From today's free press:

The coaches have bought in. And you only had to watch the team's performance in two hard-fought and bitterly contested pre-season games to know the players have bought in, too.

But the increasingly urgent question now is how long is it going to take for fans of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to buy into the sweeping and systemic changes the beleaguered club made on and off the field during the off-season?

That question is urgent because with just a week now remaining until the Bombers open their 2014 CFL regular-season schedule at home against the Toronto Argonauts next Thursday, the club has sold just 22,500 tickets for its home opener.

That's two-thirds of the 33,500-seat capacity of Investors Group Field. If ticket sales don't pick up meaningfully in the next week, this year's first game will be the most sparsely attended ever at Investors Group Field, setting off alarm bells about what's potentially to come for the rest of the 2014 season.

The Bombers sold out Investors Group Field for last year's home opener -- which was also the first regular-season game at the new stadium. They went on to average 30,637 fans at home last season, despite a woeful 3-15 record and thanks in large part to record season-ticket sales.

But the Bombers don't have the luxury of a record season-ticket cushion this year. As of Wednesday morning, the club had sold just 21,311 season tickets, down more than 3,000 from last year.

What that means is the Bombers are going to need significant walk-up crowds to fill all those seats at IGF. And those have been slow in materializing, at least so far.

Bombers CEO Wade Miller said he's not surprised by the pace of ticket sales, noting the season-ticket numbers are right about where the club budgeted.

Miller said the team always knew it would have its work cut out selling tickets this year.

"We're coming off a 3-15 season for starters. And then we had a new stadium last year and the lustre of that has worn off a little bit. So we knew our season-ticket numbers would be down," said Miller Wednesday.

"And let's face it -- it's been a couple of years where it's been tough on the fans and tough on the city. So we're going to have to show them the changes we've made. And that's what me and Kyle (Walters) and Mike (O'Shea) are all about. We're not talking about it -- we're doing it...

"We've got work to do. But we've got a plan in place and we'll get there."

With a new head coach, new starting quarterback, new and expanded scouting department and sweeping player personnel changes across the field, this year's team is unrecognizable from the motley bunch that finished 2013.

Miller said the club is hopeful that once fans see all those changes on the field, they will buy in just as completely as the rest of the folks who work at Investors Group Field.

"We knew it would be slow to start, but I really do believe we'll get the fans back," said Miller.

Given the crater from which his team is attempting to extricate itself, Miller is careful not to guarantee more wins in 2014. Rather, the CEO said fans can expect to see the kind of gritty efforts that led to a couple of narrow losses to Toronto and Calgary in the pre-season.

"We didn't win those games, but we lost one game on a field goal at the end and the other was very close and I don't think anyone would question our effort," he said.

There has also been major change to the game-day experience at IGF for fans, Miller said. There will be a new tailgate party outside the stadium prior to games, a new on-field autograph session after the game and all kinds of new bars and gathering areas during the games to help reduce some of the congestion on the concourses.

Toss in a transportation plan that most agree is vastly improved and Miller said skeptical fans who have adopted a wait-and-see attitude this season before plunking down more cash will like what they see and hear from other fans as the season unfolds.

But what about that home opener? Miller is an optimist but also a realist.

"It's Winnipeg, there's still a week to go and no question we will sell more tickets," he said. "But June is a busy month. The schedule-maker didn't do us any favours" by giving Winnipeg the very first regular-season game of the 2014 season.

Miller said a little patience by fans will go a long way.

"We've changed the entire structure of this organizaton, plus all the players," said Miller. "That's a lot of change, whether you're a football team or a regular business. And it's tough, but we're going to get there."

 

 

If I lived in Manitoba within an hour drive of Winnipeg I'd have season tickets. It wouldn't even be a question.

 

I have season tickets and I don't even live in Manitoba anymore!  And, for the record, I lived in Stonewall so it was a good hour home afterwards, and the people I sold them to live in Stonewall as well.  

 

Pfff...Stonewall...what a bunch of weirdo's over there.

 

 

Curled in Stonewall at their curling club 37 years ago. Their Spring Spiel. Natural ice. No ice plant. Temp outside went into the 20's & the ice inside turned to water. We got soaked. I was playing front end back in the day when REAL curlers used brooms & not brushes. If someone somehow got a rock in the house they won. 

The Jets will have no issues selling out the MTS Centre for a very long time.................... I still don't understand why they need $12 million annually from the Government.

As for the Bombers, winning will help the team average around 30,000, but imo Investors Group Field was built with too many seats. 30,500 should have been the maximum.

Add in the location and transportation issues, living in the "convenience era", escalating costs for fans and there's a bunch of reasons why more people are not coming out.

For the average regular season game, I agree 30,500 would be enough. The extra 3,000 is useful for big games though like the Banjo Bowl and playoff games.

With overall population increasing, 33,500 might be just right in say 20 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the whole Winnipegers are cheap thing is just an excuse used by Winnipegers to complain.

The Jets have the second highest ticket prices in the NHL and they still sell out.

But for how long if they don't make the playoffs? That team is still in the honeymoon phase.

It will always be sold out. There is an 8000 person waiting list for season tickets. The MTS Centre is sold out into eternity.

Did they not require people to commit for 5 years when the Jets came back? Once that 5 years is up and if the team still hasn't taken strides come talk to me.

96% of the first wave of commitments that came due signed up for another term. Half of those people re-upped for six more years instead of the mandatory three.

I think the team will be fine.

easy to say that now, let's see how it looks if they stagnate as a team that doesn't make the playoffs. Look I get it, Winnipeg is excited about having the Jets back, but if the team doesn't make strides the Winnipegger in the fans will take over and they'll stop the blind support.

Oh sure they might be fine for the next six years. Maybe even ten. Hell they will be done for 15 years. But mark my words. At some point in the next 100 years they will have trouble selling tickets. Remember you heard it here first.

 

So you deny that there is a honey moon period? Get real here. If the Jets don't start making the playoffs the fans will stop spending money. All depends on how the team performs. The first years were always going to be an easy sell. Lots of excitement about the team being back. 

 

The honey moon ended last season, did you go to any games? It was obvious the honeymoon is over, the team was being boo'd off the ice at several games i went too. They have been here for what will now be their 4th season, Honeymoon ended last year and it could be debated that it ended the lockout year. That first year? you will never see something like that ever again so no use in using that as a comparison. 

Bandwaggoners? Jets sell out and they're not a playoff team. Averaged about 30,000 the past two years for a 9 and 27 team.

 

Let's look at the history for the City of nearly 700,000 people...

 

NHL in the 90's ... team left

Blue Bombers in the 90's ... team nearly extinct

Goldeyes... Attendence has been great, teams have been always competitive

WHL team .... wait there is none.

MJHL teams ... From St James, St B, and Winnipeg South Blues, to now just the Winnipeg Blues who many times get 150 fans at the MTS Ice Plex

CIAU U of M ... Hockey okay, football low attendance, basketball low (50 to 200, maybe 400 when U of W show up), volleyball better than basketball

CIAU U of W ... Basketball better than U of M, Volleyball (I don't know)...

 

What am I missing here?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the whole Winnipegers are cheap thing is just an excuse used by Winnipegers to complain.

The Jets have the second highest ticket prices in the NHL and they still sell out.

But for how long if they don't make the playoffs? That team is still in the honeymoon phase.

It will always be sold out. There is an 8000 person waiting list for season tickets. The MTS Centre is sold out into eternity.

Did they not require people to commit for 5 years when the Jets came back? Once that 5 years is up and if the team still hasn't taken strides come talk to me.

96% of the first wave of commitments that came due signed up for another term. Half of those people re-upped for six more years instead of the mandatory three.

I think the team will be fine.

easy to say that now, let's see how it looks if they stagnate as a team that doesn't make the playoffs. Look I get it, Winnipeg is excited about having the Jets back, but if the team doesn't make strides the Winnipegger in the fans will take over and they'll stop the blind support.

Oh sure they might be fine for the next six years. Maybe even ten. Hell they will be done for 15 years. But mark my words. At some point in the next 100 years they will have trouble selling tickets. Remember you heard it here first.

 

So you deny that there is a honey moon period? Get real here. If the Jets don't start making the playoffs the fans will stop spending money. All depends on how the team performs. The first years were always going to be an easy sell. Lots of excitement about the team being back. 

 

If you define honeymoon period as any enthusiastic period after something new comes here, then ofcourse there is a honeymoon period.  I think that ended when Noel was fired.  Honeymoon period is over.  Fans want the Jets to win.  We've already seen instances with Jets cames where not every seat was filled.  Part of that was the restrictions the Jets put on re-selling tickets.  They reverted back to their original way making it easier to re-sell.

 

But the point in discussion is the Jets having issues selling season tickets which they dont have and will not have for many, many, many years.  With 8000 people on a waiting list and ticket renewals coming up staggered, you'd literally need the most ridiculous season ticket turnover in sports history to exhaust the wait list and still have tickets left over.  I think it would take many consecutive years of very, very bad teams to make a dent on season tickets, and I cant see True North allowing that.  They are too savvy.

 

But Jets aside (there is a Jets forum), I think we should wait until the home opener before we start Chicken Littleing here. 

 

Question:  wasnt there a time when Thursday games were considered the best for the team as no one wanted to go to Weekend games during the summer (cottage country etc)?

The media in Winnipeg have been telling us the Jets' honeymoon is over since the end of the first season.