1. MTS Centre only seats 15,100, doesn’t the NHL require 17,000 minimum?
2. The average Winnipegger can't afford to take a family of 5 out to a hockey game with the "cheap seats" costing between $60-$100 each. That can make 1 regular season hockey game cost $350.00
3. Before the Jets left, Winnipeg did not support the Jets. Often, the Jets would only have 11,000-12,000 fans per game when tickets were between $40-$50 for good seats(not including the playoffs of course)
4. Now that NHL economics are more stable, wouldn’t the new landscape make it easier for the weaker market teams to survive, therefore leaving no teams for possible relocation?
5. Will Winnipegger's support the Jets when they are playing bad? Just a few years ago, when the Bombers were playing really bad under Jeff Reinbold, the team was only getting 20,000 fans/game, at reduced ticket prices.
6. Where would the Moose go? Could we have both?
7. Is this an anti-Moose campaign?
8. Why did you start this whole thing?
9. Is there money in Winnipeg to front such an effort?
10. It has been rumoured that you have spoken to some prominent people about this issue. Is this true?
11. What do you think of MTS Centre?
12. How was the website created? Who designed it?
13. It seems the "struggling" southern teams in the NHL are now posting pretty good attendence figures. Why would they leave?

1. MTS Centre only seats 15,100, doesn’t the NHL require 17,000 minimum?
The NHL requires no such thing. Most large arenas don't even come close to selling-out on a regular basis. MTS Centre has the exciting ability to be the loudest and most intimidating arena in the league. At the same time, at 15,100 seats it will not show a single empty seat while still generating adequate revenue. There is absolutely NO link between facility sizes and success. A bad hockey market with a 20,000 seat arena is still a bad hockey market.

2. The average Winnipegger can't afford to take a family of 5 out to a hockey game with the "cheap seats" costing between $60-$100 each. That can make 1 regular season hockey game cost $350.00
First of all, “cheap seats” will not be $60-$100. The best seats will be that price. This is a common tactic used by skeptics to inflate the sense that tickets will be out of reach for the average citizen. Secondly, who takes all five members of their family to every sporting event? I don’t know any. When I was young my dad split tickets amongst my brother, mother and I. The fact is that people in this era have started to look at season tickets differently, in every city. You can split season tickets and draft out games between friends or you can buy mini-packs. There would be all kinds of options for all kinds of financial means including installment plans. If you split up a great pair of $5200 season tickets (that's an average $59 ticket) four ways with friends or co-workers, you are left with 22 games per person at an expense of $1300 each. Make payments of $108 a month and you've got yourself 22 great nights of the best hockey in the world. Cheaper if you want into the upper bowl. It really isn't rocket science.

And yes, the best seat to a Jets game ten years ago was indeed $35-$55 but gasoline was also 45 cents a litre. It is double the price now and we all seem to still be driving around just as much

3. Before the Jets left, Winnipeg did not support the Jets. Often, the Jets would only have 11,000-12,000 fans per game when tickets were between $40-$50 for good seats(not including the playoffs of course)
We now know what we have lost. We previously took the Jets for granted and assumed the team would never leave this community. One wrong assessment and eight years later, we are just as much a hockey market as ever but we want the highest caliber back. In addition, the team of the past was never really marketed all that well. Barry Shenkarow and the boys fell into NHL ownership by fluke and had little desire to extend themselves in the PR category. We now have the opportunity to bring new ownership with fresh ideas to the table. We now have digital PayTV options and many other sources of revenue that weren't thought of or available in the 1980s. Add to that all of the concessions that were previously swallowed by Winnipeg Enterprises and you’ve got the foundation for a successful franchise. There is no reason that MTS Centre couldn't be sold out each and every game with 15,000+ fans. What a thought…a Jets ticket that’s hard to come by! Minnesota and Denver both successfully regained NHL franchises after poor turn-outs for their predecessors. I hate to answer a question with a question but why would Winnipeg be any different?

4. Now that NHL economics are more stable, wouldn’t the new landscape make it easier for the weaker market teams to survive, therefore leaving no teams for possible relocation?
Those cities won't look any better in any scenario. Even if it is economically made easier to survive they still won't. They will still lose money and find it tough to draw fans that they have tried to create through marketing rather than fans that already exist (like here in The Peg). During the lockout hockey wasn't even being discussed in most of the current NHL markets. It won’t be long before they will forget again and become even more disinterested than they already are. The last 10 years have been a huge failure and the NHL has now realized the American TV revenue dream has long expired (a big reason they wanted to get the Jets out of Winnipeg if you remember). It is, and always will be, a gate-driven league. That means ticket sales will drive revenues. The paying, attending fans. Where are there more fans per-capita than just about anywhere else in North America? Right here in Winnipeg, perhaps the best place the NHL could relocate to get this sport back on its feet. We will forgive them, say “we told you so”, and be glad that we weren’t a part of the worst 10 years of the NHL’s history.

5. Will Winnipegger's support the Jets when they are playing bad? Just a few years ago, when the Bombers were playing really bad under Jeff Reinbold, the team was only getting 20,000 fans/game, at reduced ticket prices.
They'll have to. We must come together and meet the potential this city has instead of always under-achieving. We must erase our poor national reputation and be the country’s success story. The spin-offs both economically and mentally are countless. It's time we step up and make Winnipeg a proud place to call home again and have a NHL hockey team to call our own and be proud of, through thick and thin. We just won’t get our coach to ride into town on a Harley with shades on!

6. Where would the Moose go? Could we have both?
I believe many smaller markets would be ecstatic to have an AHL franchise. This market, however, had the best and little else will suffice. Although both teams could co-exist if they were each other’s affiliates, it may be a stretch to think both could survive at the gate. Even Edmonton will not know if the Oilers and Roadrunners can co-exist until both see an entire season through.

7. Is this an anti-Moose campaign?
Not by any means. If the people of Winnipeg want to support the Moose I commend them. Unfortunately we all know that most people do not follow the hockey team and rarely even pay if they do attend a game. I am not saying that this is right. I am merely revealing the facts. The team is not in the hearts of Manitobans and never will be. People do not follow the AHL standings, they watch the Oilers or Flames (yuk!) on satellite TV. That being said, my issue with the Moose is not with the caliber of hockey as much as it is about putting the proper tenant into MTS Centre. The tenant in MTS Centre must fully create the spin-offs and downtown revitalization that should come with a facility of its size. Having an empty upper bowl until U2 or AC/DC come to town isn’t utilizing the building’s ability. It must house the NHL again. It will house the NHL again. We must return to hostility towards the Vancouver Canucks instead of mere support for their "up-and-comers".

8. Why did you start this whole thing?
I began this campaign mainly because I was sick of NOT hearing about how the NHL could return to Winnipeg. It took looking far into the future. It took thick skin. It took work. But if we never went uphill we would never accomplish anything. As expected, the naysayers came out of the woodwork. Then the attacks came. However, it wasn’t long before credibility came and slowly it all started to make sense to more and more people. Surprise, surprise. Now, eighteen months after the campaign began, the predictions of JetsOwner.com have turned into reality and we are well into the lockout. Now people are saying “I guess you never know, eh?”. Biting my lip I respond, “that’s right, you never know”. The point has always been this: why ever say ‘I wish we were ready’ when we can say ‘we were ready’. Lets be ready. So many people would tell me that there was no way the Jets were coming back. My response to them was always “tell me why not”. It is so easy to squash something and much harder to stand by it. But you know what…it will all be worth it in the end, for us, our city and the next generation. I stick to my ideology. I don't buy into our inferiority complex. It's time we turn it around.

9. Is there money in Winnipeg to front such an effort?
One thing to remember is that there is much more wealth in Winnipeg, and Manitoba for that matter, than popular belief would have you think.

10. It has been rumoured that you have spoken to some prominent people about this issue. Is this true?
I do keep very close to the issues relating to this cause. While I will not disclose the individuals specifically, I can say that I remain very positive about the future of the NHL back in Winnipeg. If I wasn’t, I couldn’t continue running such a campaign. Keep your fingers crossed!

11. What do you think of MTS Centre?
I have to say that the architects did an outstanding job with the space they were given. The seating bowl is much larger in reality than pictures give justice. The sightlines are great besides some required safety railing obstructions that may cut into a tiny portion of the rink during play. The concourses are just fine, the food will be world-class and technology is at the state-of-the-art level. Mark Chipman gave me an exclusive loko at the entire building a week prior to the grand opening, including the dressing rooms, press box and luxury suites. All of these features are NHL caliber. Seats in the arena range from 17-20 inches wide in the regular seating bowl (excluding suites) and there isn't a bad seat in the house. It is certainly squeezed onto the property it sits on, but that's what happens when you want your arena on a downtown city block. Room was made for the extensive skywalk system which includes being able to leave your jacket in your vehicle and walk entirely indoors from the parkade to the skywalk to the gate and even to the Powerhouse pub if you should desire. All-in-all, MTSC is NHL ready and very modern.

12. How was the website created? Who designed it?
The original JetsOwner.com, launched on June 1st of 2003 was entirely self-designed as was the content. Since its inception it had undertaken minor changes and had always been under my strict control. The intent early on was to just get something up and running after a promise on CJOB (yuk!) that I would have a website by June 1, 2003. Free Press columnist Scott Taylor had also promised to give it publicity once it was launched. I think I just wanted to see if he would hold his end of the bargain! Having absolutely no web design experience, I turned to an old friend at CKUW (U of W radio) named Broose Tulloch. He guided me, crafted my sketched ideas for the site and gave me unlimited bandwidth for which to host this website. Thanks for believing early on Broose! After 33 months under this format it became time to give the entire site a whole new look. One that would be top notch and professional looking. In February of 2006, web designer Lauren Robb came through in a big way, dedicating endless hours of his time making all of my ideas come to life and creatively adding some of his own. Lauren had helped me with some issues the previous two years and was keen on heading up the huge project. In addition, the long time goal of including an online store for which to buy campaign merchandise was finally brought to life by Trackitback CEO, Jason Wagner. With everything in place, the new JetsOwner.com went live on March 1, 2006.

13. It seems the "struggling" southern teams in the NHL are now posting pretty good attendence figures. Why would they leave?
They would leave because eventually the true attendence figures would reveal the real lack of interest in hockey in their city. They would be forced to come to terms with these true figures rather than the obvious false numbers that are being posted by many teams in the NHL. Better yet, they would just have to open their eyes. Journalists see it. Players see it. Anyone that is actually in the arena sees it. Many seats remain empty in NHL arenas despite attendences being announced as nearly full or far higher than what can be seen. Many NHL teams arrive at their attendence figures by counting the amount of seats "accounted for". This essentially means that any ticket, whether in the office lunchroom, in your pocket at home or ripped at the gate, is counted towards the final tally. Seems ridiculous yet it's true. The actual number of people that rip their ticket at the gate is far less, which in turn hurts spin-off revenues like concessions, merchandise and parking. If there is nobody in the seat that is "accounted for" then no popcorn purchase, t-shirt purchse or vehicle exists to generate that revenue. To make things worse, those tickets that are ripped at the gate are often heavily discounted or even free, therefore hurting shear ticket sales revenue. As a rule, I like to subtract 25% of what many teams post as their game attendence. This results in a more accurate assessment and sometimes even that number is being generous!