Winnipeg Jets: 11,226 Attendance tonight, cause for concern? What's going on in the 'Peg?

[MessierII]

the Bombers are 1 day every 2 weeks for like 6 months

that's a poor excuse

In this economy sports in general are suffering. The cheaper better team with a huge traditional following is going to do better. Winnipegs ticket prices are still crazy high. If those drop the numbers would go up. No one has money to drop hundreds of dollars on sports tickets right now.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I'm quite sure Winnipeg is econmy related and only an issue this year as the avaerage family struggles to put food on the table. aside from that Hamilton isn't a small market it is in the 3-4 largest sports market in North America.

I'm quite sure all of North America (well, the world mostly) is dealing with a tough economy and huge inflation. This isn't Winnipeg's bubble.

According to the census, the Hamilton MSA has a population of just less than 800K.

 

[Summer Rose]

I hope the Jets turn things around and I wish them well. And I'm a Coyotes fan.

 

[S E P H]

To answer. Msny fans have been dissatisfied with the product the last two years. It crashed and burned in each. Throw in awful inflation, losing a couple thousand seat holders due to COVID vaccination policies and you have an org that needs to mend some relationships and rebuild its ticket base.

Seems Winnipeg takes their team for granted.

 

[jigglysquishy]

I'm quite sure all of North America (well, the world mostly) is dealing with a tough economy and huge inflation. This isn't Winnipeg's bubble.

According to the census, the Hamilton MSA has a population of just less than 800K.

We don't have MSAs in Canada.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

We don't have MSAs in Canada.

Or CMA...whatever. Metropolitan area.

Wiki says "Each entry is identified as a census metropolitan area (CMA) or a census agglomeration (CA) as defined by Statistics Canada."

Call it whatever you'd like.

 

[Puckclektr]

I'm quite sure all of North America (well, the world mostly) is dealing with a tough economy and huge inflation. This isn't Winnipeg's bubble.

According to the census, the Hamilton MSA has a population of just less than 800K.

Yes everyone is dealing with the economy. Nobody is saying it isn't. But what market do you think is going to be affected the most when it comes to an econmic issue? Could it be that maybe the smallest market is going to feel the effects first?

As for Hamilton, you might want to look at a map. lol

 

[S E P H]

Nothing against the Jets, but yeah NHL, pump the brakes on expansion.

The NHL didn't want to go to Winnipeg, they wanted to keep the team in Atlanta...

 

[Bixby Snyder]

Regardless the bombers are massive in Winnipeg.

If the reason for your NHL team drawing poorly is the popularity of the local CFL team then your city has no business having an NHL team.

 

[Viqsi]

aren't the average tickets prices in Winnipeg quite high? like even in the nosebleeds?
kinda wild they only got 11,000+ but Winnipeg is small

They're actually in the bottom third of the league:

Jets are one of the cheaper teams in the league to watch.

 

[dj4aces]

aren't the average tickets prices in Winnipeg quite high? like even in the nosebleeds?
kinda wild they only got 11,000+ but Winnipeg is small

From looking briefly at the Jets' site, tickets in the upper bowl are CA$63. Under current conversion rates (1 CAD = 0.73 USD), that's US$46.02. I'd consider that pretty pricey for nosebleed seats.

I also believe their season ticket prices went up (one person on Reddit I saw said ticket prices went up by 39%, but I can't confirm any of that), concessions prices continue to rise, parking went up, and inflation is already pretty terrible north of the 49th.

I saw one person on another page talk about how rich the owners are, that a $10m loss for them is like a cup of coffee for us. Sure, when you're a multibillionaire, it really is nothing. To that end, though, perhaps they should instead try this little thing called making it easier for fans to see a game without breaking the bank. Expensive beer (never drink at a game... but we all know people will anyway), expensive seats, expensive parking, and a product not worth paying the fool's ransom to see is why you have only 11k in the building, not "school nights" or "Winnipeg Blue Bombers" or "No one wants to see the Kings". You're there to see your team, not the opponent.

Don't get me wrong. I stand by what I said earlier, that I hope this all gets sorted. But the first step is acknowledging the problem, and the second step is for ownership to come down from their gilded tower and lower those prices. In that way, even if school nights or the Kings are valid explanations, the building is still full. But 4k empty seats in that building looks awful on TV, and I can't imagine any fans in attendance were happy at all the empty seats either

 

[Viqsi]

Where did "I" say that? Yes when it comes to hockey a smaller market in canada would be better than a market of similar size in the US. You literally compared a metro of 6+million to a city of 800k especially currently whn the economy is worse than pretty much anyone has seen in their life time.

As for the only reason 4-5 NHL teams are in Canada is because it is a hockey market. Winnipeg would be around the 80th largest metropolitan area if it were in the US. But because it is in Canada and they have a good market, maybe that is why it was chosen over major cities, like Houston, San Antonio, Houston, KC, Sacramento, San Diego, Portland, Baltimore, Cincinatti, etc. who all have markets signifigianly larger than Winnipeg.

Winnpieg wasn't "chosen" because "it's a better hockey market". There were owners who wanted to put a team there and willing to pay. That's the only reason.

 

[Viqsi]

If the reason for your NHL team drawing poorly is the popularity of the local CFL team then your city has no business having an NHL team.

If we went with rules like that then literally no city has any business having an NHL team save maybe Toronto. Every town has moments where a competing sports product draws more eyeballs. Every single one. The idea that "traditional" markets are immune to such is and has always been a myth. And Toronto being an exception to the rule is the clearest evidence that that market is underserved and that they could support a second team.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Or CMA...whatever. Metropolitan area.

Wiki says "Each entry is identified as a census metropolitan area (CMA) or a census agglomeration (CA) as defined by Statistics Canada."

Call it whatever you'd like.

The definitions aren't 1 to 1.

The American MSA is more generous in adding places because the commute flow required is different. MSA is the closest to CMA but they're very much not 1 to 1.

In a CSA set up Hamilton would have about 8 million.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Yes everyone is dealing with the economy. Nobody is saying it isn't. But what market do you think is going to be affected the most when it comes to an econmic issue? Could it be that maybe the smallest market is going to feel the effects first?

As for Hamilton, you might want to look at a map. lol

And again...this has been my point. It's not economy. It's not that the team isn't winning cups. It's the market size.

Just checked a map. I see 2 NHL teams within an hour from each other right there. One of which has also struggled with attendance. Won't happen anyway.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

The definitions aren't 1 to 1.

The American MSA is more generous in adding places because the commute flow required is different. MSA is the closest to CMA but they're very much not 1 to 1.

In a CSA set up Hamilton would have about 8 million.

Gotcha...I guess this is the debate for Toronto II. Won't happen, but I see where the issue is.

 

[hockey20000]

When they moved from Atlanta, I remember Bettman saying something like how the only way the arena in Winnipeg would work is if they sold out every game.

ye he did. and trust me he is watching and have no issues moving them to houston or salt lake city first chance he gets .. unlike arizona

 

[KevinRedkey]

Small market
Poor team

It's not the recipe for success, but people are making too big a deal out of it.

 

[S E P H]

Why do people always say David Thomson is the Jets owner? He is a part owner, and as far as I am aware, the percentage is unknown.

Edit:

"The Centre was built at a cost of $133.5 million on land acquired from Osmington Incorporated, a real estate firm owned by Toronto billionaire David Thomson. In exchange for the land, Osmington took a minority share in TNSE. Chipman and Thomson, through their respective holding companies, now have complete ownership of TNSE"

You don't think if the current owner is forced to sell the club, Thomson can come right in and buy a majority of the stake?

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

Nothing against the Jets, but yeah NHL, pump the brakes on expansion.

actually, expansion could help if Canada sees an economic collapse!

more US teams to keep the NHL afloat plus expansion fees x 2-4

 

[Viqsi]

You don't think if the current owner is forced to sell the club, Thomson can come right in and buy a majority of the stake?

The question there would be if he would want to. Not that I think Winnipeg is in immient danger or even any real danger at all, but one could speculate that if Winnipeg is reistant to being taken for granted that they'd lose their sugar daddy. Of course, there's no basis for that theory beyond assumptions and spite, but it at least isn't immediately implausible; just completely unsupported by anything even distantly resembling evidence.

 

[Ossific]

Hello, Winnipeger and former Jet's season ticket holder.

As a lot of people have mentioned, the economy just isn't doing well in Winnipeg, which is not surprise. Cost of living keeps going up and wages have been fairly stagnant. One example is some of the unions here that were locked into 0% wage increases over the entire duration of the pandemic. I have a pretty decent job however it doesn't pay that great compared to the rest of Canada anymore.

I wanted to go to the game last night, I had the tickets in the cart and I convinced myself it wasn't worth it at the checkout. If I had bought the 2 tickets that would have been essentially all of my spending money for the rest of the month gone. Truth be told in all of 2023, I have been one small financial inconvenience away from losing everything. I just don't see how I will be able to make it to more than 1-2 games this year verses how things were when I was able to go to all home games 10 years ago. I imagine there are a lot of others in the same circumstance, hence the low attendance.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Small market
Poor team

It's not the recipe for success, but people are making too big a deal out of it.

Half of that is spot on.

As for the other half, the Jets have made the playoffs 6 times since getting the Thrashers, including 5 of the last 6 seasons and last year. Lack of success isn't the excuse.

 

[Bond]

Half of that is spot on.

As for the other half, the Jets have made the playoffs 6 times since getting the Thrashers, including last year.

Yeah, but they haven’t done anything with it. Getting bounced in the first round only carries so far.

 

[tucker3434]

ye he did. and trust me he is watching and have no issues moving them to houston or salt lake city first chance he gets .. unlike arizona

Winnipeg isn’t going anywhere. But Bettman won’t have much pushback when the next two expansion teams are Houston and Atlanta over QC either. I’m sure he doesn’t mind that.