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

[gojetsgo]

 

[BlueSeal]

They faired as good as the Jets. Franchises that are not viable. Jets shoudl never have gotten a team back after proving not to be a viable city.

Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary are larger population centers. More affluent than Winnipeg. More viable. Richer sponsors.

Winnipeg, Phoenix and Buffalo are similar.

Jets Ownership has money in all sorts of ventures and I do mean all sorts. They also outright own the stadium and the AHL team. They don’t need the Jets to be lucrative, it’s an acceptable loss in lieu of the money they pull in from other venues and the value of the stadium and property itself.

Too many people are narrow minded about population density and all that nonsense. Doesn’t matter how big your market is if your market is -all- markets across the board.

Again, QC can easily be another one of these but it’s like everyone falsely believes that sheer population = ticket sales. Atlanta has failed twice on that and yet the league wants to try again?

Learn your lessons and see how real money is made. Jets money is diversified and the envy of other teams and yet it’s in a small market. Take off the blinders and see the whole picture, folks.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Jets Ownership has money in all sorts of ventures and I do mean all sorts. They also outright own the stadium and the AHL team. They don’t need the Jets to be lucrative, it’s an acceptable loss in lieu of the money they pull in from other venues and the value of the stadium and property itself.

Too many people are narrow minded about population density and all that nonsense. Doesn’t matter how big your market is if your market is -all- markets across the board.

Again, QC can easily be another one of these but it’s like sheer population = ticket sales. Atlanta has failed twice on that and yet the league wants to try again?

Learn your lessons and see how real money is made. Jets money is diversified and the envy of other teams and yet it’s in a small market. Take off the blinders and see the whole picture, folks.

Jets are a marginal franchise. Chipman didn’t get rich by hanging onto bad investments. Winnipeg failed to support a franchise previously and history is repeating itself. Its inanity.

 

[NVious]

How many of the American teams play in cities that have such minuscule metro populations, and a tiny local economy?

None. The smallest American market is Buffalo, and even Buffalo has a metro population that's about 500,000 people higher than Winnipeg's.

All the more reason to have reasonable prices, whereas American teams have issues despite having basically free tickets.

 

[bert]

Absolutely. The best part is, any market can be a hockey market. Whether that market includes small cities like Cheyenne, Wyoming or large ones like New Orleans, Louisiana, hockey markets are everywhere. I do realize this isn't what you intended, but you definitely left the door open to it.



I daresay the league disagrees with at least part of your statement.

Regarding Phoenix (that jury is still out), Houston (permanent ice plants are being added to the Toyota Center), Salt Lake (NHL met with Ryan Smith), Atlanta (a new arena development has been proposed north of town), and a whole host of other markets out there? It's all about the money. Specifically, long-term growth and potential of the market.

In terms of Atlanta, the league was tired of Atlanta Spirit's dysfunction, and Atlanta Spirit didn't want to own the team to begin with. This is all well-established fact, and the only people still arguing the market failed are the ones who disagree with reality and are trying to substitute their own. A lot of this has been hashed out ad nauseam over the years, and the most recent Atlanta thread linked above is no exception.

No when hockey is the 10th most important sport that is not a hockey market. There is no hockey without Canada these southern states do not care.

Atlanta has completely failed twice. No one plays hockey in that city no one cares about it. Just because its a big market doesnt mean it works.

The league doesnt like to move franchises, anyone that thinks that hockey has been a success is Pheonix is out to lunch. If you have ever lived in or been in a hockey market you know the difference. People live it in Canada.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

Jets are a marginal franchise. Chipman didn’t get rich by hanging onto bad investments. Winnipeg failed to support a franchise previously and history is repeating itself. Its inanity.

Chipman isn't rich.

 

[bert]

Jets are a marginal franchise. Chipman didn’t get rich by hanging onto bad investments. Winnipeg failed to support a franchise previously and history is repeating itself. Its inanity.

Its repeating is self? After 3 games? Arizona still has a team lol focus on that.

 

[Lions67]

Jets are a marginal franchise. Chipman didn’t get rich by hanging onto bad investments. Winnipeg failed to support a franchise previously and history is repeating itself. Its

Chipman isn't rich.

Good thing his partner is…….eh?

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Its repeating is self? After 3 games? Arizona still has a team lol focus on that.

Yes another marginal failing franchise.

 

[bert]

Yes another marginal failing franchise.

The Jets arent failing. Terrible evaluation these two franchises are nothing alike.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

The Jets arent failing. Terrible evaluation these two franchises are nothing alike.

When you are putting only 11K into the stands.... your franchise is failing.

 

[Carbooja]

Chipman isn't rich.

Half a billion dollars net worth isn't much to sneeze at.

And the other partner who owns the Jets? Canada's richest person:

David Thomson $54.8 billion

Who are the top-10 wealthiest billionaires in Canada?

Familiar names head the list

www.wealthprofessional.ca

 

[MrHeiskanen]

Half a billion dollars net worth isn't much to sneeze at.

And the other partner who owns the Jets? Canada's richest person:

David Thomson $54.8 billion

Never trust the valuation of a person on Google when they aren't well known. Chipman isn't worth half a billion. The guy is small time.

Can always count on a Jets fan to bring up Thomson when posts have nothing to do with him.

 

[Carbooja]

Never trust the valuation of a person on Google when they aren't well known. Chipman isn't worth half a billion. The guy is small time.

Can always count on a Jets fan to bring up Thomson when posts have nothing to do with him.

Not sure what you're looking for, but these aren't google valuations.

We're not discounting the fact there is some cause of concern, but it would be premature to say the team's going to pack up and leave. Both owners have a very diversified portfolio, and get about 14 million dollars in concessions from the Manitoba Goverment in form of tax incentives, not including gambling revenue, properties they've built in Winnipeg's SHED district which all add to revenue.

So far all you've added is your opinion which really doesn't add much.

​

 

[Brookbank]

Winnipeg has 3 bad games for attendance and people want to move them. Meanwhile Arizona is the biggest joke of all time playing in a college rink and couldn't even sell out every game last year. Literally kept alive by teams like the jets for almost a decade.

Ed Jovanovski said he was getting his paychecks from the league when he played for Arizona. He played there from 2007-2011. So it has been a black hole of losses for the league for 13-16 years.

 

[jokesondee]

Jets are a marginal franchise. Chipman didn’t get rich by hanging onto bad investments. Winnipeg failed to support a franchise previously and history is repeating itself. Its inanity.

LMFAO the circumstances of the Jets 1.0 leaving and their profitability could not be more different than what’s happening now with the Jets 2.0. The scenarios, owners, revenue streams, etc are apples and oranges. Where are the threads about Buffalo, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary who are also having attendance issues??? Times are financially tough for MANY people right now and the Jets don’t have the luxury of massive corporate support like the other Canadian teams. Regardless, the Jets are not going anywhere. This thread is a joke.

 

[Brookbank]

This will not be a popular opinion, but Winnipeg never should have gotten another team. The city is simply too small, and there isn't enough money in the local economy. When the Thrashers moved, they were a team on the upswing, with some solid young players (Enstrom, Little, Kane) and that had just made some major moves (Byfuglien, Wheeler, Ladd). Now their core is aging/has aged out, and they're in the decline. The Bombers have also been really good for a number of years now. The attention of the city has turned to their winning team, and away from their mediocre team.

It will only get worse as the Jets decline further.

This nonsense of course, has already been debunked.

The Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames all had lean cycles. And they got through them and now they all punch way above their weight. And are the lowest maintenance teams in the league.

So your big prediction that "it will only get worse as the Jets decline further" will be proven to be bunk. Edmontons population wasn't any bigger than Winnipegs not that long ago. Less than 20 years

 

[Carbooja]

This nonsense of course, has already been debunked.

The Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames all had lean cycles. And they got through them and now they all punch way above their weight. And are the lowest maintenance teams in the league.

So your big prediction that "it will only get worse as the Jets decline further" will be proven to be bunk. Edmontons population wasn't any bigger than Winnipegs not that long ago. Less than 20 years

This is a very big point.

Prior to the Jets coming back, and during Chipman's due diligence, he has stated on public record that they were allowed to look at Edmonton's books to see what to prepare for.

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

A Kieths in the arena in preseason 2 years ago was 14 bucks...

 

[Johniac]

I lived through the lean years when the Canes relocated and read a lot of commentary about how North Carolina is college basketball country and could not support a hockey team. If there isn't outdoor skating in winter, they definitely did not deserve a team according to many. But guess what, winning and a good product puts butts in the seats because it becomes the hot ticket in town. Losing consistently and those butts move onto other things to do. Some teams have solid attendance in good and bad times. Those teams are not the norm in the NHL.

Inflation is hurting many in the US as well and has cut into the ability to buy season tickets or even just individual games. Having dealt with the Canes condescension in the early years, I do not wish for any city to lose a beloved team. I feel bad for Hartford and Atlanta. This attitude that the Canadian teams support the US teams is not particularly valid or welcome. Except for a few cases, any team can have a bad run and should be allowed the opportunity to work through it unless ownership and their fans throw in the towel. The Canadian dollar put a number of teams in bad condition at one point and US cities have their cycles of up and down times as well. Don't be so quick to trash on another fanbase, because that could well turn around and be your team one day.

 

[abax44]

Chipman isn't rich.

A net worth of $500m is kinda rich.

 

[Andy6]

This nonsense of course, has already been debunked.

The Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames all had lean cycles. And they got through them and now they all punch way above their weight. And are the lowest maintenance teams in the league.

So your big prediction that "it will only get worse as the Jets decline further" will be proven to be bunk. Edmontons population wasn't any bigger than Winnipegs not that long ago. Less than 20 years

Winnipeg is barely half the size of Edmonton, and economically less than that. What is happening is that almost everyone who could buy season's tickets has already had them and, in many cases, has grown tired of the financial hit of owning them. Because the market is so small, there is no second wave of potential ticket-buyers to market to once the initial lustre wears off. This is exactly what Brian Burke rather churlishly predicted on the day the Jets' rebirth was announced in 2011. Also, in Winnipeg the average ticket buyer is a middle-class individual for whom the price of tickets represents a real sacrifice, so the team is more sensitive than most to economic downturns. I think they'll pull through this but it's certainly not a given that they will.

 

[Lt Dan]

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.

This is where the dreaded double standard comes in

If certain fanbases do it , they are savvy fans speaking with their wallets

If non-traditional market fans do this, they are bad fans who should lose their teams

 

[MMC]

Only 11,136 came to tonight’s divisional matchup against the Blues, an even lower total than what prompted the thread…

 

[jokesondee]

Only 11,136 came to tonight’s divisional matchup against the Blues, an even lower total than what prompted the thread…

Oh no! Buffalo Sabres attendance last game against an original 6 division rival was 13507 in a 19000+ arena. Go start a thread about them.