot to the Jets revenues obviously. There are some good deals for Upperbowl tickets so the excuse of “too expensive to go “ isn’t really a good one .

There is no way the season ticket base is 10,000. My guess would be closer to 6.000-7,000. Traditionally, Winnipeggers are more likely to wait until the last minute to buy sports tickets, and if the Jets had a 10,000 season ticket base, they would likely have sellouts half of the year. When the Jets 1.0 existed, they never had anywhere near 10,000 season ticket holders. Unless, I am mistaken, I also believe that the Jets ahve always limited season ticket holders to 13,000, not 13,200. At least that was the maximum allowable season tickets, when the Jets returned in 2011.

My personal guess as to when the last time the Jets had sold 10,000+ season tickets would have been 2019, when the sellout streak finally came to an end that fall. There is 900,000 people in the metro area, there is no way that the Jets only sell slightly over 1,000 tickets/game in mini-packs and one-game ticket sales.

edit: found an article from TSN, where they are interviewing CHipman. They mention that the season ticket sales number has dropped below 10,000, but they do not give the actual number of season tickets sold for 2022-23:

DD: So you mentioned 10 years, season ticket base is around 13,000. Now it’s under 10,000. You’re a savvy business man. How long can the business side of the Winnipeg Jets continue to operate if those numbers don’t climb back to what they were?

MC: First of all, I really believe they will, so I don’t have a scenario in my mind of: What does this look like at 10,000? We’re just really focused on, ‘how do we get it back to 13,’ because we have been at 13. We were there for 10 years. So, how do we get ourselves back there? That’s where we need to be, honestly, to be competitive. I don’t know that I’m that savvy because I don’t have that scenario, we don’t have that playbook, ‘How do we run this at 10,000?’ Because we honestly believe we can get it back to where it was.


source: https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/winnipeg-jets-mar...-big-picture-focus-in-winnipeg-1.2026324

Originally Posted by lotw_wpg

Corporate support in this city is abysmal. Check out charity events; private businesses are barely in the 3rd tier of sponsorship level. Usually, government sponsorships hit first to the second tier, etc. I don’t know how you convince the cheap Winnipeg business owners to splurge on seats. I also don’t see that 15% going higher than maybe 20%. It's brutal. But Chipman is optimistic, so let’s hope.

It's definitely corporate support that the Jets need. Hopefully TNSE can work with businesses in the off-season to increase that base.

[Hecate]

Doesnt true north get like almost $15 million in subsidies every year from the government. If the average season ticket prices are around $1500 they could buy 3000 subscriptions themselves and give the tickets away for free to kids all over the province and still have $10,000,0000 in free government money.

They really do like bringing out that tiny violin at true north.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by Hecate

Doesnt true north get like almost $15 million in subsidies every year from the government. If the average season ticket prices are around $1500 they could buy 3000 subscriptions themselves and give the tickets away for free to kids all over the province and still have $10,000,0000 in free government money.

They really do like bringing out that tiny violin at true north.

The cheapest season tickets are $2500, average is probably $3500.

$15m is a grossly inflated number. More than half of that is refunds of "entertainment tax" on the very tickets they sell, which wouldn't exist without them. That would be the equivalent of charging a Hecate tax of $10m then refunding you $10m and calling that a tax break.

[thurmas]

From friends in the know jets current season ticket base is 9500. So yes selling 5500+ walkups per game is unrealistic. Key is adding 3000 more season ticket holders over 3 years mostly through corporate sales as mentioned earlier. Will be tough though as canadian economy is in much tougher times currently while u.s economy is growing very well.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by thurmas

From friends in the know jets current season ticket base is 9500. So yes selling 5500+ walkups per game is unrealistic. Key is adding 3000 more season ticket holders over 3 years mostly through corporate sales as mentioned earlier. Will be tough though as canadian economy is in much tougher times currently while u.s economy is growing very well.

Strange...if that figure is correct, the Jets should be getting 13,000+ to their games. Back in the Jets 1.0 version, I don't think the season ticket base ever rose to over 8,000 people, especially considering one could get tickets on game day almost anywhere in the upper deck, which accounted for 5,000 seats at the old Winnipeg Arena.

Then again, back in the Jets 1.0 days, a person could get tickets at 7-11 for $7.00, and the public knew that there were always tickets available for cheap.

[DLLB]

Originally Posted by thurmas

From friends in the know jets current season ticket base is 9500. So yes selling 5500+ walkups per game is unrealistic. Key is adding 3000 more season ticket holders over 3 years mostly through corporate sales as mentioned earlier. Will be tough though as canadian economy is in much tougher times currently while u.s economy is growing very well.

I also think the key is to get more businesses on board and doing all they can to treat seasons ticket holders properly. That is a lot of money for peolpe in these tough times and they have to be made to feel important to the organization. I have also heard that there are issues with the game experience. Survey the fans and find out what needs improvement.

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by cheswick

The cheapest season tickets are $2500, average is probably $3500.

$15m is a grossly inflated number. More than half of that is refunds of "entertainment tax" on the very tickets they sell, which wouldn't exist without them. That would be the equivalent of charging a Hecate tax of $10m then refunding you $10m and calling that a tax break.

Grossly inflated my —…

In 2019 they got 14.8 million dollars… up from 14.1 million the year before. How much they getting this year?

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5041908

[Hecate]

Seriously, buying their own tickets and giving them away to kids would be the smartest way to grow the fan base. Get them hooked while they’re young. You get people in the seats, they buy concessions and merchandise. And the best part is you can use the free government money to do it, all the money comes back to you anyway. It’s a win win win. ������

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Hecate

Seriously, buying their own tickets and giving them away to kids would be the smartest way to grow the fan base. Get them hooked while they’re young. You get people in the seats, they buy concessions and merchandise. And the best part is you can use the free government money to do it, all the money comes back to you anyway. It’s a win win win. ������

Years ago kids from all socioeconomic backgrounds played hockey, now it’s mostly kids from upper middle class and higher who can afford to put a kid in hockey and very few are doing that, long term don’t see the love for the game BS holding nor interest in the sport very strong!

Basketball already seems more popular with the younger generation. Today’s NHL has become quite frankly a boring game to watch!

In a few years Canadian players will be the minority in the NHL with the league being mostly US born players, it’s already pretty close to that!