NHL commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t envision the Winnipeg Jets leaving town, despite some comments from the team’s owner last week that seemed to suggest it was a possibility.
“This is a place, Winnipeg, where hockey matters,” Bettman said Tuesday at a press conference in the city, where he was making his annual visit.
“I believe this is a strong NHL market. … I’m not sure why people are now speculating that somehow we’re not going to be here.”
Bettman was facing questions about the future of the Jets in Winnipeg after owner Mark Chipman’s comments about ticket sales and attendance in a recent interview with The Athletic.
“I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t say, ‘We’ve got to get back to 13,000 (season tickets),’” Chipman said. “This place we find ourselves in right now, it’s not going to work over the long haul. It just isn’t.”
On Tuesday, Bettman expressed confidence that attendance will go up. The club says season-ticket sales are down to 9,500.
“Obviously, the attendance needs to improve, but it will,” he said. “I have confidence in the organization and, as importantly, I have confidence in the community.”
The Jets’ average attendance of 13,306, as of last week, has the team playing to 87.4 per cent capacity at the 15,225-seat Canada Life Centre, the third worst mark in the 32-team NHL. The average attendance is second worst to the Arizona Coyotes, who play in a 4,600-seat college rink.
The Jets were one of the hottest tickets in the league upon their return to the NHL in 2011, drawing 332 consecutive sellouts. The original Jets moved to Arizona in 1996.
“Let’s be clear about something,” Bettman said. “I believe this is a strong NHL market and it will adjust.”
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly also was positive about Winnipeg’s future.
“We wish we had 32 (teams like the Jets),” he said.
