04/26/24
June 04, 2011
Winnipeg Sells 13,000 Season Tickets in 17 Minutes: Only 17 minutes after they went on sale to the public, Winnipeg reached its goal of 13,000 season ticket sales for its NHL franchise. Manitoba Moose season ticket holders bought 7,100 in an early-sale program and the rest disappeared quickly. The team's owners bought the Atlanta Thrashers this week.
Three to 5 year commitments, depending on what level ticket you purchased.
Who's next, Phoenix? Florida? Columbus? Nashville?
posted by tommybiden at 10:51 PM on June 04, 2011
I'll add that as of 1PM, 1 hour after tickets were available, over 7,000 fans had deposited money on the season ticket waiting list. The arena holds just over 15K, 1K of which is luxury boxes and I understand 500 tickets are reserved by the NHL leaving 500 tickets available for each game - those will be gone quicker than the season tickets when they go on sale. There's talk of acquisition of a WHL team to capitalize on the demand - another new arena isn't likely over the first 5 year term.
Winnipeg is a great sports city, there are 4 or 5 other Canadian cities who would support their teams in a similar manner. Why the hell must the NHL continue the charade in Columbus, Florida, Phoenix, etc.? Time to shelve the bruised egos, move on and start counting the money.
I have friends in Vancouver who rarely can access tickets to regular season games who flew to San Jose and purchased prime tickets as walk ups to the conference finals, and San Jose is never listed as a franchise in trouble.
posted by cixelsyd at 11:47 PM on June 04, 2011
I have friends in Vancouver who rarely can access tickets to regular season games who flew to San Jose and purchased prime tickets as walk ups to the conference finals, and San Jose is never listed as a franchise in trouble.
I call complete bullshit on that statement. The Sharks home attendance numbers (according to espn.com) show them averaging 100.4% average capacity (notice Vancouver's slightly lower number) at home games. The Sharks are not listed as a franchise in trouble because they are not one. You seem to have a bone to pick with hockey in San Jose. Any particular reason why?
posted by tahoemoj at 02:56 AM on June 05, 2011
Columbus is in big trouble. The franchise lost 25 million dollars this season. I think it has something to do with the way their arena deal is structured.
posted by insomnyuk at 10:30 AM on June 05, 2011
I call complete bullshit on that statement
It was well publicized on the Canadian Hockey broadcast of the San Jose games of the hundreds of fans from Vancouver who made the trek to SJ.
If I had a bone to pick, it wouldn't be with San Jose - they are one of the best US franchises. Just pointing out that it's much easier to obtain tickets in many of the so-called big hockey markets in the US than in Canadian cities.
posted by cixelsyd at 11:40 AM on June 05, 2011
hundreds of fans from Vancouver who made the trek to SJ
That's not the same thing as purchasing "prime tickets as walk ups." Again, the Sharks have a higher average attendance than the Canucks, regardless of anecdotal evidence of a handful of fans from Vancouver gaining admission to a game.
posted by tahoemoj at 12:01 PM on June 05, 2011
Winnipeg in Top 7 in Ticket Revenue
posted by tommybiden at 04:24 PM on June 06, 2011
I believe those are three year commitments as well, which is doubly impressive. While not blessed by nature, Winnipeg is a pretty great town with a vibrant cultural scene and excellent civic spirit. Pretty sure it'll be one of the loudest buildings in the league, too. While the players may or may not want to move there I can't imagine them not enjoying playing in front of full houses of rabid gonchmen every night.