Winnipeg Jets - Page 35

rypinion · #**681** Posted **Oct 17, 2009, 2:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cow-garian

If any of you have time (considering I live far from Manitoba) can any of you post any recent pictures of the prized MTS Centre?

Probably not quite what you're looking for, but a start:

http://www.mtscentre.ca/tour/index.php

thurmas · #**682** Posted **Oct 17, 2009, 3:39 PM**

if you guys register to the JETSOWNER.COM campaign chat area there are some great pics in the mts centre section of it regarding a tour of the facility and a discussion on possible mts centre expansion here is a link from a tour on the jetsowner.com forum for some tour pics:
http://returnofthejets.proboards.com...ay&thread=8152

mjpaul · #**683** Posted **Oct 17, 2009, 7:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Still can't believe the colossal error that was lack of seating capacity at the MTS Centre, did no one in Winnipeg even remotely consider that the NHL might one day come back to this city.

no foreward thinking at all.

Can the Stadium at least be expanded by 2500 seats?

newflyer · #**684** Posted **Oct 17, 2009, 8:36 PM**

Phoenix Coyotes to give away tickets if they win certain home gamesTHE CANADIAN PRESS
Oct 16, 3:11 pm EDT

PHOENIX - Looking to fill seats, the beleaguered Phoenix Coyotes are offering free tickets.

The NHL team unveiled a promotion Friday that will see it give away tickets if it wins on certain nights. The first such game comes on Oct. 24 against Los Angeles - one of five this season that includes a Dec. 5 game against Ottawa.

The Coyotes have labelled the promotion "join the pack" and hope it strengthens the relationship between the organization and its fans.

The bankruptcy proceedings over the summer severely hampered the team's ability to market itself and sell tickets.

The Coyotes managed a sellout in their home opener when all tickets were sold for $25 or less. The team's second home game on Thursday night drew an announced crowd of just 6,899.

Phoenix has had success on the ice so far this season with a 4-2 record. If that continues, it will be giving away plenty of tickets to future games.

"Our 'join the pack' promotion … serves as a call to action, encouraging people to support the team by purchasing tickets and experiencing Coyotes hockey live," Coyotes president Doug Moss said in a statement.

newflyer · #**685** Posted **Oct 17, 2009, 8:48 PM**

Nothing like selling NHL tickets for $25 and less....

Then again free is pretty good too.. (but yet they still can't sell out the arena)

What a GREAT idea...

newflyer · #**686** Posted **Oct 17, 2009, 8:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjpaul

no foreward thinking at all.

Can the Stadium at least be expanded by 2500 seats?

Yes.

jmt18325 · #**687** Posted **Oct 17, 2009, 9:29 PM**

I'm really confused....is it yes, or no?

Andy6 · #**688** Posted **Oct 17, 2009, 9:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmt18325

I'm really confused....is it yes, or no?

Obviously you could expand it to 50,000 seats if you wanted, supposing you had enough money. The realistic answer, however, would be no, not on its current footprint and not without more or less rebuilding the arena.

The Winnipeg Arena was expanded by 5,000 seats when the Jets entered the NHL. But that was a lot easier because there was space to expand and an easy way to expand (by adding an upper deck of seats). In the case of MTS, I guess you'd have to move the outer walls back and add more seats around the top of the upper level. Those seats wouldn't sell for much, though, and it's hard to see how you would make back the investment required to add them. But maybe others have more insight on how an expansion could be carried out.

Jets4Life · #**689** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 2:57 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by newflyer

Yes.

This is a question I have been wondering about myself for ages. Yet, nobody has come up with concrete proof from a reliable source that it can be expanded. I would really be anxious to hear or see any articles that it can be expanded without totally renovating the entire existing arena, and not have the expanded seats be obstructed in any way.

If so, this ould be great news....

Andy6 · #**690** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 3:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

This is a question I have been wondering about myself for ages. Yet, nobody has come up with concrete proof from a reliable source that it can be expanded. I would really be anxious to hear or see any articles that it can be expanded without totally renovating the entire existing arena, and not have the expanded seats be obstructed in any way.

If so, this ould be great news....

It might be better to hope that the NHL would consider 15,000 relatively good seats to be sufficient. Adding 2,000 cheap seats most of which would be empty most of the time anyway doesn't change the economics that much.

1ajs · #**691** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 4:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

This is a question I have been wondering about myself for ages. Yet, nobody has come up with concrete proof from a reliable source that it can be expanded. I would really be anxious to hear or see any articles that it can be expanded without totally renovating the entire existing arena, and not have the expanded seats be obstructed in any way.

If so, this ould be great news....

no it can't be done true viking has stated this many times he should know he worked on it!

Cow-garian · #**692** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 5:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ajs

no it can't be done true viking has stated this many times he should know he worked on it!

Damn really?

I guess (as a few have mentioned) the cheaper upper level seats don't matter as much. But what about the suites? These are where the real money comes into play. Does MTS Centre have a)sufficient box suites b) are they up to NHL quality and c)does it have the ability to add more if necessary (which would require decreasing the total capacity even further...)

I know in Calgary with both McMahon Stadium and the Saddledome when they did renovations they lowered the total capacity in favour of adding more box suites because it would bring in the $$$... McMahon went from 39,000 total seats down to 37,000 then to 35,650 and now they are talking about adding MORE suites!!!

jmt18325 · #**693** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 6:00 AM**

I believe that the number of Suites is the one thing that can be expanded.

1ajs · #**694** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 7:14 AM**

if i remember corectly viking had mentioned there was some room for more box's

newflyer · #**695** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 7:22 AM**

From what I have heard there is room for 2 additional rows of seating and a few more skyboxes, without altering the building very much. The investment would be possible if/when the NHL returns.

newflyer · #**696** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 7:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by newflyer

Phoenix Coyotes to give away tickets if they win certain home gamesTHE CANADIAN PRESS
Oct 16, 3:11 pm EDT

PHOENIX - Looking to fill seats, the beleaguered Phoenix Coyotes are offering free tickets.

"Our 'join the pack' promotion … serves as a call to action, encouraging people to support the team by purchasing tickets and experiencing Coyotes hockey live," Coyotes president Doug Moss said in a statement.

• Video Link

Cow-garian · #**697** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 6:14 PM**

^ Should have put Jets on

Jets4Life · #**698** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 7:22 PM**

We need TrueViking's input on these questions....

Wpg_Guy · #**699** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 7:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jets4Life

We need TrueViking's input on these questions....

Jesus christ, he's already talked this subject to death, everyone needs to get over the fact it cant be expanded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trueviking

I work for the local architects of the MTS centre and I know that it was not built with any capability for expansion…..i am certain this was a cost benefit thing…..the ownership group has explored the possibility of adding a row of luxury suites to one side, which would add another 500-600 seats to the capacity…they may do this expansion regardless of the NHL coming or not because there is demand for it even for the Moose.

18500 would be way too big for Winnipeg…..if the NHL requires that many seats to work Winnipeg will never get a team….i do wish that it was at least 16500…but only for the sake of perception….the reality is that it doesn’t matter….anyone who claims 15000 is too small isn’t doing their homework.

Regarding the economics of a 15500 seat arena:

Firstly if you look at the chart above, almost 1/3 of the league is drawing less than 12000 per game so immediately a sold out 15000 seat arena is 20% more profitable as it is.

Secondly, if you consider what seats are lost in the MTS centre, the revenues are not significant at all….the 1500 missing seats are at the 300 level….these would generally be priced at say $20 - $30 each…..this would mean that the lost revenue would be something in the neighbourhood of $35 000 per game…and that is if they are all sold all the time….again, you can see from the chart above that the lost revenue is not significant….certainly not prohibitive…..its the difference between making $800k per game or $835k…..its not much more than a million dollars a season……most revenue comes from lower bowl and suites.

If you use the average ticket price for the league ($52), a 15 500 seat arena would generate $800 000/game which would be in the top half of the league…..certainly enough to be viable…..if you use the average ticket prices in Edmonton (closer to $60), another smaller arena that doesn’t have thousands of low priced seats to water down the average, a 15000 seat arena would generate $930 000 per game, which is more than acceptable.

The MTS centre is definitely a positive…..both hamilton and quebec still have to convince their governments to pony up that cash (far from easy) and it will be at least 3 years before they can use it even if they put shovels in the ground today ….the MTS centre was built before the huge spike in construction costs (doubled in 5 years)…..it would easily be a $250 million dollar building today and I’m not sure that it would get done at that cost….

i suspect that whoever will locate a team in Winnipeg, they will likely crunch the numbers and come to the same conclusion, so in the end the perception that it is too small isn’t really all that important….

As an aside, the MTS centre brought the Thomson family into the mix by a twist of fate…they owned the building (eatons) that used to be on the site….in lieu of money they took shares in both the AHL team and the arena itself…..since then, they have bought out all the other partners except one….this fateful connection might be the answer to our ownership issues as it is rumoured that they are backing this group that is working to bring a team to Winnipeg….so again the MTS centre was a positive….

grumpy old man · #**700** Posted **Oct 18, 2009, 7:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WpG_GuY

Jesus christ, he's already talked this subject to death, everyone needs to get over the fact it cant be expanded.

Ummm, er, chillax?

BTW the post you so charmingly introduced in fact says it CAN be expanded. Just splitting hairs...