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Originally Posted by Pegger5
Never called you liar so take it easy. and yes he thinks for a market like Winnipeg they could demand higher ticket prices for a smaller amount of seats. He thinks it could work if corporate support and ownership are there..
This is not an arena issue he said for Winnipeg or "will they fill the seats at higher price"? issue. It is strickly everything else. TV, corporate signage, other sponsorships, ownership group etc.
Lets not put Ken King on a pedastal as he will never tell any Joe the inside NHL Winnipeg secrets. He for sure supports bringing a team to Winnipeg and would vote for it. He said all Canadian teams would most likely vote in favour. MTS Centre is not an issue for NHL in Winnipeg. Everyone needs to stop thinking bigger is better. Look at what Major league Baseball has done with their stadiums !!
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The problem is that with the NHL there is a difference between demand and ticket prices.
With NHL teams (with the exception of Toronto) the winning teams have high demand for their tickets.
Use Calgary as an example. They have been using the Saddledome since 1987 and they have been on the verge of losing the franchise a couple of times due to poor performance in the regular season. Win a cup and then things turn around dramatically in terms of ticket prices and demand. However when there is a down season many tickets are sold off cheap through other retailers just to fill the seats and make SOME revenue instead of zero. After all cheap seats a better than empty seats. Unfortunately it waters down the pricey seats as well.
Now lets consider a franchise in Winnipeg.
Any franchise going to Winnipeg would probably be a bankrupt loser team being relocated to Winnipeg. Right off the bat you start off with a team that needs at least 2-3 seasons to rebuild into a winning team.
You will start off with a couple of good seasons for ticket sales just based on the fact that the team is new. However if the team does not turn around quickly those ticket sales may (i said "may" not "will") start to dwindle.
I am not doubting that with higher priced tickets in a sold out 15,000 seat arena that the numbers would work on the side of profitability. However it comes down to how risk averse an ownership group would be starting with the smallest arena in the league with a team that will probably not make the playoffs in the first 2-3 seasons.
However with a larger arena you have the ability to sell more tickets and at a lower average price. This is where the size of the arena matters in terms of new teams. More people would most likely be willing to see a losing team at a lower price than seeing the same team at a higher price.
When the team gets better having a bigger arena allows more tickets to be sold at a higher price and makes the team more profitable.
Yes it IS possible to have a profitable team in a 15,000 seat arena.
Unfortunately an ownership group is unlikely to shell out a couple hundred million to take a chance like that. Why buy a club and have the deck stacked against you to start with? If you were an ownership group would you rather take a chance on a large arena with a $40 average ticket price or a $55 average price in a small arena?
This is where size matters.
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