Unawareness of upcoming dangers seems to be rearing its ugly head for the Winnipeg Jets and Mark Chipman. For so long, all the Jets had to do was exist, and the people and money would come flying in. Now that this is not the case, it has become alarming that even after a decade of success, True North Sports and Entertainment (TNSE) did not have a backup or crisis plan. The crumbling Canadian dollar/economy and the coronavirus are major reasons for this. The Winnipeg Jets are in the scenario of a perfect negative storm. Like a real thunderstorm, it is very possible that this storm could easily pass, but what if it doesn’t?
No Backup Plan from Mark Chipman
For the longest time, TNSE and Mark Chipman walked around like it was a privilege to be a customer of theirs, and the organization became stagnant when that privilege vanished. Now that the Jets’ season ticket model isn’t as rock solid, TNSE flaws are starting to show. A recent Athletic article stated a couple of huge concerns in my eyes. Number one, Chipman stated how for a decade the 2.0 iteration of the Jets relied on a unique ticket model not seen before.
The Winnipeg Jets were the only team in the NHL to have two things occur. First off the majority of their season ticket members are shared groupings. This means a large group of friends/family would share the 41 home games so each person would only have to go to 5-10 games. Thus making season tickets affordable. Unfortunately, the pandemic caused tons of Winnipeggers to lose a large chunk of disposable income. As a result, these shared season ticket-holding groups crumbled.
The second outlier in the Jets ticket model was a lack of corporate business ticket purchases. About 15% of season tickets are from Winnipeg businesses. This is compared to other teams who have about 50% of their season tickets being from businesses. This just reeks of complacency to me. Yes, a decade of success is not a fluke but with all the resources at their disposal, it seems rather fickle that the Jets continued to rely on a potentially unstable seasonal ticket model with a backup plan.
Dreadful Marketing Campaign was the Cherry on Top
All of this combined is just not a good look for Mark Chipman. It became further complicated when the Jets released their first ticket promo advertising since 2011. It included a video package talking about everyone doing their part to keep the Jets in Winnipeg. Fans were displeased that the team’s first resort was threats. Chipman quickly backtracked and said the goal was getting businesses to buy tickets. Which again makes sense as the team needs more corporate ticket sales. However, this is clear backtracking as in my opinion, the ticket video package makes zero mention of specifically getting more corporate season ticket holders.
The Jets should have spent years and thousands of dollars on researching marketing and every other ticket gate-based revenue in North America. The reason behind bringing up ticket-gate revenue is because the NHL does not have the television deals that basketball or football has. As a result, a large chunk of revenue is dependent on ticket sales. While it seems doom and gloom, the Winnipeg Jets thrive on the ice as an underdog and will likely do so off the ice as well.
Outlook is Still Positive for Hockey in Winnipeg
It’s tough pulling the he-said-she-said excuse. But it’s unlikely the Winnipeg Jets are going anywhere. The Arizona Coyotes are in desperate need of a new arena. Winnipeg has an arena. The Ottawa Senators recent sale included a clause to not move the team from Ottawa. They are in desperate need of an arena closer to downtown (even though their arena is only 20-30 minutes from downtown Ottawa). Winnipeg’s arena is downtown. Gary Bettman is being hypocritical with his stance on the Winnipeg Jets if these other teams are the standard. Furthermore, Mark Chipman deserves the benefit of the doubt as he basically is the reason Winnipeg has a professional hockey team. It seems like they are behind the eight ball as they frantically try to fix ticket sales. These types of problems should have been researched previously to help prevent and minimize the losses caused by them.
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