Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
I said when the jets fans were clammering for the Jets to come back that this team would be a trouble spot going forward and would probably need some financial support from the league if the team didn't start winning and winning consistantly.
That building isn't a NHL building and they're at a disadvantage when competing with other teams spending wise no matter how rich the owner is, and the situation would get worse if the team started losing.
People tend to over romanticize the old jets, and that big bad NHL took the Jets aways for no reason.
but the fact of the matter is that attendance wasn't great for the old Jets, the fans didn't support them as NHL ticket prices rose, and they played in a non NHL building.
Well they're still playing in a non NHL building
The MTS center has a seating capacity of 15,000 and I believe 55 luxury suites
The Saddledome which is an older building seats over 19,000 and has I think 72 luxury suites
The new Rink in Edmonton will seat 18,000 plus and have 56 luxury suites.
If for whatever reason, the bad economy or bad teams chasing customers away, they don't have the margin of error that other NHL teams have.
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Ding, ding ding. Especially the part about revisionist history. I lived in Winnipeg when the Jets left and I remember going to games where they barely drew 9000 people. You could buy nosebleeds and move down to the front row easily (similar to the Young Guns era here). Nobody wanted Jets tickets, yet when they left, all of a sudden, everyone was a Jets fan, Bettman was a jerk, and the big bad NHL took the Jets away from a city who loved them so much. When they got a franchise back, my first comments were to the extent of "Winnipeggers are fickle and cheap - if they have a losing team and rising ticket prices, the fans won't stay".
Their season ticket and waiting list model worked well for them ,but now that they're reaching the end of those 5 year season ticket holder agreements, it'll be interesting to see renewal rates. I don't think it'll drop a ton yet, but yes, no doubt, there'll be many more tickets up for sale for game days.