Long-term future of the Winnipeg Jets seems to be on thin ice

Winnipeg Jets left winger Kyle Connor (81) celebrates his first period goal against the Arizona Coyotes at Canada Life Centre.

Winnipeg has already lost one NHL franchise when the original Jets moved to Arizona following the 1995-96 season. The ownership of the newest version of the Jets is now sounding alarm bells about the team’s long-term viability, and their fans are not exactly happy to hear it.

This past week Jets owner Mark Chipman was very blunt when discussing the team’s dwindling season-ticket base, saying that they needed to get the number back up over 13,000 to ensure a healthy, long-term outlook for the franchise.

According to ownership, the season ticket number sits around 9,500 for the 2023-24 season and that simply is not good enough in one of the NHL’s smallest markets with the league’s second smallest venue (only Arizona’s temporary home is smaller).

Said Chipman last week:

“I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t say, ‘We’ve got to get back to 13,000. This place we find ourselves in right now, it’s not going to work over the long haul. It just isn’t.”

Along with the small venue and small season ticket pool, the Jets are also playing to just 87% capacity and averaging only 13,306 fans per game. When the franchise first arrived in Winnipeg at the start of the 2011-12 season (relocating from Atlanta) it was one of the hottest tickets in the league and gave a hockey-mad city a giant mulligan after losing a franchise more than a decade before.

But consistently mediocre play, along an ownership group that seems hellbent on making the in-game experience miserable, not to mention rising prices, has helped push away one of the league’s most passionate fan bases.

They are tired of it.

The Winnipeg Sun caught up with several current and former season ticket holders this week, many of whom voiced their displeasure with being threatened by ownership. The complaints ranged from smaller things like not being able to stand along the glass to try and get pucks during warmups, to rising ticket prices, to a lack of season ticket holder benefits, to how miserable the in-game experience has become.

Almost all of the criticisms point back to ownership.

What should be especially concerning for Jets ownership is that they have actually put a good team on the ice this season and own one of the best records in the Western Conference. That also comes following an offseason that saw them re-sign core players Mark Scheifele and starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

The fact none of that has resulted in a consistently full building or strong season ticket base only highlights the lack of trust and enthusiasm fans have with this ownership group and the complications there are in fans affording tickets.

Winnipeg is a small market, with a small building, in a league that is dependent on ticket sales and gate money to succeed. If things do not turn around on that front in the coming years Winnipeg could be at risk of seeing another Jets franchise move away.

If that happens they are not likely to get a third attempt at it.

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