HFJets STH renewal 2019

[nobody imp0rtant]

80% of Bomber games are in the beautiful summer weather. There's only like 2 games where you need to dress warm.

I did mention too hot. What most consider beautiful summer weather I call a sweltering sauna that just sucks every last ounce of energy out of my body. Give me A/C or give me death!

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

I wonder if Houston will keep the name "Jets."

I wonder if Houston will keep the name Coyotes.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

Yes, this poll isn't scientific. Although you could argue that people who spend their spare time discussing the Jets on this forum are going to be some of the most die-hard fans and more likely to renew season tickets...

Or they're like me and just don't have a life.

 

[JetsNut]

Or some of us are just outlining the benefits of not being a STH. Personally, I've been one of the guys/gals paying True North more than I can now afford so that there is a team for the thousands who don't pay for tickets to watch for free at home. I've done it every year since 2011. Now, I think I've paid enough and I can join all the others watching a game that is almost as exciting - but with a bunch of other benefits that offset the "live hockey" vibe - at home. And when I do feel like attending a game, they're as easy as pie to get.

Well it’s attidues like these that led to us losing our time the last team. If you can’t legitimately afford to keep them it’s one thing and fair enough. But for those that are just doing this to spite TrueNorth, I would rethink that. Hopefully we all realize what we lost the last time and all do our best to avoid this happening.

 

[buggs]

Well it’s attidues like these that led to us losing our time the last team. If you can’t legitimately afford to keep them it’s one thing and fair enough. But for those that are just doing this to spite TrueNorth, I would rethink that. Hopefully we all realize what we lost the last time and all do our best to avoid this happening.

I think many of us entered into this with the notion we would do our absolute best to prevent that from happening. If it does happen again, it's squarely on the shoulders of True North.

An NHL franchise isn't a charity. I've tried to couch all my statements from the aspect that I understand this is a business first and foremost. My interests are of negligible concern to TNSE so long as they remain profitable and that's fine. At the same time there are a great many comments on here from STH that are disapproving in one way or another of how TNSE is handling many of the situations that come up. Absolutely this board is a microcosm but even in microcosms you get representation. A representative sample for election polls is only about 1000 people. So we might be overrepresenting or we might be underrepresenting but there's a point where there's truth on both sides.

TNSE is driving their ticket pricing towards the corporate market. Someone like @DannyGallivan (and myself for that matter) don't seem to fit that model. To suggest his attitude is what cost us our team last time is simply incorrect. "Last time" the Jets had no parking, no concessions, limited tax relief and the list goes on. "This time" TNSE has virtually every advantage it could ask for. It also has a rabid season ticket holder base that has, to one extent or another, decided that NHL isn't actually affordable with an annual 5% increase each year. Winnipeggers did an excellent job of bucking up and finding creative ways to get into groups but lots of people aren't finding good return on the dollar for their Jets experience (I'm still a STH for another three years but I require people in a group to help support my interest and those are becoming increasingly difficult to find) but it 'seems' as though that's not enough for TNSE. Sure, their costs are going up, but who out there in the last 8 years has seen an average annual salary increase of 3-5%?

As I said, an NHL franchise isn't a charity. They are free to run their business to be profitable and I hope they do that, even at the expense of cutting Joe somewhat average (me) out of the picture. But that cuts both ways. It's not on the average Joe to support the franchise if they aren't being reasonable in their demands. TNSE is casting its net to catch the corporate crowd, not the average, rabid Jets fan that is making $50-60K a year. I only hope they have correctly modeled their audience.

 

[JetsNut]

They obviously are not s charity. I just don’t understand the bitterness that so many people have when they raise the prices in order to be able to continue to compete.

I remember the naysayers just 3 years ago saying that they keep raising season ticket prices and will NEVER even come close to spending to the cap. Well here we are just a couple of short years later with very little cap room left and wondering how we are going to fit everyone under the cap!

No matter what TrueNorth does nor how much success this team has, there are always going to be negative naysayers out there that they can’t please. Thankfully they are the minority.

 

[KingBogo]

I think many of us entered into this with the notion we would do our absolute best to prevent that from happening. If it does happen again, it's squarely on the shoulders of True North.

An NHL franchise isn't a charity. I've tried to couch all my statements from the aspect that I understand this is a business first and foremost. My interests are of negligible concern to TNSE so long as they remain profitable and that's fine. At the same time there are a great many comments on here from STH that are disapproving in one way or another of how TNSE is handling many of the situations that come up. Absolutely this board is a microcosm but even in microcosms you get representation. A representative sample for election polls is only about 1000 people. So we might be overrepresenting or we might be underrepresenting but there's a point where there's truth on both sides.

TNSE is driving their ticket pricing towards the corporate market. Someone like @DannyGallivan (and myself for that matter) don't seem to fit that model. To suggest his attitude is what cost us our team last time is simply incorrect. "Last time" the Jets had no parking, no concessions, limited tax relief and the list goes on. "This time" TNSE has virtually every advantage it could ask for. It also has a rabid season ticket holder base that has, to one extent or another, decided that NHL isn't actually affordable with an annual 5% increase each year. Winnipeggers did an excellent job of bucking up and finding creative ways to get into groups but lots of people aren't finding good return on the dollar for their Jets experience (I'm still a STH for another three years but I require people in a group to help support my interest and those are becoming increasingly difficult to find) but it 'seems' as though that's not enough for TNSE. Sure, their costs are going up, but who out there in the last 8 years has seen an average annual salary increase of 3-5%?

As I said, an NHL franchise isn't a charity. They are free to run their business to be profitable and I hope they do that, even at the expense of cutting Joe somewhat average (me) out of the picture. But that cuts both ways. It's not on the average Joe to support the franchise if they aren't being reasonable in their demands. TNSE is casting its net to catch the corporate crowd, not the average, rabid Jets fan that is making $50-60K a year. I only hope they have correctly modeled their audience.

The thing is if we want them to be a cap team and spend with the big boys, we will have to pay the price. Last year with a 3 series playoff run TNSE made $11 M in operating income off the Jets. For their investment and labour required this is a pittance of a return on the value of the franchise on the open market. It is their toy and probably the least economically efficient holding they have in and of itself. With the building of True North Square they have the potential to develop a much more lucrative business venture as an off shoot of the Jets, and maybe as it gains traction they can ease back on price increases. Without strong ties to Winnipeg, no one would decide to locate a professional sports franchise here over some other markets. Consequently a large part of this financial burden falls on the ST holder.

 

[BigZ65]

The only benefit to being a STH is season ticket price and then guaranteed playoff seats (and then paying double your total regular season cost if they make it to SCF).

The downside is taking all the risk of locking yourself in to the amount of games and paying full price for pre-season. We've never been able to sell seats on SeatExchange.

 

[BigZ65]

They obviously are not s charity. I just don’t understand the bitterness that so many people have when they raise the prices in order to be able to continue to compete.

I remember the naysayers just 3 years ago saying that they keep raising season ticket prices and will NEVER even come close to spending to the cap. Well here we are just a couple of short years later with very little cap room left and wondering how we are going to fit everyone under the cap!

No matter what TrueNorth does nor how much success this team has, there are always going to be negative naysayers out there that they can’t please. Thankfully they are the minority.

What are the comparables? Talking season ticket price too, so that's quite a bit different than walk-up. They collect all our money at once and have been holding deposits which they can invest, they can leverage this cash in a way no team can leverage walk-up sales. TNSE is not public so hard to see what they've done with this cash. They can likely borrow capital at very low rates and have ancillary streams that are being funded by tax dollars and bonds.

They'd rather sell a ticket to a STH for $50 than at walkup for $90. They need to maintain the STH base and I'd argue they haven't been doing a good job of managing that. I guess we'll see what the renewal rates are.

 

[buggs]

The thing is if we want them to be a cap team and spend with the big boys, we will have to pay the price. Last year with a 3 series playoff run TNSE made $11 M in operating income off the Jets. For their investment and labour required this is a pittance of a return on the value of the franchise on the open market. It is their toy and probably the least economically efficient holding they have in and of itself. With the building of True North Square they have the potential to develop a much more lucrative business venture as an off shoot of the Jets, and maybe as it gains traction they can ease back on price increases. Without strong ties to Winnipeg, no one would decide to locate a professional sports franchise here over some other markets. Consequently a large part of this financial burden falls on the ST holder.

As my last several posts have suggested, I completely agree. I'm just not really sure I'm prepared to shoulder that burden all that much longer. I just want TNSE to be certain they are going in the right direction in excluding the little guy (and by little guy I mean the groups that form individual STH holdings). Perhaps they really have no choice and if that's the case, so be it.

 

[Gm0ney]

Well it’s attidues like these that led to us losing our time the last team. If you can’t legitimately afford to keep them it’s one thing and fair enough. But for those that are just doing this to spite TrueNorth, I would rethink that. Hopefully we all realize what we lost the last time and all do our best to avoid this happening.

Winnipeg lost the Jets in 1996 because operating costs far outstripped the team's ability to generate revenue. At the time, there were no teams in the league in a worse financial situation than the Jets. The league had its eyes turned south at the time and that probably contributed, but without a new team-owned, taxpayer funded arena, there was no keeping the team here. The level of fan apathy had very little impact - governments weren't ponying up the money and the situation as it was, was untenable.

The situation today isn't comparable. The league has a hard cap tied to revenues and a higher level of revenue sharing. The Jets own their own arena and the associated revenue streams. The government is providing ongoing financial support. And as far as fan apathy, we've got a long way to go before we're Florida or Arizona...

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

And as far as fan apathy, we've got a long way to go before we're Florida or Arizona.

...or Carolina, or Ottawa, or Long Island.

 

[JetsNut]

Winnipeg lost the Jets in 1996 because operating costs far outstripped the team's ability to generate revenue. At the time, there were no teams in the league in a worse financial situation than the Jets. The league had its eyes turned south at the time and that probably contributed, but without a new team-owned, taxpayer funded arena, there was no keeping the team here. The level of fan apathy had very little impact - governments weren't ponying up the money and the situation as it was, was untenable.

The situation today isn't comparable. The league has a hard cap tied to revenues and a higher level of revenue sharing. The Jets own their own arena and the associated revenue streams. The government is providing ongoing financial support. And as far as fan apathy, we've got a long way to go before we're Florida or Arizona...

I agree on all the points you make. However there could be new challenges developing that may be unforeseen at this time. For example as we see with the Pallister government cuts and reductions could eventually lead to that support drying up at some point. That along with a “shrinking” fan base, dwindling dollar, and Winnipeg being the smallest market, can all have a very strong cumulative effect on the ability for TrueNorth to continue having success.

 

[TaylorWalleye]

My ticket representative is a great friend of my sisters. She told me a large amount of people walked away from renewing this year. And last year there must have been a group of STH up for renewal and a handful walked away and they went to the season ticket waiting list and those on the top of the list declined. they also found that many current season ticket holders were also on the waiting list. She believes there are only 400-700 serious wait list members a far cry from over 5,000 mentioned 5 years ago. But even that number was exaggerated.

Another interesting tidbit from her is that few that opened up they are not offering 2 seats but you have to purchase 3 seats. last year they had approximately 100 tickets available and majority of them were made for 3 to purchase and the tickets that were left for example 2 were left for True North to sell walk up or given to NHL.

The Jets players or visiting players tickets have been splattered throughout 2 price sections instead of the 1. Per CBA the players are given 2 tickets to each game.

 

[TaylorWalleye]

Aside from playoffs having season tickets are a total waste of money. True North treats their season ticket holders like crap. We got a pin or keychain WOW!. the reward points are a bunch of crap. You don't even need points to get a tour of the dressing room for example.

i think Mark Chipman is going to learn real fast the mistakes he has made and how horrible TNSE employees are at their jobs.

They have also lost local corporate dollars the past 2 years. Who would pay $50,000 for a 15 second message on the big screen?

Others can claim nothing to see here. But TNSE which I have said from day 1 has botched its return need to start hiring Vegas employees because the brand they have created on and off the ice is an incredible story. But in other sports its just business as usual.

Like how hard it is to give Jets STH jerseys and shirts for free. A free hat, something that work was put into for handouts during ticket pickup. Go over the top creative. But no. We get a key chain.

And its not year 3. Its year 8. Nothing is getting better. Its getting worse.

they do not listen to the STH. We want better jerseys/logo and they ignore us. Maybe once we ignore them they can be reminded how much life sucked without the Jets and they can play hockey with their Moose and real owners could come in.

 

[potroaster]

Don't blame TN. Blame the escalating salary cap. And the dollar isn't helping.

As much as I don't want a 5% increase every year compounded, I can't see how they can keep it status quo. We walked into this knowing we were going to have to fork up the money.

Either we do it, or some other city will take the responsibility. Simple as that.

 

[tbcwpg]

Don't blame TN. Blame the escalating salary cap. And the dollar isn't helping.

As much as I don't want a 5% increase every year compounded, I can't see how they can keep it status quo. We walked into this knowing we were going to have to fork up the money.

Either we do it, or some other city will take the responsibility. Simple as that.

The problem for me isn't the price so much as what you get as a STH. It's really just a token gesture - other teams give out jerseys, in-game benefits, etc. We get luggage tags and keychains. It's like they're doing us the favour by playing

 

[JetsNut]

The problem for me isn't the price so much as what you get as a STH. It's really just a token gesture - other teams give out jerseys, in-game benefits, etc. We get luggage tags and keychains. It's like they're doing us the favour by playing

Its laughable to think that a free jersey or a hat is the difference between someone getting season tickets!

 

[Board Bard]

Its laughable to think that a free jersey or a hat is the difference between someone getting season tickets!

Then think of what he's actually saying.

 

[iannn]

TNSE brought back my favorite team from my childhood, and took a risk in doing so. There weren't hundreds of companies lining up to invest in bringing an NHL team back to Winnipeg. They have developed a contending team that is better than perhaps any Jets team we have ever seen, and the cap or salaries have never been a concern.

I will gladly support them by continuing to renew my season tickets as long as I can afford to do so.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

I love how some guy can make an account today and then try to shit all over TNSE

My experience with being a STH as part of a group has been nothing but great. We made a request this year of seeing if we could a Jet to come to one of STH holders kids team. Jacob Trouba came out twice, once at the bequest of TNSE and once just because he is pretty good guy. They don't have to do these things, we are a group of 20 people who split 4 tickets. Yet they went out of there way to get one of there players to come out for a few hours to see these kids.

Some asshole comes on here crying about not getting a free jersey well I got nothing to say but get lost. What they did above is worth more then some free swag, those kids and there parents will remember that forever.

 

[tbcwpg]

Its laughable to think that a free jersey or a hat is the difference between someone getting season tickets!

If you look up, WAY up, you might see the point going over your head.

It's also not the difference. I've had my season tickets since the team came back.

 

[SCP Guy]

TNSE brought back my favorite team from my childhood, and took a risk in doing so. There weren't hundreds of companies lining up to invest in bringing an NHL team back to Winnipeg. They have developed a contending team that is better than perhaps any Jets team we have ever seen, and the cap or salaries have never been a concern.

I will gladly support them by continuing to renew my season tickets as long as I can afford to do so.

Best post in this thread by far can't agree more.... Way too much sour grapes and spilled milk in here

 

[Analyst365]

Or some of us are just outlining the benefits of not being a STH. Personally, I've been one of the guys/gals paying True North more than I can now afford so that there is a team for the thousands who don't pay for tickets to watch for free at home. I've done it every year since 2011. Now, I think I've paid enough and I can join all the others watching a game that is almost as exciting - but with a bunch of other benefits that offset the "live hockey" vibe - at home. And when I do feel like attending a game, they're as easy as pie to get.

This is such a 'coming of age' thread. Honestly, you can see people growing up and becoming responsible adults before your very own eyes.

 

[JetsNut]

If you look up, WAY up, you might see the point going over your head.

It's also not the difference. I've had my season tickets since the team came back.

I have had my season tickets since year one as well. Sorry but there is no point that makes any sense. I don’t need a cap or a jersey to feel appreciated. I am paying to go watch and support something that I love. Something that I missed out on for 16 prime years of my life and I’m not willing to lose that again.