Season Ticket Sales for the Columbus Blue Jackets

[blueandgoldguy]

With the signing of James Wisniewski and the trade for Jeff Carter, I imagine there is quite a bit of excitement in Columbus for the upcoming season. Has this translated into increased ticket sales or are the fans taking a wait-and-see approach?

Click to read more...

 

[tarheelhockey]

I don't have any inside info to offer, but I'd guess Carter and especially Wisniewski probably aren't going to sell a lot of tickets on name value.

 

[Jeremy Hronek]

Columbus is a great market they had great crowds for the first 7 or so years before they got fed up with losing, I doubt Carter will do much. However, I think winning will solve this.

 

[Huddy*]

Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski dont bring ticket sales

sorry

 

[hatterson]

Ticket sale declines have been almost exclusively due to the fact that the team has been terrible for it's entire existence and hasn't shown any ability to make itself better.

That means that they'll need to start winning to bring the fans back as the "hey look a shiny new toy" routine won't do much considering they have consistently brought in top 10 first round picks with that routine and have really only had 1 true impact player out of the bunch (Johansen certainly looks good but I can't blame fans for taking the 'so did Filatov 2 years ago' approach)

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

The obsession with Ohio State football sure does not help the Blue Jackets.

I remember reading that in 08-09 people in the state were angry that Ohio State football articles were being pushed to the second page in April when the Jackets were about to embark on their 1st playoff ever.

 

[leoleo3535]

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2011/08/jackets-clippers-crew-getting-needed.html

Things are not very good in CBJ land.

 

[kdb209]

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2011/08/jackets-clippers-crew-getting-needed.html

Things are not very good in CBJ land.

That piece references another bizjournals piece from June which I don't think was ever posted here:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus...17/jackets-money-woes-about-to-get-worse.html

Blue Jackets’ money woes about to get worse
Premium content from Business First - by Jeff Bell
Date: Friday, June 17, 2011, 6:00am EDT

Jeff Bell
Staff Reporter


The Columbus Blue Jackets Columbus Blue Jackets finances will take another hit this year when the team absorbs a 25 percent cut in revenue sharing it has come to depend on from the National Hockey League.

The reduction, which likely totals in the millions of dollars, is expected because the Jackets failed to meet attendance and revenue growth standards imposed by the league on small-market clubs that qualify for revenue sharing, said team President Mike Priest. The NHL will notify teams about their final revenue-sharing payouts for the 2010-11 season this fall, said Priest, who wouldn’t speculate on what a full share would total. Media reports have said it is expected to be around $16 million a team, so a 25 percent cut would cost the Blue Jackets $4 million.

To get a full share, the NHL requires small-market teams to average at least 14,000 attendance for home games and exceed the league’s overall revenue growth percentage. The Blue Jackets, which typically receive a full share, averaged 13,658 attendance at home last season. They did not exceed league-wide revenue growth expected to be 4 percent to 6 percent, Priest said.

“Our revenue actually went the wrong way,†he said, declining to detail the fall-off.

New lease on life

Priest would not confirm reports that the Blue Jackets will lose $25 million this year. That would be more than twice the annual losses of $12 million cited in a 2009 study of the team’s finances for the Columbus Chamber of Commerce.

The latest loss is being blamed on the attendance drop, the expected reduction in revenue sharing, higher player payroll and a Nationwide Arena lease that the Jackets have been trying to revise for more than two years without success.

Team administrators think they can get a better lease deal if Nationwide Insurance sells the arena to a public entity. Columbus and Franklin County officials have not been able to make that happen, even though they have said something needs to be done to keep the team here. Despite the stalemate, Blue Jackets majority owner John McConnell has not threatened to move or sell the team.

...

The Blue Jackets’ revenue-sharing funds have grown steadily over the years, according to the chamber report prepared by Ohio State University finance professor Stephen Buser. The team got $3 million in 2006, and that tally rose to $8 million, $10 million and $14 million over the following three years.

 

[Palinka]

It has translated. Season ticket sales plummeted last year, but have stagnated this year, in addition to a huge surge in the number of partial STH packages.

The obsession with Ohio State football sure does not help the Blue Jackets.

I remember reading that in 08-09 people in the state were angry that Ohio State football articles were being pushed to the second page in April when the Jackets were about to embark on their 1st playoff ever.

**** Ohio State and everything about it. Those clowns went out of their way to get their precious arena on-campus, openly skirted the conditions of getting it built, and then went all-out to get the Nationwide Arena public referendum defeated. OSU succeeds in catering to the lowest common denominator. Even during the playoff year, the local sports radio station's primary focus was OSU spring football.

It's not a healthy situation. OSU fans have the attitude that someone who supports OSU cannot support anything else, so it's created some pretty clear lines between fan groups. But that in itself doesn't mean anything; the Crew (MLS) has a very large and very loyal following, and the Clippers (AAA baseball) is a family atmosphere that will be working with the Jackets in the immediate future.

As always, OSU is too good for any of that. The only thing that could make them happier than never hearing the words "NCAA investigation" again would be hearing that the Jackets, Crew, and Clippers all packed up and left town. So **** them.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

It has translated. Season ticket sales plummeted last year, but have stagnated this year, in addition to a huge surge in the number of partial STH packages.


**** Ohio State and everything about it. Those clowns went out of their way to get their precious arena on-campus, openly skirted the conditions of getting it built, and then went all-out to get the Nationwide Arena public referendum defeated. OSU succeeds in catering to the lowest common denominator. Even during the playoff year, the local sports radio station's primary focus was OSU spring football.

It's not a healthy situation. OSU fans have the attitude that someone who supports OSU cannot support anything else, so it's created some pretty clear lines between fan groups. But that in itself doesn't mean anything; the Crew (MLS) has a very large and very loyal following, and the Clippers (AAA baseball) is a family atmosphere that will be working with the Jackets in the immediate future.

As always, OSU is too good for any of that. The only thing that could make them happier than never hearing the words "NCAA investigation" again would be hearing that the Jackets, Crew, and Clippers all packed up and left town. So **** them.

This is what I was wondering about. While season ticket sales may have stagnated, a considerable increase in partial season tickets and mini-packs - does Columbus offer 10 game mini-packs? - should lead to appreciably larger crowds, especially earlier in the season when compared to last year.

Agree with your comment on OSU. Why can't people support 2 or 3 or even 4 teams at once? The college football season lasts what,......4 months? Plenty of down time to support other teams. Columbus is also a city of nearly 2 million people. Should be enough money to support hockey, soccer, minor-pro ball and college football.

With regards to some of the earlier posters, while I agree that Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski on their own won't sell tickets, I think the hope that they bring to the team of taking a serious run at the playoffs, would be enough to increase overall ticket sales for the upcoming season. Seems like a nice change from last year when Howson believed all the answers were "in the dressing room"

 

[CloakroomCrusader]

It has translated. Season ticket sales plummeted last year, but have stagnated this year, in addition to a huge surge in the number of partial STH packages.



**** Ohio State and everything about it. Those clowns went out of their way to get their precious arena on-campus, openly skirted the conditions of getting it built, and then went all-out to get the Nationwide Arena public referendum defeated. OSU succeeds in catering to the lowest common denominator. Even during the playoff year, the local sports radio station's primary focus was OSU spring football.

It's not a healthy situation. OSU fans have the attitude that someone who supports OSU cannot support anything else, so it's created some pretty clear lines between fan groups. But that in itself doesn't mean anything; the Crew (MLS) has a very large and very loyal following, and the Clippers (AAA baseball) is a family atmosphere that will be working with the Jackets in the immediate future.

As always, OSU is too good for any of that. The only thing that could make them happier than never hearing the words "NCAA investigation" again would be hearing that the Jackets, Crew, and Clippers all packed up and left town. So **** them.

Of course OSU tried to get that referendum defeated. It clearly was going to compete with the Schott. And guess what... that's exactly what happened, and it hurt the Jackets. Be pissed about a certain sect of OSU fans who won't support the Jackets, fine, but that's not OSU's fault. And I disagree with your opinion that a significant portion of OSU fans have that thought process.

 

[Mayor Bee]

This is what I was wondering about. While season ticket sales may have stagnated, a considerable increase in partial season tickets and mini-packs - does Columbus offer 10 game mini-packs? - should lead to appreciably larger crowds, especially earlier in the season when compared to last year.

Agree with your comment on OSU. Why can't people support 2 or 3 or even 4 teams at once? The college football season lasts what,......4 months? Plenty of down time to support other teams. Columbus is also a city of nearly 2 million people. Should be enough money to support hockey, soccer, minor-pro ball and college football.

Columbus offers 6-, 10-, and 20-game packages in addition to full season tickets.

As for the rest, don't get me started. It's a very close race between myself and Palinka over who is most acid-tongued over Ohio State; I'm trying to be good and pick my spots.

Of course OSU tried to get that referendum defeated. It clearly was going to compete with the Schott. And guess what... that's exactly what happened, and it hurt the Jackets. Be pissed about a certain sect of OSU fans who won't support the Jackets, fine, but that's not OSU's fault. And I disagree with your opinion that a significant portion of OSU fans have that thought process.

I'd strongly disagree with your disagreement. I've lived in central Ohio for pretty much my entire life and clearly remember the various sagas over the years, from the birth of the Chill to the youth hockey explosion to the Whalers' flirtation with an empty hangar to the backbiting over Value City Arena.

Ohio State took public money to build Value City Arena with the stipulation that no luxury suites would be built, and that no non-OHSAA and non-NCAA events would take place there. Instead, there are 55 luxury suites (all sold) and roughly 35 non-OHSAA and non-NCAA events that take place every year. And with the new joint management of both arenas (overseen by Ohio State), the duplicity is pretty transparent in concert booking. Losses at Nationwide Arena get pushed onto the Jackets, losses at Value City Arena get pushed onto....who? The taxpayers of the state of Ohio?

What you forgot or omit is that it wasn't a case of Value City Arena being built, then Nationwide coming down the pike. There were discussions that took place over several years; the pro-arena groups were more than willing to compromise, and Ohio State dug in and refused to ever consider the idea of an arena that wasn't built on campus that would house both their own events and a pro team as well. It's not like an off-campus venue is a foreign concept either; quite a few college teams play their home games at (massive) stadiums off campus and have no problem filling the place. Ohio State is a perennial contender in college basketball and can't fill their on-campus arena.

And if any of us were to be upset with the "certain sect of OSU fans", I'd venture to say that that would involve being upset with about 90% of the OSU fan base. That might actually be a low estimate.

 

[tarheelhockey]

It's not like an off-campus venue is a foreign concept either; quite a few college teams play their home games at (massive) stadiums off campus and have no problem filling the place.

NC State/Hurricanes/RBC Center being an example.

 

[End of Line]

The obsession with Ohio State football sure does not help the Blue Jackets.

I remember reading that in 08-09 people in the state were angry that Ohio State football articles were being pushed to the second page in April when the Jackets were about to embark on their 1st playoff ever.

%100 true.

People were not happy about it at all.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I've always said Columbus is a very "parochial" town. In particular when it comes to OSU and sports -- there are those that treat it like a small town "town-and-gown" kind of thing where the city's identity is taken up largely with the college/university. I suppose this hampers the ability of pro sports to properly market and develop an identity.

But only because so much of the parochial crowd have big mouths (and, admittedly, deep pockets). Shifting long-held attitudes is a difficult thing. But the truth is, though, the CBJ don't need the OSU-or-nothing crowd to fill their arena or achieve a significant fanbase. What the OSU-or-nothing crowd either forgets or refuses to admit is Columbus is a big city.

Win and the team will be fine. Outside of a handful of markets in a handful of sports, that's pretty much the prescription for any pro sports team. Sure, there are economic difficulties beyond the fan base, and they're real, but the energy and enthusiasm to be generated by icing a winning/competitive team stands to mitigate or even overcome many of them. Fans/crowds and cash/sponsorships/etc are out there for an organization with which folks want to be a part.