The Winnipeg Jets have “once again become the hottest ticket in town,” according to Mike McIntyre of the WINNIPEG FREE PRESS. Monday’s game against the Blues was played in front of 15,225 fans, marking the “sixth consecutive sellout” at Canada Life Centre and the 14th this season. That is a “notable development considering previous angst over attendance issues.” There is “still plenty of work to be done” when it comes to “re-building a depleted season-ticket base.” The Jets are “averaging 14,322 fans” through 39 home games -- a “big jump” from 13,490 last year. That has them at 94.1% capacity, which “ranks 23rd out of 32 teams.” If the final two regular-season home games are sold out, which is “expected to be the case, the 2024-25 average will end up at 14,366,” the “largest average crowd size” for the Jets since before the pandemic hit. Earlier this year, the team “launched an aggressive new approach through a beefed-up sales and marketing team” and the “implementation of a new game plan aimed specifically at Winnipeg’s corporate community.” The hope is to “eventually restore a season-ticket base” that was at 13,000 following the NHL’s return in 2011 but “plunged to 9,500” coming out of COVID. They got that “up to 10,000” for this season while also “boosting their corporate members from approximately 15 per cent up to 20 per cent, with private citizens accounting for the other 80 per cent” (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 4/8).
COME ONE, COME ALL: McIntyre in a separate piece noted among yesterday’s announcements from Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew on the province’s playoff plans for the team is there “will be outdoor parties on Donald Street during every home game.” They will be “capped at 5,000 fans” who will “pay $10 per ticket” to take in the festivities outside Canada Life Centre. The Jets will host the watch parties inside Canada Life Centre for all road playoff games this year, allowing “up to 15,225 fans” to watch together on the Jumbotron while also having the “typical amenities for a home game, including a rally towel and all concessions available.” Tickets “will be $10” with all proceeds “going towards the True North Youth Foundation.” Single-game playoff tickets go on sale Friday at noon , though, “fewer than 1,000 per game are expected to be available” due to the fact existing season ticket holders and those who have put deposits for either half or full season packages for next year “get first crack at purchasing them.” Events known as the community “Hype Tour” will also be “popping up at various locations around the province” (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 4/8). Kinew says that the province “will contribute up to $300,000 for ‘whiteout’ parties” (CP, 4/8).
OUR MOMENT: In Winnipeg, David Stein wrote the Jets’ “Whiteout” is a “sea of white flooding Canada Life Centre -- every fan clad in white, voices raised in unison” -- and is “more than just a visual spectacle.” It is “one of the most iconic rituals” in professional sports and a “symbol of Winnipeg’s deep-rooted hockey passion.” The tradition began in the spring of 1987. Stein wrote what began as a one-time response “quickly became a playoff tradition,” thus the Winnipeg Whiteout was born, and “it stuck.” The Whiteout is not just about playoff hockey, it is a “civic expression of pride for hockey as a cultural unifier.” In a small-market city where winters are long and hockey is a religious experience, it is a way for Winnipeggers to “express that this is their team,” and that “this is their moment” (WINNIPEG SUN, 4/8).
