Seat exchange 2019-2020/Tickets/Attendance discussion

[blues10]

Of note, just so this doesn't become a Winnipeg is a bad market thing...

last night there was NHL hockey in 5 Canadian cities. Only 1 was a registered sellout.



This is a NHL is becoming too ****ing expensive problem, not a Winnipeg problem. When people in the NHL's strongest financial markets start finding other things to do, the whole system is going to collapse. The NHL is nearing it's tipping point IMO.

Right. And TNSE send it’s STH an email bragging about increased revenues while increasing ticket prices well beyond inflation and in some cases even having a increase beyond what TNSE indicates to the STH.

The secondary market is a good indication of what the value of a ticket is to the public.

 

[Spock]

I think they've tried to address this by going to account holders who aren't STHs, offering deals. They want to move the unsold seats before allowing their STH friends to move in and offload a seat that's already bought.

The Moose are an issue, I think. When I bought my tickets in 2011, I was an unmarried early 20s guy living two blocks from the arena, no real responsibilities. Now, I'm married with a kid and a house and a job with a respectable start time, and can't prioritize even 5 games a year. They need to create the next wave of 20 somethings like I was with the kids going to games now - but they put all the prime family games that parents would take their kids to, as Moose games.

This is me, too. I'm 30 now, living a completely different lifestyle than I did in 2011. - My first little Vulcan is due in March.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I think they've tried to address this by going to account holders who aren't STHs, offering deals. They want to move the unsold seats before allowing their STH friends to move in and offload a seat that's already bought.

The Moose are an issue, I think. When I bought my tickets in 2011, I was an unmarried early 20s guy living two blocks from the arena, no real responsibilities. Now, I'm married with a kid and a house and a job with a respectable start time, and can't prioritize even 5 games a year. They need to create the next wave of 20 somethings like I was with the kids going to games now - but they put all the prime family games that parents would take their kids to, as Moose games.

First paragraph - that's exactly what they need to avoid. They have already gone to rating the games, recognizing that some are less attractive and others more. Any further undercutting of prices erodes the idea that Jets tickets are a hot item that justifies their high prices. They can't tolerate empty seats either. But filling those seats at deeply discounted prices is just about the worst thing they can do.

They need to be seen as being proactive in building a better team. This one and done crap of the last couple of years has only created negativism and disappointment. They don't need to always be seen as a contender but they do need to always be seen as moving in the right direction. Last season and this one so far are exactly the opposite of that. MT seats are the result.

Edit: Agree that the Moose may be becoming an issue, especially with the arrival of the Ice. Those 3-4-5k people attending Moose games would not all attend Jets games instead but they might translate into demand for an additional 1k tickets. That would return to demand outstripping supply again.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

That's long been the contention around here by many: TNSE takes its season ticket holders for granted, assuming that the wait list is actually full of people wanting to have that same experience. But people read and people talk. And Winnipeg is inherently cheap, myself included. Easily could have got into the building last night for $35-40 for uppers, under $100 for lowers.

Let's put last night in perspective though: While roads are clear there's still going to be a percentage of people that had issues and couldn't make the game. It was post Thanksgiving against a team that nobody in Winnipeg really cares about any more - there's no one left from Jets 1.0 and we've had a team for multiple seasons, it's just a poor draw in general on a Tuesday night. I had last night's game from our group and was in attendance but it was also my last pick of our draft (not the last pick but close) and I took the Oiler's pre-season game before it. So it's not a big draw period.

Other random thoughts:
- I got in with screen shots again so I will again call B.S. on the security issue and electronic ticketing
- I talked with the people I sat beside for 8 years in Section 112 last night - our seats were not sold to anyone on the wait list - these are P3s that nobody wants apparently
- Jets selling tickets for lower pricing than STH isn't going to make any of the STH happy in the long run

I don't think TNSE should panic over the first non-sellout. But they need to find some other way to sell tickets rather than discounting them. I think that is suicide. Maybe offering something to people who are on the waiting list only, but not the general public, not even people who just happen to have Jets accounts. I created a Jets account last year in order to buy tickets to 1 game. Now I am a STH but I keep getting e-mail offering various deals that leave me wondering why I bought in to a group. They really need to stop sending me those. It is only hurting their sales.

 

[cbcwpg]

I don't think TNSE should panic over the first non-sellout. But they need to find some other way to sell tickets rather than discounting them. I think that is suicide. Maybe offering something to people who are on the waiting list only, but not the general public, not even people who just happen to have Jets accounts. I created a Jets account last year in order to buy tickets to 1 game. Now I am a STH but I keep getting e-mail offering various deals that leave me wondering why I bought in to a group. They really need to stop sending me those. It is only hurting their sales.

If there is say 1000 people on the waiting list, then that should mean there is 1000 people willing to buy tickets to each game, otherwise , why are you on the waiting list? By being on the waiting list you have shown you are willing to buy tickets and make a commitment. Unless all those people are just willing to buy P6 or P7 seats.

Your right, maybe people on the waiting list get to buy tickets to any game thru seat exchange at the same cost that the STH pays and no insane fees for a computer to just change 0's to 1's.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

This is me, too. I'm 30 now, living a completely different lifestyle than I did in 2011. - My first little Vulcan is due in March.

Congrats. Here's hoping for a happy, healthy and logical child.

 

[cbcwpg]

Wonder if anyone at TNSE is even aware they ended their sellout streak.

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

Wonder if anyone at TNSE is even aware they ended their sellout streak.

I'm sure Chipman took it in stride.

 

[DannyGallivan]

This is me, too. I'm 30 now, living a completely different lifestyle than I did in 2011. - My first little Vulcan is due in March.

That was me as well (only much older than you). My kid was born between seasons one and two of this version of the Jets.

 

[DannyGallivan]

Wonder if anyone at TNSE is even aware they ended their sellout streak.

This wouldn't even include season ticket holders, since each seat was paid for. It would be the extra tickets the Jets have available to sell at game time. If you include unused season ticket seats, there would be a much larger number of empty seats.

 

[tbcwpg]

First paragraph - that's exactly what they need to avoid. They have already gone to rating the games, recognizing that some are less attractive and others more. Any further undercutting of prices erodes the idea that Jets tickets are a hot item that justifies their high prices. They can't tolerate empty seats either. But filling those seats at deeply discounted prices is just about the worst thing they can do.

They need to be seen as being proactive in building a better team. This one and done crap of the last couple of years has only created negativism and disappointment. They don't need to always be seen as a contender but they do need to always be seen as moving in the right direction. Last season and this one so far are exactly the opposite of that. MT seats are the result.

Edit: Agree that the Moose may be becoming an issue, especially with the arrival of the Ice. Those 3-4-5k people attending Moose games would not all attend Jets games instead but they might translate into demand for an additional 1k tickets. That would return to demand outstripping supply again.

I think last year they were expected to be good and demand was still the same as this year. The first half of the year they were winning.

Keep in mind that a lot of the fans on here are not the collective opinion of a lot of casual fans that don't post on message boards. Being seen as "building a winner" is different for the average HF poster (keeping 1sts, don't bring in rentals, etc) and fans outside of here.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I think last year they were expected to be good and demand was still the same as this year. The first half of the year they were winning.

Keep in mind that a lot of the fans on here are not the collective opinion of a lot of casual fans that don't post on message boards. Being seen as "building a winner" is different for the average HF poster (keeping 1sts, don't bring in rentals, etc) and fans outside of here.

I realize that. But I think the ticket market is a reflection of a pretty negative feeling this year among the whole spectrum of fans. Nobody likes to pay big money to watch the home team lose. It is really dissatisfying if you see what appears to be dumb decisions handicapping the team and you watch a team whose play is frustrating. Mental mistakes are harder to accept than working hard trying the right thing and being beaten by a team that is just better. The mental mistakes are frustrating - and I mean bonehead plays on the ice and bonehead roster decisions by the coach. I suppose bonehead GM'ing belongs in there too but we all have different opinions about what that would look like.

 

[Spock]

@cbcwpg @Mortimer Snerd
Whether it's the negative feeling around the on-ice product this year, the end of a honeymoon era, the let down of regular season games after a playoff run - which I think took a huge toll on the secondary market last season -, the bottom line is the tickets are too expensive. For years many posters on here have said that something has got to give, that prices will eventually reach a point where you'll see STH renewal rates drop, an influx of cheap tickets on the secondary market, and ultimately unsold and empty seats. We have now seen all of those things.

 

[Board Bard]

Anyone who extended or began a season-ticket deal as a result of the good run two years ago couldn't have been happy with the full-roster skid last year or the depleted-roster continuation this year. Just when things were finally heading up, they nosedived. That's got to look like a severely fumbled ball to a lot of people who just committed to an expenditure of 10 or 20K. Like a really expensive face palm. Fool me once . . .

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

@cbcwpg @Mortimer Snerd
Whether it's the negative feeling around the on-ice product this year, the end of a honeymoon era, the let down of regular season games after a playoff run - which I think took a huge toll on the secondary market last season -, the bottom line is the tickets are too expensive. For years many posters on here have said that something has got to give, that prices will eventually reach a point where you'll see STH renewal rates drop, an influx of cheap tickets on the secondary market, and ultimately unsold and empty seats. We have now seen all of those things.

Yup. But don't be undercutting yourself and your STH's. Adjust the price across the board so that no one is being undercut.

 

[buggs]

Anyone who extended or began a season-ticket deal as a result of the good run two years ago couldn't have been happy with the full-roster skid last year or the depleted-roster continuation this year. Just when things were finally heading up, they nosedived. That's got to look like a severely fumbled ball to a lot of people who just committed to an expenditure of 10 or 20K. Like a really expensive face palm. Fool me once . . .

Perhaps it's just me but I'm not especially angry about the roster issues at the moment. Lack of effort has always concerned me more. The root cause of that lack of effort is certainly subject to discussion but we're not supposed to veer off into that topic in this particular thread. So suffice to say all things considered under the cap as it is and having to sign a couple of very expensive forwards I'm not especially disappointed in how the off-season went aside from the curve ball from Buff. And that doesn't upset me but it is certainly one heck of a big wrench in the works.

I still like this hockey team and I'm still a fan. If they have an off year I'll weather that just as I weathered GST (hockey line, not the tax).

My bigger issues remain with how TNSE is treating its season ticket holders of which I am one. They need a lesson in how to not behave like a government and actually tell the truth about issues rather than telling a version of the truth and then crushing any sort of commentary or dissent. They need to recognize that undercutting your season ticket base with ticket sales isn't a very intelligent long term strategy. They need to recognize that the honeymoon is over and that they need to make hard decisions about how to retain those STH instead of taking them for granted. It's not difficult, it's relationships 101 whether it's interpersonal or business. Do they want to be Barley Brothers (excellent product, horrific service) or Hy's (excellent product, excellent service). The latter is more expensive but they consistently deliver a quality experience and when they do something wrong, they make it right - they've been around for 60 years (and no, I never worked for them, I worked for their nearest competitor). The former? Well they aren't here any longer and it isn't because people didn't want what they were selling - it's because they took their customer base for granted and never once felt they did anything wrong (some fiscal issues as well but that's not what drove the customer base away in sufficient numbers to drop sales below a minimum).

Again, I'm not concerned about the lack of a sellout, I think there are contributing factors to that and it is largely coincidental. But they are pushing people away that they really shouldn't be pushing away. As @blues10 pointed out, bragging about record revenues while bumping the ticket price increase rate to 5% (more if you account for the adjustment for STH that weren't already paying the 5% increase rate, which was never explained and as such is dishonest) isn't really a solid business practice. There are multiple examples of poor decisions on the business side of things.

BTW I'm on my third ticket rep of the calendar year.

 

[Spock]

Someone from FansFirst was just interviewed on 1290. Good for their exposure.

 

[robertocarlos]

Why don't the Jets set up a fan first and charge 10%?

 

[DannyGallivan]

Why don't the Jets set up a fan first and charge 10%?

They already have a seat resale system for season ticket holders. Unfortunately, they charge the buyer fees (gotta milk somebody), and they don't allow the season ticket holders to sell below cost for the tickets.

 

[wpgfishfan]

Well this will end the debate when next year's schedule comes out. I believe it's all Chipman where some believe it's Sportsnet

We will for sure get more than 3 Saturday night games as Chipman can no longer count on Tuesday games selling out

If we get 3 or less than I was wrong and it is Sportsnet

 

[FFHockey]

BTW I'm on my third ticket rep of the calendar year.

There is a reason for this...I know two people who were ticket reps. Not flattering for TNSE... though nothing really untoward.

 

[sting13]

So does Truth North drop the 3 year contract and let season ticket holders go year to year after this season?

 

[potroaster]

Why 13 Tues games? Cause they think they can. Moose have the most weekend games they can handle(28 games out of 38). Pretty sure another Jets game on a Saturday will fill those seats up. Dumb marketing plan for sure.

 

[cbcwpg]

TNSE about the sellout streak ending...

An interview request with True North Sports + Entertainment was declined but TNSE Vice President of Communications and Community engagement Rob Wozny said sent out this statement:

“As Winnipeg continues to clean up from one of the worst storms in our city’s history, we’re also feeling some impact as fans have other priorities this week. Additionally, we’ve had a heavy event schedule including two recent sold-out Elton John concerts, two sold-out Jets games and two Moose games. As a result, we’re anticipating some softer crowds for both the Jets and Moose.”

 

[Jets 31]

I don't have kids but i like golf and i am a member of a club , not cheap to do this so for me it's either be a Jets season ticket holder or a member of a golf club , one or the other not both . So i go to a few Jets games a year , too bad 7-11 didn't sell 7 game packs like they did during Jets 1.0 then maybe i could cope with the 7-11 gomer on their commercials better too .