In addition to cheaper concessions, True North will roll out the lowest ticket price increase since '14GETTY IMAGES
The NHL Jets said that it will be "lowering the price of concessions items such as beer and popcorn by an average" of 30% at Bell MTS Place, according to the WINNIPEG FREE PRESS. True North Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates Bell MTS Place as well as the Jets, will "immediately roll out" the lower pricing. True North in '20-21 also will "introduce the lowest annual price increase on tickets in six seasons," as the organization is "pledging to increase the average price of Jets tickets" by 2.1%. Meanwhile, True North has more than $9M in "renovations and venue improvements scheduled for this summer, including on-ice projection, concourse enhancements, and an extensive renovation of the arena's Exchange restaurant." Since the Jets' return to Winnipeg in '11, True North has spent more than $55M on the arena (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 1/29). True North Senior VP/Venues & Entertainment Kevin Donnelly said that the organization "looked at the highest-selling items in deciding which items to discount." In Winnipeg, Glen Dawkins notes True North also "gained fan feedback through a series of surveys and interacting with fans on the concourses." Donnelly said that those surveys "made them increasingly aware of a growing sentiment related to ticket prices, the cost of food and beverages, mobile ticketing, and elevated security measures, as well as the team's performance" (WINNIPEG SUN, 1/29).
SIGN OF THE TIMES: In Winnipeg, Mike McIntyre in a front-page piece writes a "red flag surfaced" when the Jets' eight-year sellout streak ended on Oct. 15, followed by a second non-sellout two nights later. McIntyre: "That may be because people who had a bidding war for available tickets just a few years ago can barely give them away now." Ticket-sharing partnerships are "falling apart, with members bowing out due to costs and/or lack of interest." What once was the "loudest, most raucous building in the NHL is now a shell of its former self," ramping up the "urgency inside True North to make some long-overdue changes in an attempt to bring back the buzz" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 1/29).
