Winnipeg Jets Are Dealing With Major Attendance Issue, Despite Being One Of NHL's Best Teams

The Winnipeg Jets have been on fire this season and are one of three Canadian teams in the NHL who look like they could be ready to make a run to the Stanley Cup final, but Winnipeg, there's a problem.

An attendance problem.

The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre and has ever since it arrived as the second iteration of the Jets, having moved from Atlanta in 2011. The arena's capacity is 15,225 which makes it the smallest arena in the NHL aside from Mullett Arena — temporarily home to the Arizona Coyotes (a team that ironically traces its lineage back to the original Winnipeg Jets) — which holds less than 5,000 people.

So, while Winnipeg isn't a huge market, you'd think that a major Canadian city that was without NHL hockey for more than a decade would be filling that arena pretty easily with the Jets potentially topping the Central Division.

…but you would be incorrect.

In an interview with The Athletic, Jets chairman Mark Chipman talked about the team's attendance struggles, specifically how it relates to season tickets.

"I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t say, ‘We’ve got to get back to 13,000,’" Chipman said. "This place we find ourselves in right now, it’s not going to work over the long haul. It just isn’t."

The Winnipeg Jets are dealing with a surprising attendance issue. (© Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports)

That's not what you want to hear if you're a Jets fan, but it's the hard truth. That article from The Athletic by Chris Johnson contained some troubling numbers.

The team ranks at the bottom of the league in terms of average attendance (not counting the Coyotes who play in an arena one-third the size). 

This is a real problem, and while the team has made some calls to try to win back former season ticket holders, it will be a matter of time before we see if it works.

The NHL will also be very interested to see if it works too.

"They pay attention," Chipman said. "They see the numbers. They see where the league’s at and where we’re at. And we’re an outlier right now. So, rightfully, they want to know, what are you doing? What’s going on? What happened and what are you doing about it?"

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will be in town on Tuesday when the Jets take on the St, Louis Blues, which will allow him to see the situation for himself.