This post is for the people that keep telling me that there is no chance that Winnipeg will get another team. Huh! Looks like that isn't entirely true. It is my contention that some day there will be another NHL team in Winnipeg, MB.
• That the Ice Edge bid to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes is essentially dead and unless there is someone willing to step forward to buy the Coyotes from the NHL and keep them in Phoenix, there is an agreement in principle in place to sell the team to Canadian billionaire David Thomson, who will move the team to Winnipeg before next season.
Thomson’s name in connection with the NHL in Winnipeg is nothing new. He is a major investor in True North Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns and operates the 15,000-seat MTS Centre in Winnipeg. With a seating capacity of 15,015 for hockey, it would be the smallest building in the NHL and it would obviously have to have long-term plans to increase the capacity by at least 2,000.
Even if Winnipeg managed to sell out every game, it would rank 25th in NHL attendance. But the important distinction is that the vast majority of those seats would be paid, in comparison to many American markets where every ticket, including thousands of free and reduced-price tickets, is included in the attendance figure [Hockey News]
It'd be nice if some sports writer did an expose' of current ticket sales strategies in the NHL. Supposedly, every Wild game has been a sell-out yet on occasion there are thousands of empty seats and buying a seat, even at the ticket window, is no problem if you're willing to cough up the money you were saving for your kid's college education. Apparently ticket brokers buy up choice seats at a discount and then sell them at a premium themselves or disperse them through scalpers on the street or via Craigslist. New technology has dramatically changed the way tickets for sporting events and concerts are marketed. Is there some reason that the scenario would be any different in Winnipeg?
ReplyDeleteThe NHL would be stupid to have somebody purchase the Yotes and ship them back to the Peg. I seriously doubt it. More likely destination, Vegas.
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