From Yahoo! Sports:
"WINNIPEG - An online tally shows season ticket sales for Winnipeg's returning NHL team are already past the halfway point to the goal of 13,000.
"True North Sports and Entertainment's ticket meter says 7,158 hockey ducats were snapped up as of 4:30 p.m. local time Friday.
"Those sales, which started Wednesday, have all gone to fans who had season seats to the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.
"Sales to the general public start Saturday — all online.
"True North president Jim Ludlow says it might only take a day to sell the rest of the tickets needed.
"True North bought the Atlanta Thrashers for around $170 million and is moving them to Winnipeg in time for next season."
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Based on that information, I can easily guess that by this time tomorrow, they will be sold out of season tickets. That is mighty impressive.
I wonder how many of those that have bought already are individual accounts and not corporate accounts. It has been my experience that many corporate deals include season tickets in the contract. At least, that's my understanding of how business works with at least some teams. If it's all individuals, that's pretty cool.
I also wonder if those season tickets "sold" are accounts paid in full. If so, wow. Absolutely incredible. Again, teams I've worked with have options for a payment plan. Even if many of those sold are on account payment plans, it's still damn good.
I have to give credit where credit is due. I have no idea what kind of marketing has gone on to promote this ticket drive, but I give lots of credit to the fans in Winnipeg. Major props for literally putting your money where your mouth is. It's one thing to say you want hockey, it's another to pay for it. Kudos to those who have opened up their hearts and wallets.
Don't misunderstand me. I want the Thrashers here in Atlanta, but we had our chance and it looks like we blew it. 28th out of 30 in average attendance. That's the number that keeps popping up whenever anyone talks about when people mention the reason for the demise.
I have a list of about 30 reasons I think contributed to the move. That will be the discussion coming up very soon.
But first, get your crayons ready kids! We have an arts and crafts project coming up!
-TTFN-
Flashback to 1999 in Atlanta:
ReplyDelete"ATLANTA -- Still seven months away from their inaugural, the expansion Atlanta Thrashers have surpassed the 12,000 mark in season ticket sales mandated by the NHL a week ahead of the March 15 deadline.
"It shows there's a tremendous amount of interest in the sport in this area," team president Harvey Schiller said Monday. "At each stage, we'll see more interest. The biggest push will be when we start naming players."
The 90 suites, which account for about 1,600 seats in the unfinished Philips Arena, are sold out. The majority of the seats in the top price ranges -- $70 and $65 -- also are sold out."