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

[Tasteless Beaver]

The Jets had lightning in a bottle and wasted it on extremely poor teams and greed. We used to be STH from day 1 until COVID and let me tell you that the ticket price increases (near the maximum allowed every year by contract) for a bad product really left a sour taste. By the end, a season ticket was over $2,000/year more than they started at, which put the squeeze on finances. Selling games wasn't an option because TNSE undercut their STH on resale prices, which was an extremely dirty move that turned a lot of people away - we had to give away tickets to games we couldn't attend, and that really cheapened the value of Jets tickets to most people. My brother and I still go to Bomber games when we can, even though those tickets have gone up considerably in price, as well. Teams like Toronto get demand by having so many corporate sponsors (corporations seem to be the only ones with money these days), and Winnipeg just doesn't have enough of them to sell out.

People in Winnipeg are also broke, it’s been bad since COVID hit. Rent has gone up massively, and for homeowners with mortgage renewals, those have taken another $500/mo out of people’s pockets and food another couple hundred. None of my friends in their 30s are doing super dandy, at least not well enough to be dropping a couple hundred bucks a night to see a hockey game, and in an economy of scale, we don't have enough citizens doing well enough to show up on a nightly basis, so there will be empty seats. The arena being empty for COVID was indeed a major mental event that somehow flipped a switch for people on going out. I’d like to go to a few games myself but my housing costs have skyrocketed since moving back and it’s just not a good use of funds.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Bettman will very gladly move a team outta Canada to the states... Fans better smarten up there!

 

[ColbyChaos]

It's concerning because they are not a bad team. What if they become a bad one? Not pretty

I guess it doesn't matter, if the owner has big pockets and willing to spend money for few years.

That’s the problem they are a mid af team with zero shot of actually winning a cup. Fans won’t want to be stuck watching a bubble team stuck in no man’s land as all it does is waste money and time

 

[White Out 902]

Where's the Buffalo thread?

 

[3074326]

Where's the Buffalo thread?

Make one, this is a topic about Winnipeg

 

[Suntouchable13]

Winnipeg and Quebec City are simply not major league cities.

Don’t give me that crap when the NFL is in Green Bay.

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

Don’t give me that crap when the NFL is in Green Bay.

Yeah, for 8 games per year, not 41+. NFL football is also religion in the US (and Canada), the league has done incredible things to grow excitement and demand for their product; the NHL hasn't.

 

[surixon]

Inflation rate dropped to 3.8% in September. It's just over half the current global inflation rate Inflation isn't the problem. Corporate greed, especially in the area of food costs, the housing market; those are the issues for many.

Thousands of season ticket holders officially cancelled because of federal, provincial, or arena vaccine policies?

Yes. They lost a large portion of their non vaccinated seat holders because they had to choose which side to support. The pro vaccinated crowd made it clear they weren't going to attend games if vaccinated mandadates weren't enforced. So the non vaccinated crowd was shut out and many have refused ro go back once those mandates were dropped. That was thousands of seat holders.

 

[Sniperberg]

Gary should relocate them to a real market like Houston or Atlanta

 

[missionAvs]

Isn't it too cold in Winnipeg for hockey?

Yeah, it's too cold for the ice.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

The real reason why fans aren't showing up is because of th idiot behind the bench.

 

[stealth1]

Winnipeg and Quebec City are simply not major league cities.

Neither is Atlanta

 

[These Are The Days]

I can answer the question. The fans have gotten tired of them doing nothing. And by that I mean NOTHING. Year after year.

They're the only franchise in sports that gets treated like a crock pot of food that had the knob set to cook 12 years ago and somehow that was supposed to be enough. And it's not even that good. But the asshole who made it insists it's perfect just the way it is and everyone sits there starving while he says the food still isn't ready. True North and Chevy have watched bad coaches and toxic culture run everyone out of town for like the last 6 years and have done nothing to improve the team. They just pluck out pieces of food and say "Well that's no good!" and don't even season it or add food. If I was a Jets fan I would be losing my mind that a team like the Panthers can go through like 3 rebuilds and make the finals (with Paul Maurice to boot) while the Jets just sit there doing nothing like if make the wrong move, they won't be good anymore. Nevermind Vegas winning it all. I won't even touch that. The Jets haven't been good in years. Their insistence on being the most milquetoast and mediocre team in the league is actually driving away fans that lost their team already.

Jets fans are some of the most loyal in hockey. No one save for Minnesota (who knows what it means to lose their team and are the butt of jokes because they're basically the nicest, most patient people in the northern hemisphere) would deal with this beyond making "Mild" jokes

 

[FrozenJagrt]

That’s the problem they are a mid af team with zero shot of actually winning a cup. Fans won’t want to be stuck watching a bubble team stuck in no man’s land as all it does is waste money and time

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

 

[sennysensen]

Bettman will very gladly move a team outta Canada to the states... Fans better smarten up there!

It would be nice to have better attendance, hopefully a playoff run will cause that. It's tough, as Winnipeg is Canada's smallest market, and doesn't have a ton of wealthy people or big businesses to buy tickets.

Before moving, the Jets' owner would have to want to move. He is Canada's richest man. And he owns the arena, which I doubt he wants to leave empty.

NHL is quite profitable with the TV and gambling money. Even with crowds of 11,000-13,000, the Jets probably have only a small loss, offset by profits generated by the arena, they'll be fine.

Anyone who wants any team to move is a total jerk. Imagine wanting to remove something that means a lot to people of a city, including lots of children. But, hey, there isn't much empathy left in the world. People are becoming more cruel all the time, frankly some are proud of their empty selves.

 

[Shane Diesel]

Is the whole city just sick of Chevy and the staleness of the organization? Why is attendance so low with Scheifele and Hellebuyck re-signing just recently? Always thought this market would never have any issues after getting them back in 2011.

Not trying to troll or flame, just a generalized concern for hockey there.

Just like the original Jets, unable to fill a small arena.

Move them back to Atlanta. They're a disgrace.

 

[kylbaz]

that franchise simply would not be able to survive a rebuild. they're a playoff contender and yet, they're still having trouble selling out one of the smallest arenas in the league

maybe after 12 years the novelty has finally worn off

I think that's the case and also with rising prices. If the team is bad any year we are absolutely screwed. This is actually a good team.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Source to bold section?

We're booming in Halifax. Population has grown by 100k since 2020. It's wreaked havoc on the housing market, but people are coming from other provinces and internationally.

Probably because people can work from home and actually afford a house out that way.

 

[Azrael89]

Guess it’s time to move them back to Atlanta. I always liked the Thrashers jerseys. Lol

 

[mr figgles]

Neither is Atlanta

Do the Quebec and Winnipeg metros combined have half of the population of the Atlanta metro area?

 

[MrHeiskanen]

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"

 

[paul-laus]

The bombers have stole their thunder. After the grey cup maybe we see numbers creep back up.

The Bombers lmfaso!!!! Hey didn’t they go on on a thirty year grey cup drought in a league with eight teams?! Just based on the laws of probabilities, that’s laughable…

 

[Look Up]

If Arizona can average 4,600 per game and still have a team, then why should Winnipeg fear losing their team in the future?

Going to take several years for the economy in Canada to turn around, they should be able to ride this out.

 

[Buffdog]

Inflation rate dropped to 3.8% in September. It's just over half the current global inflation rate Inflation isn't the problem. Corporate greed, especially in the area of food costs, the housing market; those are the issues for many.

Thousands of season ticket holders officially cancelled because of federal, provincial, or arena vaccine policies?

The 3.8% is year over year... so inflation was 7% the year before, and now it's 3.8% higher than the 7% increase last year. In other words, it's 12% over 2 years. And this isn't just a 2 year issue

Politicians will tell you it's corporate greed, but there's been a devaluation of the dollar with the influx of money printed over the past few years. That drives inflation

As for people talking relocation... do a little research on TNSE. Maybe look into who their majority shareholders are, and what kind of real estate holdings they have in downtown winnipeg.

This company is NOT reliant on gate revenue alone to be profitable. The Jets aren't going anywhere.

 

[Rob Brown]

Absolutely embarrassing. Please Canadian fans never talk shit about Dallas market again. TY

I don't think one bad attendance game in Winnipeg eliminates all the bad attendance games that happen in the US every year, but go off.