The Jets are Dead, Get over it

Spring time means a lot to hockey fans, playoffs are in full swing and the intensity of the sport seems to grow with each passing series. For the hockey fans of Winnipeg, not only was the spirit of the game embodied by the fabulous Calder Cup run by the Manitoba Moose, but also by the swirling rumors of a Winnipeg Jets return to the ìheart of the continentî, based on the financial difficulty facing the Phoenix Coyotes.

Much of the hype towards the improbable return of the team was stirred by comments from the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who according to court documents was quoted as saying that, ìif the [Phoenix Coyotes] did return to Canada, it would be to Winnipeg.î This was enough to bring the Jets fanatics out of the woodwork in desperate belief that Winnipeg will once again be home to a NHL franchise.

The fact of the matter is this dream is not going to happen, and for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the NHLís agenda does not support expansion or relocation to Canada at this time. Bettman has made it clear that the NHL is satisfied at 30 teams, and if a team were to relocate, there are a number of cities that rank above Winnipeg on the short list, such as Kansas, Portland, Houston or possibly Las Vegas.

Has that much changed since the Jets left Winnipeg in í96? The Jets were losing money, the arena was half empty and financially the NHL was tanking. Fast forward to today, one of the biggest arguments for the Jets returning to Winnipeg has to do with the myth that the salary cap solves all problems. Think about this, in 1996, Keith Tkachuk was the third highest paid player in the NHL behind Gretzky and Messier at $6 million per year. Last year, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin were the second and third highest paid players in the league, both raking in $9 million each. Just because there is a salary cap, doesnít necessarily mean that we can afford it.

Furthermore, where does everyone expect that funding to come from? We built the MTS Centre to hold almost 400 less seats than the Winnipeg Arena held, and if it were stacked up against other NHL arenas, it holds over 1200 less people than the next smallest capacity (New York Islanders, Nassau Veterans Coliseum). The NHL does not enjoy the same profit sharing scheme that the economic juggernaut NFL does where the teams are almost completely kept on an even financial field due to the amount of revenue sharing from both national television contracts and ticket revenue. This means that where smaller market teams in the NFL are able to keep sustainable, those same smaller market teams in the NHL have no choice but to run in the red. Large amounts of money are lost in attempts to keep NHL teams alive. Almost half the teams in the league lose money every year, which means that to have a team in Winnipeg we would need to have somebody, or a group of corporations willing to spend money and possibly lose money, on this dream. Does Winnipeg have anyone willing to spend this kind of money? No. Does Winnipeg have corporations eager to spend this kind of money on the Jets? No, if the corporations did, they would have forked out this capital to keep them here in '96.

Finally, little would actually change from last time, obviously the initial excitement of a new team would fill the building for most of the inaugural season, but letís face it, we are Winnipeg, we donít move unless there is a sale. I wonít make the argument about not being able to completely fill the MTS Centre for the Moose playoffs until the finals because that is a completely separate argument, but I will point to our pride and joy of a franchise the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In the 2008 season we had one playoff game at home in November, we failed miserably at filling that stadium. Each of the last two Grey Cups that have come to Winnipeg has relied on last minute sales to come even remotely close to selling out. Currently those making income in our city are from a younger era that doesnít fully remember the Jets being here and never developed the attachment to them as Winnipegís team. The desire to bring back the Jets isnít being generated through them, but through the generation of baby boomers who are retiring and who are probably not willing to spend their pensions on overpriced tickets to make up for our lack of corporate sponsorship and undersized arena.

I used to be a season ticket holder for the Jets in the most amazing seats at centre ice. I would love to be reliving those moments in the old Winnipeg Arena and wish that the Jets had never left in the first place, however those who think that somehow the NHL is going to up-and-give us a team that will magically be financially sustainable, need to step back and realize that the Winnipeg Jets are not coming back, not now, not ever.