How long can the Jets survive in Winnipeg?
What does it take to sustain a National Hockey League franchise? MONEY! Managing an arena, employees, maintenance are some of the many costs associated with having an NHL franchise. This article will focus on the most important part of any NHL franchise; the fans.
I have three cousins in their twenties who live in Winnipeg and when asked if they were going to get tickets they said “Do we look rich? The prices are ridiculous!” Most households in the city of Winnipeg have an average household income of less than $49,000 and a number of regions where the households are actually below the low income cut off. There are many regions where dwellings are in need of major repairs. Attending a professional hockey game is not a priority for most Winnipeggers.
Pricing for Jets games is broken down by seat and by game. The better the seats and the higher profile the opponent (the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and Pittsburgh Penguins for example) will cost a Winnipegger more. I asked my cousin if they were going to get tickets and they said they couldn’t afford it. The cheapest ticket you can get for a Jets game is $48.75. To compare, the cheapest ticket you can get for a Toronto Maple Leafs game is $55.00. A difference of only $6.25? Doesn’t seem right, does it? Especially when Maple Leafs tickets are amongst the most expensive in the NHL. I haven’t even addressed what concessions, souvenirs, and beer would cost at a game.
It is difficult for a Torontonian to get tickets to a Leafs game and sometimes going to a Leafs game at the Air Canada Center is a once and a lifetime thing. I have been lucky. Through my place of employment, I have been fortunate enough to attend Leafs games throughout the Air Canada Center, and even in the corporate boxes. This is where Winnipeg is going to have a real problem. Most Winnipeg corporations involve the manufacturing sector and retail with agri-business and finance and insurance following. If Winnipeggers are employed it is most likely to be in the manufacturing or retail sector. The manufacturing and retail sector employs individuals with some low level of education and employees are paid minimum wage, or just above. It is clear that most of the population of Winnipeg will have a very difficult time attending a Jets game. Let alone more than one game per season. They have other priorities. So, where will the revenue come from? Toronto has the population but also the corporate base to support an NHL franchise and it does quite well, as all hockey fans know. Winnipeg just doesn’t have it.
The Winnipeg Jets franchise began in 1972 and lasted 24 years before the franchise moved south to Phoenix. The NHL wanted to expand in the US market and the Jets were no longer profitable so they left Winnipeg. Atlanta Thrashers could not survive the tough NHL market, giving Canada back a team thought forever lost. The Jets are currently tied for the second worst record in the Eastern Conference with a real possibility of remaining there for the foreseeable future.
Are things going to be different in Winnipeg this time around?
Sorry Jet fans but I give it no more than five years before the franchise will go to greener pastures.
I hope to be proven wrong.
Image courtesy Mike Nantais.
