Future of Canadian franchise in jeopardy after posting record low attendance numbers
The topic of expansion/relocation is a pretty popular point of discussion of late, but while most of that chatter is centered around what will happen with the Arizona Coyotes, there is another franchise who appears to be struggling right now and may be running the risk of another relocation if they can't find a way to fill their arena.
Per reporter Mike McIntyre, the Winnipeg Jets' game last night against the Los Angeles Kings had just over 11,000 fans in attendance. With Winnipeg already operating in one of the league's smallest arenas, the fact that they can't fill their barn is certainly concerning.
Just how bad is it right now? Well, per the report, if you exclude the COVID years, with teams playing in front of empty arenas, Winnipeg's 11,226 attendees last night was the lowest number of fans in the stands since the team came over from Atlanta.
We know that Gary Bettman already doesn't appreciate the Canadian markets. He has been vehemently opposed to adding a new Canadian franchise for a number of years, so the idea of keeping a struggling franchise in Canada is probably not very high on his list of priorities - especially with cities like Houston, San Diego and Portland reportedly interested in expansion possibilities. If an opportunity came up for one of these cities to gain a team through relocation, I'm sure Bettman would consider it, especially with a large potential market in Houston.
There is another Canadian market that has been clamouring for another team for a number of years now. There have been rumblings in recent years that Quebec City may want to take another run at housing an NHL franchise. Would moving the Jets to Quebec City make sense for the NHL?
Obviously, to avoid all of the additional logistical work, I'm sure that all parties would prefer it if the Jets could find a way to drive attendance numbers back up. You'd figure that after the huge deals Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck had just signed, the fans would be elated. As it turns out, if you look at the numbers, that's not the case. The Jets need to find a way to draw a crowd - and fast.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 18 | 232 ANSWERS Future of Canadian franchise in jeopardy after posting record low attendance numbers If the attendance numbers don't come back up, do you think the NHL will look to relocate the Jets to an American market? | ||
| Yes | 93 | 40.1 % |
| No | 81 | 34.9 % |
| Move them to Quebec | 58 | 25 % |
| List of polls | ||
