Winnipeg Jets

[dpenner]

I bet the Count puts a nice big fat expenses tab on the NHL as well in addition to the 7 mil he makes.

[rrskylar]

Good job Scottie!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tdvmhBMUCI

[rapid_business]

/\ Yup, that was/is a good summarizing video clip they put together.

[wayward_prince]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Good job Scottie!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tdvmhBMUCI

Scott does use the 70 dollar average price per seat though. How do you find that figure as an average price for a seat for Winnipeg? I'm not sure but was thinking and or hoping more around the 50 dollar price range for average ticket to get the arena packed. If it were to be 50 how would that effect revenue? Or is 70 fine and do-able?

[rapid_business]

/\ $70 average is reasonable. Nosebleeds in Edmonton cost that much alone. Hell, standing seats at the belly bar behind the seats at both ends cost $59 bucks.

[freeweed]

Yup. The price of hockey tickets has increased tremendously since the Jets left (I remember paying $40 or so to sit in what would be "lower bowl" seats today), however the willingness of people to pay those higher prices has also increased.

NHL hockey just isn't one of those cheap, disposable forms of entertainment in Canada anymore. It's expensive, it's coveted - and to most fans, it's worth it. Plenty of people in places like Edmonton and Ottawa pay a pretty good amount of money for tickets, and I'm not talking wealthy folks either.

Hockey is becoming a lot like a concert or fancy night out - paying $150 for a pair of tickets isn't the "OMG too expensive!" situation it used to be. I think Winnipeg will handle an average of $70 just fine.

[Tower Crane]

I'm not sure $70 average is sufficient.
We have lower bowl tickets on the sides ( face off circle ) here in edmonton, they are $225 per ticket. I would assume edmonton average is much jigher than $70 per ticket. I believe other posters put up averages some time ago so someone can confirm if this is right.

[jigglysquishy]

$225 a ticket?

How can people afford to go?

[Bdog]

I just went on ticketmaster. The most expensive ticket to the next game was 236 dollars. It's described as a GOLD club seat, section 101 (centre ice), row 3... Sounds to me like most lower bowl tickets would be significantly lower than 225...

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by jigglysquishy

$225 a ticket?

How can people afford to go?

1. Corporate seats. Pretty much all seats in the $200+ range are guaranteed to be purchased by large companies. "Club seats" and the like - I've never known an average Joe to own these, although I'm sure it's possible. That's $8000+ per seat, per season. The price of a small new car for a pair. Almost every game I've been to in Rexall has been in corporate seats, and everyone around me is in corporate seats. No one paid for their actual ticket personally at that price range.

2. I've seen people pay as much or more for a concert, so it's not like it's unaffordable. The question is whether or not it's worth it to a person.

3. Season ticket prices are a LOT less than Ticketmaster. The Flames are 30-40% off door price, for example.

[wayward_prince]

a Winnipeg Sun reporter (can’t remember his name) is speaking confidently that he has information that the team will not be called the Jets. Nor will Winnipeg be in the name. It will be the Manitoba (TBA). I find this very disappointing. Losing the Jets name is bad enough but not having the city name branded is very unfortunate. This would have been a great opportunity to get the name Winnipeg out there. In my opinion the city name is more important than the province or region for that matter. both names Winnipeg and Manitoba are not well known around the world, when you start mixing and splitting the usage of names most people get confused especially in the USA and Europe. I can hear people in Europe already saying 'but I thought Winnipeg got a team, what is this Manitoba-is that the same place? You don't call Coke Coke one day and then Loke another day and expect people to know what is what. I know many people even in Eastern Europe who used to follow the old Jets, and I bet they have never heard the name Manitoba. It's called proper branding, and it's important to maintain momentum of something already known. For instance the Canadian Museum for Human Rights will always be seen as the national museum in Winnipeg first..not Manitoba. Keep it consistent...consistency is key in marketing. Besides Winnipeg is where the vast majority of fans who will support this team live. The Winnipeg (TBA) just feels better.

[drew]

^ it's not a reporter, it's Wheeler from Power97, and this news is about a year old now.

[wayward_prince]

Originally Posted by drew

^ it's not a reporter, it's Wheeler from Power97, and this news is about a year old now.

ok hope you are right but I saw it on the Sun’s website today and people are responding to it today. Just to further my point, the Saskatchewan Rough Riders use the Saskatchewan name because Regina and Saskatoon are virtually the same size so they felt compelled to include the provinces name. Winnipeg is number one around here and it’s the name that should be used in my opinion.

[h0twired]

What was the logic he used to determine that:

a) the Jets name would not be used
b) Manitoba would be listed as the team location

For me I see that if the Coyotes return to Winnipeg that the Winnipeg Jets name could be revived quite easily since the lineage remains intact. From what I see the "Winnipeg Jets" history remains with the Coyotes franchise and to fracture that with a "new Jets" from Atlanta seems inappropriate.

Also I am not sure why Winnipeg would not be used as the team location. Seems rather arbitrary to just say "Winnipeg will not be used". Especially consider the fact that Winnipeg had a team for quite some time prior.

Personally I think it is in the best interests to the NHL to keep the Jets name just in terms of marketing and allowing "retro" product to continue to be sold. Should the new Winnipeg team be called the "Manitoba Massacre" do you think any Winnipeg Jets apparel will every be bought again? Probably not. How many Colorado Rockies jerseys do people buy in Denver these days?

If Bettman wants to save face, the team will be called the Winnipeg Jets and the people here will ignore what a petty small man he is.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by h0twired

If Bettman wants to save face, the team will be called the Winnipeg Jets and the people here will ignore what a petty small man he is.

Bettman would have very little input into what the name would be. The talk is Mark Chipman doesn't want to use the name not Gary Bettman. The league would obviously have final approval but they certainly wouldn't choose it or prevent Chipman from using Jets. So not quite sure what naming the team Jets would have to do with Bettman saving face.

[rrskylar]

Tucson Sentinel


Getting taxpayers off a dangerous hook


Posted Mar 15, 2011, 8:02 am

Clint Bolick
Goldwater Institute

The city of Glendale is planning to borrow $100 million so it can send a check for that amount to Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer to help him buy the Phoenix Coyotes. That type of transaction is exactly what the Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution was designed to prevent: furnishing public debt or providing public funds to a private individual or corporation for personal gain.

The deal has the team selling parking rights to the city, which the dealmakers say will provide sufficient revenues to repay the bonds. But there are two problems with that. First, the city may already own some or all of the parking rights. Second, it's quite clear the revenues will not come close to repaying the bonds.

So the city pledged sales and excise taxes as collateral for the loan. That means if the team goes bankrupt again, or if parking revenues fall short, taxpayers are on the hook for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars—on top of the $180 million the city borrowed to build the hockey arena in the first place.

The solution is simple: take the taxpayers off the hook, and place responsibility where it belongs: with the new owner.

The city and Hulsizer share two dubious beliefs. First, although the Coyotes have lost $25-$40 million every year and already have plunged into bankruptcy, they think Hulsizer can make the team profitable with "a few tweaks." Second, they say parking revenues will suffice to repay the bonds.

If they truly believe those things, then there should be no problem with Hulsizer, rather than the taxpayers, borrowing the money. That way, if the shaky premises on which the deal depends prove faulty, Glendale taxpayers will not have to pay for another costly blunder by the city of Glendale.

If the city truly wants to keep the Coyotes, it should act within the law and stop playing Russian roulette with taxpayer money. If Hulsizer is willing to skate up to the puck, the Coyotes' endearing mascot Howler need not be an endangered species.

[dpenner]

has Hulsizer publicly stated what these profitable "tweeks" are???? Maybe something along the lines of:

-release every current Coyotes player and signing ECHL players to fill the roster at ECHL salaries
-players have to provide own transportation and accommodation to away games
-sell the name of the Phoenix coyotes to sponser becoming the Phoenix "Cash For Gold's"
-recycle all half eaten hotdogs and popcorn on the arena floor to be cleaned and resold
-sign Trevor Gilles, Derek Boogard, Daniel Carcillo and other top goons with low salaries and advertise the games as MMA/boxing events rather then hockey

[wayward_prince]

the Goldwater Institute is the only player here who is forthright, honest, reasonable and rational. Good article, thanks.

[roccerfeller]

Well, Oake's piece was good but he left out a lot of things too. Plus his ticket sales stuff is all estimations. I think we'll all see after the first season just how smart of an investment NHL in Winnipeg really was. Its going to set a new (NHL or otherwise) business model standard. TNSE is not kidding around.

[Biff]

The bottom line for Winnipegers to remember is that this time around there will be NO TAXPAYERS dollars involved. This is purely a business decision by private business. it will sink or swim on the job they do. This is a novel idea to have something great in Winnipeg that is not taxpayer supported.