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

[AtlantaWhaler]

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

So, we've come full circle and got to the issue I believe will make Winnipeg continue to struggle with attendance (at times) and that's market size.

It's not the economy. Everyone is dealing with inflation. Everyone has rents that have doubled or grocery bills that have doubled.

 

[Voight]

Cost of living has skyrocketed everywhere over the last three years.

Yes but Canada is already a super high tax environment and has always been more expensive than most if not all of the US, so the cost of living increases have been felt worse there.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

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?

So then, your ultimate argument, here is that Winnipeg isn't a good hockey/sports/entertainment market? Because, unless a boatload of really wealthy people head to Winnipeg real soon, this issue isn't going away.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Looks like they will need to break glass on the emergency “wear retros full time” plan

 

[tucker3434]

Yes but Canada is already a super high tax environment and has always been more expensive than most if not all of the US, so the cost of living increases have been felt worse there.

Is this not kinda/sorta the reason small market Canada failed back in the 90’s and therefore not a solvable problem but one that should be expected during economic downturns?

I’ve never been able to figure out why people though small market Canada was such a slam dunk.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Yes but Canada is already a super high tax environment and has always been more expensive than most if not all of the US, so the cost of living increases have been felt worse there.

Looking at last year, when inflation was still rampant, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton all had attendance between 17 and 18K.

 

[S E P H]

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.

Of course, he has every right to not buy the club, but he did put in enough funds to be a minority stakeholder, so he definitely has a passion for the team...enough to bring the club to Winnipeg. It depends on if he has enough passion to buy the full stake if it ever comes to it.

 

[barkovcanfinnish]

Hopefully this serves as a great example that low attendance for an NHL team doesn’t automatically mean the market isn’t good enough or passionate enough to support a hockey team.

It’s not always as simple as “just move the team to Quebec City”. You can only putz around with lackluster on-ice performance, incompetent management, cheap ownership, and poor marketing for so long before this sort of thing starts to happen. Local economics will play into things for sure as well.

As a Panthers fan I hope they start packing that place again. We know as well as anyone how annoying it is to hear people give snide comments about our team attendance and market. Winnipeg is a great hockey city and they want a team they can be proud of.

 

[ColbyChaos]

We've seen teams in that position before that still managed to fill their building

Only goes for so long though before fans catch on.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

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?

Sure? Just like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg could come in for the majority stake if it comes up for sale? That seems irrelevant to the point.

The entire point was, people brag about having the richest owner.. when he is, to my knowledge, a minority owner in the company.

 

[Voight]

Looking at last year, when inflation was still rampant, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton all had attendance between 17 and 18K.

Its worse now. People across Canada are seeing their mortgages doubled and many are losing their homes. Not to mention food bank users are at an all time high and gas prices are way worse. In Toronto or example you'd be paying about $4/Gallon, in Vancouver its close to $6, Winnipeg is close to 4.5/Gallon.

Also, those 3 cities have a much bigger corporate base. Especially Vancouver & Calgary.

 

[S E P H]

Sure? Just like Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg could come in for the majority stake if it comes up for sale? That seems irrelevant to the point.

The entire point was, people brag about having the richest owner.. when he is, to my knowledge, a minority owner in the company.

He's already a minority owner, meaning he owns a share of the club and has an interest in said club. How many sports teams does Musk and Zuckerberg own?

 

[SensFactor]

That's surprisingly low for Winnipeg...

 

[MrHeiskanen]

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.

This makes no sense, you are in such financial stress that one car repair is going to bankrupt you? But you still almost bought a luxury purchase? Something doesn't add up.

 

[Voight]

Is this not kinda/sorta the reason small market Canada failed back in the 90’s and therefore not a solvable problem but one that should be expected during economic downturns?

I’ve never been able to figure out why people though small market Canada was such a slam dunk.

No, that had to do with the exchange rate being God awful. They received income in Canadian dollars but player salaries (their biggest expense) was paid in USD. A bad exchange rate kills you then. Its not fantastic right now but a lot better than it was back then.

 

[Puckclektr]

So, we've come full circle and got to the issue I believe will make Winnipeg continue to struggle with attendance (at times) and that's market size.

It's not the economy. Everyone is dealing with inflation. Everyone has rents that have doubled or grocery bills that have doubled.

Apparently Winnipeg hasn’t had any issues until this year. This year is the year when many people are dealing with financial issues prior to Covid he economy was great. How all of a sudden does Winnipeg have a tendency issues when they just locked up their franchise goalie and one of their star players?
It really is a combination of both it’s a small market that was successful prior to an extremely bad economy. I’m quite certain just like many other businesses with a cost of living because of gas prices food prices mortgage rates And housing prices especially people who have renewed their mortgage in the last year that the economy is the major issue

 

[ricky0034]

Its worse now. People across Canada are seeing their mortgages doubled and many are losing their homes. Not to mention food bank users are at an all time high and gas prices are way worse. In Toronto or example you'd be paying about $4/Gallon, in Vancouver its close to $6, Winnipeg is close to 4.5/Gallon.

Also, those 3 cities have a much bigger corporate base. Especially Vancouver & Calgary.

sounds like an argument against putting teams in cities with populations as small as Winnipeg then

of course those other cities have a bigger corporate base, they have 2-3x as many people living there

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Yes but Canada is already a super high tax environment and has always been more expensive than most if not all of the US, so the cost of living increases have been felt worse there.

but we were preached to that the mighty Canadian hockey fans would fill the barn no matter the population size, weather, economy...

 

[Viqsi]

No, that had to do with the exchange rate being God awful. They received income in Canadian dollars but player salaries (their biggest expense) was paid in USD. A bad exchange rate kills you then. Its not fantastic right now but a lot better than it was back then.

Clearly the answer to these problems is to finally annex the Maple Leaf State.

 

[jigglysquishy]

but we were preached to that the mighty Canadian hockey fans would fill the barn no matter the population size, weather, economy...

And then a generation of fans fell out of love with hockey.

Winnipeg isn't the market it was 10 years ago.

That hockey's popularity has been in decline in Canada for at least 10 years, but more like 30 should be a major issue for the NHL to deal with. But they're just coasting along.

By the end of the decade the NHL is at a very real risk of being the third largest league in Canada by tv/ streaming viewership.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Apparently Winnipeg hasn’t had any issues until this year. This year is the year when many people are dealing with financial issues prior to Covid he economy was great. How all of a sudden does Winnipeg have a tendency issues when they just locked up their franchise goalie and one of their star players?
It really is a combination of both it’s a small market that was successful prior to an extremely bad economy. I’m quite certain just like many other businesses with a cost of living because of gas prices food prices mortgage rates And housing prices especially people who have renewed their mortgage in the last year that the economy is the major issue

They've only had the team for 12 years. And last year they didn't have the best attendance as well as reports Chipman was asking local corporations for more money for the team. Then...going back a bit further, they lost a team.

Look....Winnipeg isn't going anywhere. They're fine and owned by billionaires. My only point is to back what I've been saying in the Atlanta threads. That's these smaller markets with only minor growth are much bigger gambles from a population and corporate $$ standpoint than a much larger, growing metro like most Sunbelt teams. I don't think anyone argues that there aren't monster hockey fans in Winnipeg, but without population growth and corporate $$, that fandom alone isn't going to pay the bills.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Don't elect stupid people for eight years.

Most of us didn't, that's the worst part.

 

[tucker3434]

No, that had to do with the exchange rate being God awful. They received income in Canadian dollars but player salaries (their biggest expense) was paid in USD. A bad exchange rate kills you then. Its not fantastic right now but a lot better than it was back then.

Back in ‘95 you could get about $.73usd for $1cdn. Today it’s almost the exact same. The salary cap mitigates the effects and that obviously helps the current jets a lot. That aside, it just feels like a familiar story.

 

[Puckclektr]

Don't elect stupid people for eight years.

Yeah. Great comment.

They've only had the team for 12 years. And last year they didn't have the best attendance as well as reports Chipman was asking local corporations for more money for the team. Then...going back a bit further, they lost a team.

Look....Winnipeg isn't going anywhere. They're fine and owned by billionaires. My only point is to back what I've been saying in the Atlanta threads. That's these smaller markets with only minor growth are much bigger gambles from a population and corporate $$ standpoint than a much larger, growing metro like most Sunbelt teams. I don't think anyone argues that there aren't monster hockey fans in Winnipeg, but without population growth and corporate $$, that fandom alone isn't going to pay the bills.

I think we can agree it’s a combination of both market size and economic reasons

 

[MardyBum]

Always the same names