Post by Ducky on Oct 31, 2005 6:42:48 GMT -5
By Paul Friesen
I'll admit, at this time last year I was just a little skeptical about how Winnipeggers would react to a new arena.
I mean, the old rink on Maroons Road wasn't that bad, still serviceable enough to buy a beer and watch a hockey game in, and what more could a blue-collar sports fan really want, right?
Plenty, apparently.
Based on the first 12 months of the new, downtown facility, Winnipeggers were dying for a nicer place to play, or, at least, to watch others play.
More than half a million sports fans have clicked the turnstiles in the place since last November, most of whom paid good money to watch the AHL's Manitoba Moose.
As Moose co-owner and True North Sports and Entertainment boss Mark Chipman had hoped, an average of some 8,800 people watched his baby in the new building -- up 2,000 fans per game from the final season at the Winnipeg Arena.
"That's what we kind of pegged and strove to achieve," Chipman said. "And we did it."
The total includes two complete sellouts of 15,015 and another 23 lower-bowl sellouts of 8,812 each (going into this season).
The new building proved to be more than just a hockey barn, though.
Who'd have thought more than 6,000 people would show up for a curling draw that wasn't part of a Brier? That's what happened at the Grand Slam's Canadian Open.
How about the 10,900 that turned out for last week's NBA exhibition game between the Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers?
True North also brought in figure skating, the NORCECA volleyball championship and motocross, something for every sports fan in the family, you might say.
But when all is said and done, this is hockey country, and when it's hockey for the country, well, that just puts things right over the top.
Adrenaline contagious
Anyone who was at one of the sold-out Team Canada world junior exhibition games back in December knows what I'm talking about. Undoubtedly, that was the highlight of Year 1, downtown.
"Having Sidney Crosby here was great," facility boss Kevin Donnelly, True North vice president, said. "Having those games land right in our opening ... none of us had any sleep in that month. We were just totally going on adrenaline. And the adrenaline alone from those events was just incredibly contagious."
The momentum seemed to carry through the Moose season, too, enough to fill the place for the opening game and another in the playoffs.
Chipman noticed another thing about the crowds: they weren't just bigger, they were better.
"Where we've always prided ourselves on affordability and family entertainment, the crowd has changed," he said. "It's younger male and younger female, and that just produces a different environment."
There were some complaints -- the seats are a little cramped, there's an obstructed view in the press box and ridiculous lineups at the men's washrooms -- but it seems the rink started to become the place to be again. Not the way it was with the Jets, of course, but more so than it was for a Moose game in the Arena.
"For whatever reasons -- and a lot of the reasons are legitimate, and that's why we replaced the building -- there were stigmas attached to going to see events at the old Arena," Donnelly said. "Whether they were concessions, washrooms, lighting, comfort and seating, whatever, there was a certain portion of the crowd that said, 'I'd rather see that product elsewhere. I'll go see the Raptors when I'm next in Toronto,' or, 'I can do something else with my money that week.' "
The challenge now is getting those same fans to keep coming back.
Donnelly and Chipman know full well a new facility spawns a honeymoon period. Like a marriage, the trick is to keep the magic going.
"The best example of succeeding through the honeymoon period is the Goldeyes," Chipman said. "It's not easy to do, but it's achievable. There can be a falloff if your product isn't good and the patron experience you deliver isn't good. But those things are in our hands, for the most part."
I'll admit, at this time last year I was just a little skeptical about how Winnipeggers would react to a new arena.
I mean, the old rink on Maroons Road wasn't that bad, still serviceable enough to buy a beer and watch a hockey game in, and what more could a blue-collar sports fan really want, right?
Plenty, apparently.
Based on the first 12 months of the new, downtown facility, Winnipeggers were dying for a nicer place to play, or, at least, to watch others play.
More than half a million sports fans have clicked the turnstiles in the place since last November, most of whom paid good money to watch the AHL's Manitoba Moose.
As Moose co-owner and True North Sports and Entertainment boss Mark Chipman had hoped, an average of some 8,800 people watched his baby in the new building -- up 2,000 fans per game from the final season at the Winnipeg Arena.
"That's what we kind of pegged and strove to achieve," Chipman said. "And we did it."
The total includes two complete sellouts of 15,015 and another 23 lower-bowl sellouts of 8,812 each (going into this season).
The new building proved to be more than just a hockey barn, though.
Who'd have thought more than 6,000 people would show up for a curling draw that wasn't part of a Brier? That's what happened at the Grand Slam's Canadian Open.
How about the 10,900 that turned out for last week's NBA exhibition game between the Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers?
True North also brought in figure skating, the NORCECA volleyball championship and motocross, something for every sports fan in the family, you might say.
But when all is said and done, this is hockey country, and when it's hockey for the country, well, that just puts things right over the top.
Adrenaline contagious
Anyone who was at one of the sold-out Team Canada world junior exhibition games back in December knows what I'm talking about. Undoubtedly, that was the highlight of Year 1, downtown.
"Having Sidney Crosby here was great," facility boss Kevin Donnelly, True North vice president, said. "Having those games land right in our opening ... none of us had any sleep in that month. We were just totally going on adrenaline. And the adrenaline alone from those events was just incredibly contagious."
The momentum seemed to carry through the Moose season, too, enough to fill the place for the opening game and another in the playoffs.
Chipman noticed another thing about the crowds: they weren't just bigger, they were better.
"Where we've always prided ourselves on affordability and family entertainment, the crowd has changed," he said. "It's younger male and younger female, and that just produces a different environment."
There were some complaints -- the seats are a little cramped, there's an obstructed view in the press box and ridiculous lineups at the men's washrooms -- but it seems the rink started to become the place to be again. Not the way it was with the Jets, of course, but more so than it was for a Moose game in the Arena.
"For whatever reasons -- and a lot of the reasons are legitimate, and that's why we replaced the building -- there were stigmas attached to going to see events at the old Arena," Donnelly said. "Whether they were concessions, washrooms, lighting, comfort and seating, whatever, there was a certain portion of the crowd that said, 'I'd rather see that product elsewhere. I'll go see the Raptors when I'm next in Toronto,' or, 'I can do something else with my money that week.' "
The challenge now is getting those same fans to keep coming back.
Donnelly and Chipman know full well a new facility spawns a honeymoon period. Like a marriage, the trick is to keep the magic going.
"The best example of succeeding through the honeymoon period is the Goldeyes," Chipman said. "It's not easy to do, but it's achievable. There can be a falloff if your product isn't good and the patron experience you deliver isn't good. But those things are in our hands, for the most part."