The Future Is Now in Winnipeg

Author’s Note:

This article is a sequel to the previous articles "The Orwellian Nightmare Of Professional Sports In The Future" and "The History of NHL Expansion to Canada Part 4: What Winnipeg Told The NHL"

In several previous articles I ran afoul of a lobby group from Winnipeg called "The Manitoba Mythbusters" because I stated that Winnipeg had built an arena too small to get back the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL. I was denounced as being "anti-Winnipeg" and invited to check out their website (which I subsequently did).

I also exchanged private e-mails and left notes at their Bleacher web-pages. Eventually I had to write another article called "Winnipeg Can’t Support Another NHL Team—Yet" (originally titled "To All My Winnipeg Jet Fans") to defend my position.

The "mythbusters" are fans dedicated to bringing back the Winnipeg Jets to the NHL in the present arena. Far from being "anti-Winnipeg" I want Winnipeg back in the NHL permanently and I argue that the best way to do it is to build a proper NHL size arena with at least 18,000 seats, not the present new arena. Hence the difference of opinion.

So what is the "mythbusters"’ argument to convince the NHL to bring back the Jets to the present new arena?

First, they claim they have a big enough market to support an NHL team which I agreed with.

Second, they claim that Winnipeg will support an NHL franchise better than the money-losing ones in the United States, an argument that only proves that Winnipeg is a better market than the current American ones (which I agree with) but does NOT prove that Winnipeg with its small arena can make it in the NHL long-term or consistently have funds to ice a competitive team.

It is their third argument that brings the Orwellian nightmare fantasy of the future to the present. The "mythbusters" claim that the NHL can last in their new arena because it has 62 luxury boxes which have been sold.

(The "mythbusters" run a poor second to Hamilton whose attempts to get an NHL franchise, have been disparaged by several of them in notes and comments about my previous articles. Hamilton not only has an arena that has 2,000 seats more than Winnipeg but can expand its luxury boxes to 200.)

In other words, it is not the average fan like the "mythbusters" themselves who will resurrect the Winnipeg Jets but a small, rich elite from the Winnipeg region who will be primarily responsible for bringing back the franchise.

Sadly this is becoming more and more common in the world of professional sports. A franchise cannot last in a major sports league based on the support of the average fan alone, but must build facilities and have contracts that can only be afforded by an elite of rich people or corporations.

That is the reality of the NHL which is trying unsuccessfully to be one of the "big four" sports in the United States.

All the present Canadian NHL franchises understood that and built arenas to meet that challenge. Hamilton understands that and has pledged $50 million to upgrade its arena further.

In contrast, Winnipeg cannot make up its mind to be a "major league city." The "mythbusters" ignore the fact that the arena management themselves publicly stated that their new arena was for the AHL and not an attempt to get the Jets back.

The ugly price of a successful long-term sports franchise is a large stadium or arena with high ticket prices, lots of luxury boxes, expensive parking, expensive food, limited cable/satellite television, and expensive sportswear and trinkets for sale which only a small group of people can afford.

For now, Winnipeg wants hockey that a lot of its population can afford. If they want the Jets back, they have to take a step into that Orwellian future.