Gary Bettman spoke to local media at 3pm CT and spoke on the matter of their attendance and the state of the team. Bettman made a statement that the rumors about Winnipeg moving are silly. He stated that he believes the Jets attendance will rebound, stated that another Canadian team has gone through the same troubles in the past. He also said that himself and Bill Daly are not in Winnipeg because of the rumors.
The Winnipeg Jets have had an average attendance of 13,140 fans through the first 56 games of the season. They have also seen a drop in season ticket holders by 27%. Owner of True North, Mark Chipman, stated that he would like to see the total number of season ticket holders to get back to the 13,000 holders that the team has had in the past. Earlier this week he was quoted saying ” this is not going to work over the long haul”. Bettman came out today to say that Chipman meant in a competitive capacity. They want fans in seats so that they can continue to field a competitive team year in year out.
NHL Has Confidence In Winnipeg
Bill Daly and Gary Bettman were very certain that the Winnipeg Jets are not going anywhere. They had glowing compliments for the organization. Daly said “The NHL wishes it had 32 franchise’s like the Jets”. They went on to say that the True North ownership group is very involved in the community and engages with their fans. The ownership group does not just want an NHL team, they want to be a thriving NHL team. Bettman went on to back that up by saying they would not have brought the Jets back if they did not think it was going to work.
The Winnipeg Jets are one of the top teams in the league right now. Sitting at a 36-15-5 record, good for second in the Central and sixth in the league. With the noise seeming to be quieting down off the ice, the jets will need to keep a good product on the ice to lure their fans back into the seats
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