Gary Bettman Calls Winnipeg Strong NHL Market, 'Mystified' by Relocation Fears
“Let’s be clear about something: I believe this is a strong NHL market. It will adjust,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said about the Winnipeg Jets' lower attendance rates.
WINNIPEG — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman arrived in Winnipeg, but it was not a sign of more trouble for a team with attendance issues.
“I’m sort of mystified at the tension that seems to have developed here,” Bettman told assembled media at Canada Life Centre two hours before the Winnipeg Jets hosted the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
Four days after Jets co-owner Mark Chipman told The Athletic’s Chris Johnston that their current attendance rates were "not going to work over the long haul," Bettman sang a different tune.
“Everybody seems to be operating under the assumption that we’re here today to address a particular need or concern,” Bettman said.
Instead, the inverse occurred. Bettman gave a resounding vote of confidence to a market that needed one. Even as the Jets sit sixth overall in the NHL’s standings, the recent attendance issues have created a resounding sense of insecurity in the NHL’s smallest city. But Bettman isn’t too concerned.
“Let’s be clear about something: I believe this is a strong NHL market. It will adjust,” Bettman said.
These days, people in the prairies are concerned that the Jets are only selling out 87.4 percent of Canada Life Centre — the second smallest arena in the league. Their season ticket base has declined by 27 percent — from 13,500 to 9,500 — over a three-year span. Chipman says 15 percent of their season ticket base is made up of corporate entities — among the league's lowest.
But while Bettman said the attendance had to improve, there wasn’t an “or else,” attached to the end of his sentence, or even an insinuation of such.
“I don’t view this as a crisis, but I do believe as with any team in any market, there needs to be collaboration between community and the fan base and the club,” Bettman said. “And I believe ultimately it will be here.”
Instead, Bettman pointed out that the Jets have made the playoffs in six of the past seven years, they spend to the cap, and they’ve proven an ability to retain star players. The desire to be better, as Bettman explains, is rooted in the high standards True North Sports and Entertainment have held themselves to.
“I know that Mark Chipman and (co-owner) David Thomson aren’t interested in just surviving in the NHL – they want to thrive along the lines of how the team is playing this year,” Bettman said.
The NHL's deputy commissioner seated tp Bettman's right, Bill Daly, said Winnipeg is regarded as a model franchise around the league.
“We wish we had 32 of these,” Daly said.
And Bettman gave his two cents for those who wondered if Winnipeg was no longer viable as an NHL market.
“If I didn’t believe in places like Winnipeg, we never would have brought the Jets back,” Bettman said.