"This place we find ourselves in right now, it’s not going to work over the long haul," Winnipeg Jets owner Mark Chipman told The Athletic. Jacob Stoller reacts.

Winnipeg Jets chairman Mark Chipman had to address the elephant in the room again.

For all the good that come from the Jets’ 2023-24 campaign — the fact that they’re atop the Western Conference standings, were able to re-sign Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck to long-term extensions and are reaping the rewards of the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade — there’s an underlying sense of insecurity in the NHL’s smallest market.

Winnipeg has an attendance problem. And it can’t be ignored.

Nearly 13 years after the Winnipeg Jets sold out 13,500 season ticket packages in 17 minutes, the Jets are filling just 87.4 percent of their 15,325-seat arena on a nightly basis. In an interview with The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, Chipman revealed that their season ticket base has dwindled to just under 9,500 — a 27 percent decline over the last three years.

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

That shouldn’t come as a surprise, though.

“It isn’t going to work very well unless this building is sold out every night,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said on May 31, 2011, when it was announced that the Atlanta Thrashers were relocating to Winnipeg.

While Chipman has preferred to be at arm's length from the media while running the Jets, he’s had no choice but to address Winnipeg — and the NHL as a whole — on a national scale.

Back in October, during a sit-down interview with TSN’s Darren Dreger, Chipman refuted the legitimacy of the NHL leaving Winnipeg again.

“I can see how you would ask that question because it happened once. Is it a concern it could happen again because it’s the smallest market? I say not on our watch,” Chipman told TSN.

Chipman detailed the Jets’ all-hands-on-deck approach to The Athletic — which includes him calling season ticket holders personally to get them to renew. Chipman has also enlisted the help of 34 well-connected local business people to try and sell more ticket packages. As Chipman told The Athletic, only 15 percent of their season tickets are owned by businesses. 

In addition to the effect the economy’s recession has had on this blue-collar town, there has appeared to be some concern from the fans. A 90-second promotional video titled “Forever Winnipeg,” which premiered at an April luncheon for the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, rubbed fans the wrong way due to the video putting the onus on fans to buy more tickets.

Chipman brought up more frustrations from fans to The Athletic. Winnipeg was previously unwilling to sell smaller-sized ticket packages, which changed ahead of this season after consulting with fans. He said they've also heard complaints about high fees when transferring tickets, and they basically had few ticket sales staff — because for a while, they never had to have many.

“We’ve had to reinvent ourselves,” Chipman said. “For 10 years, we weren’t a sales organization, we were a service organization, and I’m not sure we were that good of a service organization, to be honest with you.”

For a while, the Winnipeg Jets have been the feel-good story of the NHL. Their whiteouts are iconic, and the club is similar to the Green Bay Packers of the NFL — a small-market team engulfed and supported by passion.

But as we’re seeing with Chipman’s address, sometimes passion and love for a team isn’t enough. If they continue to struggle with putting people in seats — the Jets could very well leave again.