[OT] Faithful fans getting fed up with mediocrity: Jets losing sales sizzle

[krynski]

Originally Posted by taco.vidal

"And you need only look at the Jets' home record to understand why some of the heat has come off this city's hottest ticket. Put simply, the Jets this season have not given their rabid fan base a whole lot to cheer about." http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/spo...235841731.html

Ummmm, what?

7-8-4 is pretty close to flames 6-7-3. That's not that bad. Yeah, it's not great, but weak fanbase if you can't sustain ticket sales through barely sub 500.

[Erick Estrada]

I never thought it was a great idea to bring a team back to Winnipeg. I just don't think there's a large enough population base. If they are having issue selling tickets for that small building already IMO that's a bad sign as we have seen in Edmonton, Calgary, and Toronto you can spend long lengths out of the playoffs and the true test of any fan base is how they support a loser not a winner. Edmonton is starting to have the upper bowl half empty and the dome has empty seats but a few empty seats in the saddledome is still much more bums in the seats over a Winnipeg sellout.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by kootenayguy9

I would be curious to know how many subscribers pay $10 a month in Sask and Manitoba for TSN jets. We are very fortunate we don't pay any extra to have all Flame games on Tv.

Not really sure what you mean. I pay $10 more each month to get the sports package here in Calgary. So isn't that the same thing?

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by kootenayguy9

I would be curious to know how many subscribers pay $10 a month in Sask and Manitoba for TSN jets. We are very fortunate we don't pay any extra to have all Flame games on Tv.

Pretty sure I pay extra for Sportsnet-Flames

[TurnedTheCorner]

[saillias]

Their GM sits on his hands. Has there been a less active GM in the league in the 3 years the Winnipeg Jets have been in existence?

[nik-]

Originally Posted by saillias

Their GM sits on his hands. Has there been a less active GM in the league in the 3 years the Winnipeg Jets have been in existence?

MacLowebellini?

[Jordan!]

Not surprised

[doctajones428]

Originally Posted by Bouw N Arrow

Not surprised

Let's move them to the desert, they will do so much better there

[pylon]

With rumours of a 90 cent dollar on the horizon, they are doomed. With the cap going up, and the dollar going down, they will need to increase prices 20% in a market where they can't even afford the prices now, just to break even. Still 900 billion percent better than that laughable joke of an embarrassment in Phoenix though.

The same goes for us as well. Albeit the median income in Calgary is substantially higher, once we see the dollar dropping, get ready to pay more, and see lots of games with 15k fans in attendance unless they pull off a miracle rebuild.

[OzSome]

Claude Noel is not an NHL coach. He's terrible. I have never seen the guy smile even once. At least I've seen Brent Sutter or even Darryl Sutter smiles a few times.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by OzSome

Claude Noel is not an NHL coach. He's terrible. I have never seen the guy smile even once. At least I've seen Brent Sutter or even Darryl Sutter smiles a few times.

He might be a less than stellar coach but I see him having fun with the media all the time.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by pylon

With rumours of a 90 cent dollar on the horizon, they are doomed. With the cap going up, and the dollar going down, they will need to increase prices 20% in a market where they can't even afford the prices now, just to break even. Still 900 billion percent better than that laughable joke of an embarrassment in Phoenix though.

Debatable. It was common knowledge that for the Winnipeg franchise to have success, they needed to maintain an unsustainable level of total support. The building is too small. The corporate base is too small. There is no room for much expansion. The market is not a destination. It's a perfect storm of troubles that have the Jets tenuously perched on a knives' edge. It was only a matter of time.

Originally Posted by pylon

The same goes for us as well. Albeit the median income in Calgary is substantially higher, once we see the dollar dropping, get ready to pay more, and see lots of games with 15k fans in attendance unless they pull off a miracle rebuild.

Except it is NOT the same. The big difference between Calgary and Edmonton and Winnipeg is that the Flames and Oilers have deep ownership pockets, larger venues that support considerably more high-end ticket revenue and a comparatively HUGE corporate base from which to draw that provides a buffer for when times are more challenging. Put it this way: The MTS Centre is smaller than EVERY other NHL venue, as well as the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Le Colisee in QC, and the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon. A sellout in Winnipeg is less than 90% capacity of the next smallest NHL arena in Edmonton, and only 66% capacity of the Saddledome. Inn other words, if the Flames or the Oilers falter a bit, they are still doing just as well or remarkably better than the Jets with a full building.

[trublmaker]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Except it is NOT the same. The big difference between Calgary and Edmonton and Winnipeg is that the Flames and Oilers have deep ownership pockets, larger venues that support considerably more high-end ticket revenue and a comparatively HUGE corporate base from which to draw that provides a buffer for when times are more challenging. Put it this way: The MTS Centre is smaller than EVERY other NHL venue, as well as the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Le Colisee in QC, and the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon. A sellout in Winnipeg is less than 90% capacity of the next smallest NHL arena in Edmonton, and only 66% capacity of the Saddledome. Inn other words, if the Flames or the Oilers falter a bit, they are still doing just as well or remarkably better than the Jets with a full building.

This in a nutshell. Much much deeper.

(didn't realize the Thomsons were quite that loaded)

[sa226]

It may come down to how much tolerance the Thompson family has for taking losses. The business model of the Jets it average at best, but the owners are either the richest or one of the richest families in Canada.

[hariton]

Ok, buy Jokinen back, he is big, kind of. Third time is the best.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by sa226

It may come down to how much tolerance the Thompson family has for taking losses. The business model of the Jets it average at best, but the owners are either the richest or one of the richest families in Canada.

I believe they're the richest in Canada and by a large margin too

[VO #23]

The Jets are an arm (albeit an important arm) of True North Sports and Entertainment's business model, which also includes the MTS Centre and every event there; all entertainment events at Investors Group Field; much of the SHED development downtown; etc.

I don't think things are as dire, business-wise, for TNSE as some in this thread would have you believe.

[Northendzone]

^ I'd say there are a couple of other teams that need to move first.....

[Howie_16]

Wouldn't bother me one iota if the Jets 2.0 franchise were to be moved to Kansas City or even Mexico City. All these Jet fans in Calgary could just go back to cheering for the Flames like they should be anyway.