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NHL Back in the Peg?

Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 5:33 pm
by Meerschaum
The Manitoba Tories are campaigning on a promise to bring back the Jets.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=206912&hubname=

Wow.

Now that's an "out there" promise.

Hmmmn. Shouldn't these guys be worried that francophone Manitobans will turn out in massive numbers to keep Shane Doan away from their Province? ;)

Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 6:08 pm
by *CanucksForLife*
Atleast people might watch them in Winnipegg
You stupid Gary Bettmann.

Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 6:11 pm
by Tukaram
It'll never happen until they get a real arena.

Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 6:28 pm
by showtyme21
Tukaram wrote:It'll never happen until they get a real arena.
I have to disagree with the entire sentiment that the arena is too small. About 2 weeks ago or so, I remember there being an article that some arena's in teh NHL were TOO BIG. I think that the arena is NOT the issue.

That being said, I don't believe that this promise can be kept by the local Tory's, and this would be one reason why I probably will not vote for them. I believe that they are just milking the emotions. I don't think that Winnipeg can support a team because we can't even sell out the Moose.

Once upon a time, I firmly believed that it was a completely different situation, and the comparision couldn't be made, but over the years, I've come to realize that we can support teams in droves, but only when the team is competitive. While this type of support is definitely better than the lack of support that we see in SOME of the southern states teams, it will never be enough to support an NHL team over the long haul. Unless there is NO public money, this deal will not be good for the Winnipeggers or Manitobans. If we get the NHL team back, I will support them 100%, but I believe that this will never happen, and we as a city do need to take a reality check, and support the Moose (which I have actually enjoyed so far this year).

Showtyme

Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 6:59 pm
by Jyrki21
showtyme21 wrote:I don't think that Winnipeg can support a team because we can't even sell out the Moose.
That's like saying that the NFL could never work in Memphis, TN because the CFL Mad Dogs didn't get good attendance.

Put an NHL team back in Winnipeg, and I'm sure they'll get good attendance for the same reason the Oilers do – even if the corporate support isn't there, there are lots of people who (perhaps foolishly) will blow their hard-earned savings on hockey tickets. Moreover, more people would watch the Jets on TV than a great number of NHL cities, though this doesn't necessarily translate into more revenue given the differing advertising markets.

I think the Jets could survive under the current CBA, too, albeit precariously (i.e. with the same sorts of sacrifices the Oilers make). But the NHL will show no interest because there isn't "room for growth" in a city like Winnipeg. The enthusiasm will be there, but it's inevitably a plateau in a place that is not "up and coming."

Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 8:55 pm
by kingofrockstars
This is just sad ploy from a politician to get headlines by riding the Shane Doan headline train. Hockey is in the news so these jackasses exploit it while they can. People in the Peg are going to be pissed when they don't deliver and this will be the worst mistake Hugh McFadyen ever made.

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 8:52 am
by Madcombinepilot
I have to disagree on the arena size comment. Right now, the MTS seats a little over 15,000 people. As an owner, if you are 3000 seats shy of the 18,000 average, thats a loss of 3000 seats. If the average ticket cost of the lost seat was $100, thats $300k per game, or $12.3 Million a year over the course of 41 home games....

Not to many potential owners are going to look to hard at that math, especially in a province with little corporate sponsorship....

Pipe dream.

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 9:05 am
by Fred
Runs in my mind that the Jet's didn't have sell out crowns in their old place. The new capacity is 15,000 not sure if that's in contravention to a franchise rule the NHL has. I know they like 18,000 but is it a clear cut rule ?

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 10:00 am
by Puck
One thing a smaller venue does is increase demand. The atmosphere is better when the place is packed to the rafters. They'd probably get great crowds. Look what the Alouettes do at McGill stadium... that's probably the best place to watch a game in the CFL. Atmosphere is everything.

Having said that, the size of the TV market in Manitoba is small and there isn't much corporate money (correct me if I'm wrong). That's the stuff that the NHL will really focus on.

BTW, what's the average crowd size for Devils games? 15,000 every night might be more than NJ gets.

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 10:36 am
by Jyrki21
Fred wrote:Runs in my mind that the Jet's didn't have sell out crowns in their old place.
Neither did the Canucks, though, or Flames, or most NHL teams.

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 11:23 am
by Madcombinepilot
One thing a smaller venue does is increase demand. The atmosphere is better when the place is packed to the rafters. They'd probably get great crowds.
Why would it be different today than it was in the past? They rarely sold out a game in the old arena. Heck, they didn't even sell out the final Jets game, so what leads you to believe that they would sell out in the future?

It's not only the league that has to approve the move back to winnipeg, but you have to find an owner willing to pay for a place with poor corporate sponsorship, a poor history of attendence, as well the certainty of a lack of seating capacity.....
Who would be crazy enough to take on that kind of risk, with the odds of losing millions per year so high???

Use a little common sense here. As much as we all want to see the game move back to Canada, with that kind of money math, it is simply NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 12:08 pm
by gordorama
So what is the attendance average in say, Nashville, Columbus, Carolina, Tampa Bay or Chicago at this season? I think any of those teams would be happy with 15000 asses in their seats.

As a kid in Winnipeg, I had half the Jets on my paper Route. A rookie by the name of Dave Babych was my best tipper. Even at that time, when the Jets we approaching the record for the most consecutive losses by a professional sports team, the fans were nuts about the team. That kind of enthusiasm has to count for somethingg.

That being said, there's little to believe in a political attempt to cash in on good old Canadian hockey fever. Would love to see the Jets back, but it's going to take something other than a political "promise" to bring them back.

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 4:14 pm
by Fred
Jyrki21 wrote:
Fred wrote:Runs in my mind that the Jet's didn't have sell out crowns in their old place.
Neither did the Canucks, though, or Flames, or most NHL teams.
Your right of course, but from what I heard McCaw did explore the possability of moving the team down in to the States before the arrival of BB.

While a number of teams south of the Mason Dixon do not get much larger than 15,000 per game they do have the capacity to increase the Manitoba arena does not

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 7:51 pm
by Mozy
i personally would love to see the nordiques brought back. I think thats a place that a franchise would really thrive and hell in an expansion draft they could even pick shane doan.

Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 11:20 am
by Puck
Madcombinepilot wrote:
One thing a smaller venue does is increase demand. The atmosphere is better when the place is packed to the rafters. They'd probably get great crowds.
Why would it be different today than it was in the past? They rarely sold out a game in the old arena. Heck, they didn't even sell out the final Jets game, so what leads you to believe that they would sell out in the future?
Yikes. That's an extremely telling statistic. If they didn't sell out the last game, I'd say the support of the team was more streaky than I thought. I withdraw my suggestion.