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

[AtlantaWhaler]

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

If that's the bar, then 75% of the league would be in serious trouble.

Also, 3 times in the last 5 years they've gotten beyond the first round. Not an excuse.

 

[Peasy]

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.

Americans really dont realize the cost of living in Canada right now lmao.

Probably one of the worst in the worlds at this moment.

 

[Viqsi]

Americans really dont realize the cost of living in Canada right now lmao.

Probably one of the worst in the worlds at this moment.

I'm not convinced Canadians are all that aware of the cost of living in the US either. There's too many discrepancies about where the costs come from such that folks try to make 1:1 comparisons and keep thinking one is so much better off than the other. We're similar enough that folks think those sorts of comparisons make sense and yet the devil remains in the details.

 

[yianik]

I was thrilled when the Peg got its team back and remember posting congratulations on the Jet board.

This is no bottom dweller and last year this or that , BS. Jets have had and do have a good team, and I'm sorry, in basically the last place any player wants to play ( Habs fan and we would be about in the same place on that count ) .

Really disappointing to hear about that kind of attendance. Hope your fans wake up. Well, you have the Blue Bombers I guess.

Edit: Yeah, can't argue on the cost of living , everything is out of control price wise.

 

[S E P H]

How about putting teams in places that understand the game and actually like the game.

LOL, if that's the case why are the Jets only getting 11k per night blud?

 

[Puckclektr]

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.

Why did the owners choose it? Lol. Could it be that maybe it’s a better hockey market. When the average size of an NHL market is probably between 3 to 4,000,000 people what would make anybody want to put a team in a market with 800,000 people which is significantly smaller than even Ottawa which is Almost twice as much

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

I'm not convinced Canadians are all that aware of the cost of living in the US either. There's too many discrepancies about where the costs come from such that folks try to make 1:1 comparisons and keep thinking one is so much better off than the other. We're similar enough that folks think those sorts of comparisons make sense and yet the devil remains in the details.

They don't.

I see people trying to do comparisons between a place in the states and a place in Canada.

The one was a house for just under 300k(US) compared to a house you can get for 300k(Canadian, so there's a discrepancy right there).

The American house was just over the boarder in a town with low income, low employment rate and high crime while the house was on the outskirts of the GTA.

I think it's more of a state of people now. They see what they want and not what the facts really are.

 

[surixon]

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.

The org has a billion dollars worth of real-estate developed around the arena and are looking at another half billion project. Owners don't get rich off of NHL teams, they get rich off of what they build around them. While I'm sure they will be working hard to get ticket sales back up, the real driver of profitability for Chipman/Thompson is realestate/rental income.

 

[Puckclektr]

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.

I never said they were already two teams there I’m correcting you for saying the Hamilton market is 800,000 people when in reality it’s a part of the greater Toronto Hamilton area and the golden horseshoe which is 9,000,000+. It’s not even significantly close to Winnipeg.

 

[Peasy]

They don't.

I see people trying to do comparisons between a place in the states and a place in Canada.

The one was a house for just under 300k(US) compared to a house you can get for 300k(Canadian, so there's a discrepancy right there).

The American house was just over the boarder in a town with low income, low employment rate and high crime while the house was on the outskirts of the GTA.

I think it's more of a state of people now. They see what they want and not what the facts really are.

What home are you finding for 300k near the GTA lmao.

Average home price for all of ontario is 832k. For the state of NY its in the 400k range (550k CAD).

 

[Viqsi]

Why did the owners choose it? Lol. Could it be that maybe it’s a better hockey market.

Or because they've already invested a great deal in that area, including a large amount of real estate, and want an anchor tenant. Same motivation as Glendale. And oh, hey, look at that, apathy about the team's competitiveness is also causing attendance to suffer. It's almost as though they're similar circumstances.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Americans really dont realize the cost of living in Canada right now lmao.

Probably one of the worst in the worlds at this moment.

You can "lmao" all you want, but Americans certainly understand the inflated cost of living.

 

[Viqsi]

The org has a billion dollars worth of real-estate developed around the arena and are looking at another half billion project. Owners don't get rich off of NHL teams, they get rich off of what they build around them. While I'm sure they will be working hard to get ticket sales back up, the real driver of profitability for Chipman/Thompson is realestate/rental income.

I'm aware; that's why I don't think it even remotely likely. It's not impossible that they opt to pull out of Winnipeg entirely, but it's kind of outlandish.

Admittedly, I may have been inadvertently attacking a strawman when I brought that up.

 

[Peasy]

View attachment 754406View attachment 754407

You can "lmao" all you want, but Americans certainly understand the inflated cost of living.

Yeah and same inflation rates will hit harder in places with already higher costs of living.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Yeah and same inflation rates will hit harder in places with already higher costs of living.

So, NHL markets like NY, Chicago, LA, San Jose, Boston, etc...didn't already have a high cost of living? Huh.

 

[Puckclektr]

Or because they've already invested a great deal in that area, including a large amount of real estate, and want an anchor tenant. Same motivation as Glendale. And oh, hey, look at that, apathy about the team's competitiveness is also causing attendance to suffer. It's almost as though they're similar circumstances.

The same thing has been going on in Winnipeg since the start. If the economy wasn’t a complete shitshow people would be paying for hockey tickets instead of rent or food. And Glendale is also in a market about 6 times that of Winnipeg. Weird how this has taken off becuse of my original comment to someone comparing Winnipeg to Dallas. Lol

 

[Faterson]

I'm sure it's because of overpriced tickets.

Bring the ticket prices down, and the arena will be full for every game. Simple as that.

Attending a hockey game shouldn't require a financial sacrifice from anyone to make. It should be one of the many, perfectly viable options on how to spend a free evening.

 

[Viqsi]

The same thing has been going on in Winnipeg since the start. If the economy wasn’t a complete shitshow people would be paying for hockey tickets instead of rent or food. And Glendale is also in a market about 6 times that of Winnipeg. Weird how this has taken off becuse of my original comment to someone comparing Winnipeg to Dallas. Lol

Probably. My point is mostly that this is not unique to Winnipeg; many markets have gone through these sorts of troubled times. I just want folks to realize that that's the case - that it's a valid explanation whether it's in Manitoba or Arizona.

 

[Puckclektr]

So, NHL markets like NY, Chicago, LA, San Jose, Boston, etc...didn't already have a high cost of living? Huh.

Populations say hi. You guys keep comparing Winnipeg to major Us cities. Someone even compared winnipegs market to hamiltons. Lol.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

What home are you finding for 300k near the GTA lmao.

Average home price for all of ontario is 832k. For the state of NY its in the 400k range (550k CAD).

Pretty much a home where the cockroaches will stab you.

 

[Puckclektr]

Probably. My point is mostly that this is not unique to Winnipeg; many markets have gone through these sorts of troubled times. I just want folks to realize that that's the case - that it's a valid explanation whether it's in Manitoba or Arizona.

Of course it’s not unique to Winnipeg but I’m sure that whenever the team was out there that we’d be in a market just like this. I make good money. Winnipeg is a small market team so they will be affected first

 

[Peasy]

So, NHL markets like NY, Chicago, LA, San Jose, Boston, etc...didn't already have a high cost of living? Huh.

Yeah cause the lower income people in those cities are definitely the ones going to the game.

Youre bringing up major metropolitan areas/cities and comparing it to Winnipeg acting like you have the exact same demographic and economical make up. Theres going to be way more well off people in those listed cities that won't feel the impacts of inflation as much as the 800k people in Winnipeg.

Average house hold income in Winnipeg: 45k CAD
Average house hold income in NY: 90k USD.

Like do you see where the issue comes in?

 

[Viqsi]

Populations say hi. You guys keep comparing Winnipeg to major Us cities. Someone even compared winnipegs market to hamiltons. Lol.

I think with this you're being asked to answer for an argument that you may not have necessarily made yourself. A lot of the rationales that were being made for why Winnipeg was supposed to be inherently better than someplace like Atlanta or Kansas City or Houston or similar was that despite those markets being larger, they weren't "hockey markets" and thus did not have the supposed Special Immunities that Winnipeg allegedly had. This whole episode is just illustrating that those Special Immunities never actually existed.

 

[Peasy]

Probably. My point is mostly that this is not unique to Winnipeg; many markets have gone through these sorts of troubled times. I just want folks to realize that that's the case - that it's a valid explanation whether it's in Manitoba or Arizona.

And its dumb to generalize and think that every area would be impacted the same. How many extremely wealthy people are living in Toronto compared to Winnipeg?

 

[SUX2BU]

Isn't it too cold in Winnipeg for hockey?

It's never cold for hockey