Jets Don’t Sell Out For First Time Since 2011

Since the NHL’s return to Winnipeg in 2011 and for 332 consecutive home games, the Winnipeg Jets have always played in a sold out Bell MTS Place. That streak officially ended on Tuesday night as the announced attendance of the Jets contest against the Arizona Coyotes was 14,764. 557 fans shy of the official capacity of 15,321.

Is it the end of the world? Is it time to start fearing for the future of the Jets in Winnipeg?

Of course not.

Sell-out streaks rise and fall in sports all the time and during the time the Jets enjoyed their eight year sell-out streak, other Canadian clubs saw their long multi-year streaks come to an end including Vancouver in 2014, Toronto in 2015, and Montreal in 2018. The two Alberta clubs in Edmonton and Calgary also have enjoyed lengthy sell out streaks in the past, but even as of last season didn’t play to 100% capacity of their arenas.

(We won’t even bring up Ottawa in this discussion)

So despite Gary Bettman back in 2011 famously stating that “It (NHL’s return to Winnipeg) isn’t going to work very well unless this building is sold out every night,” there shouldn’t be any concern for now over what was very obvious hyperbole.

At least, don’t be concerned yet…

Many in response suggested that the lack of a sell-out could have been due to the severe snow storm that hit Southern Manitoba this past weekend that has still left some areas of the province without power. Others have suggested that the state of the economy and the uncertainty during election season has made some fans hesitant to spend money on non-essential entertainment.

For sure those are factors that can play a part in such a streak being broken, but it doesn’t take much to figure out that the on-ice product offered by the Jets this season has also left fans less than enthused. Fans were already feeling somewhat jaded due to the disappointing 2018-19 season that ended far too early, a long summer that saw multiple player departures with no noteworthy players arriving to replace them, drawn out contract disputes with two of their brightest young stars, as well as the departure and maybe pending retirement of maybe the biggest fan favorite the team has had since 2011 in @Dustin Byfuglien.

It doesn’t seem like just mere coincidence that the streak came to an end just two days after the Jets were handed one of the worst defeats they’ve suffered on home ice in recent memory.  The state of the Jets defense this season would suggest that such losses may not be a one-off even if players and coaches wanted to suggest it was. Tuesday night’s loss to Arizona won’t do anything to convince fans otherwise while players that fans have been excited about such as @David Gustafsson, @Ville Heinola, and @Sami Niku continue to be stuck in depth chart limbo adding to fan’s frustration.

It’s actually quite easy to understand how fan passion in Winnipeg and Manitoba has started to wane a little. Going forward through the next three games the Jets have in this current homestand as well as through the rest of the season, it will be interesting to see how the Jets attendance plays out.