Winnipeg's new NHL team opens up ticket sales today for Manitoba Moose season ticket holders, launching its bid to sell 13,000 season tickets to the still-unnamed team's games.
After supporters of the American Hockey League's Moose get their shot, the general public will have an opportunity to purchase season tickets beginning on Saturday. They are expected to be a hot item in the hockey-hungry city that has been without an NHL franchise since the Jets left in 1996.
True North Sports and Entertainment confirmed Tuesday after two weeks of speculation that an agreement had been reached to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers and bring the team to Winnipeg.
Jim Ludlow, president and CEO of True North, said Wednesday the negotiations have been a "long and arduous process," but that when all was said and done "it's very exciting."
Now that the agreement is in place, there are several key steps that need to happen. The NHL's board of governors must approve the deal, a name needs to be chosen, and perhaps most importantly fans need to get behind the team, Ludlow said.
The announcement has galvanized the city of Winnipeg, he said. Now True North needs that to translate into thousands of ticket purchases.
"What we've offered fans is certainty of seat selection and certainty of pricing over the years and we're asking fans in our drive to 13,000 to commit to us to a term of three, four, or five years with those season tickets," Ludlow told CTV's Canada AM.
"What that does for our organization, for NHL hockey here in Winnipeg, is provide long-term certainty for us, long-term certainty for fans, so we think it's a great partnership between our organization, the National Hockey League and our fans here in Winnipeg."
Individual tickets will range from $39 for an entry-level seat, up to $129 for the best seats in the house.
Winnipeg's MTS Centre can accommodate 15,000 fans, making it the smallest venue in the league. True North hopes to sell 13,000 season tickets before the June 21 NHL Board of Governor's meeting, as evidence of the team's strong fan support.
The agreement between the Atlanta Spirit Group and True North, led by True North Chairman Mark Chipman and the billionaire chair of the Thomson Reuters group David Thomson, is reportedly worth $170 million, of which $60 million will go to the league in relocation fees. The team will move in time to begin the 2011-12 season in Winnipeg.
For two weeks, since reports first emerged that a deal was all but complete, anticipation had been building among Winnipeg hockey fans.
On Tuesday, when the announcement finally came, that energy hit a fever pitch with hundreds of fans spilling into the streets to celebrate through the day and long into the night -- many of them wearing vintage Jets jerseys.
Ludlow gave little indication of where the ownership is leaning in terms of a possible name, or even whether the team will be styled as a Winnipeg or Manitoba franchise.
Here are some of the names rumoured to be in contention:
- Winnipeg Jets
- Winnipeg Falcons
- Winnipeg Whiteout
- Winnipeg Blizzard
- Winnipeg Polar Bears
- Manitoba Moose (the name of the current AHL franchise owned by True North)
Ludlow said the Jets moniker has not been ruled out -- and it's clear many longstanding fans are rooting for the return of the original branding. But he added: "There are lots of considerations here."
"We're very proud of what we've done in the past number of years with our existing (Moose) brand, and some elements of what we're doing now have us wanting to look forward into the future, maybe with a clean slate. But we're very considerate of what the people here in Winnipeg are thinking in terms of past names, existing names and future names."
Ludlow said the Falcons is a historic Winnipeg name that deserves consideration, the Whiteout reflects the fact Jets' fans invented the rally-rag phenomenon, and said he also gives credence to wildlife-themed names.
"Wolves might be interesting, moose might be interesting. There are very many interesting names and interesting species here in Manitoba that might be indigenous to our province," Ludlow said.
He added that he expected a final decision to be made before the Board of Governors meeting later this month -- but that for now True North is revealing few details about the team's future branding.
