It’s never safe to judge the success of a business venture when it’s the hot, new thing. Just look at a list of musical one-hit wonders, the disaster that was New Coke, failed TV shows, etc. and it’s clear that longevity is an important factor in judging something as a true success.
So we’ll need to wait and see if this Winnipeg 2.0 experiment succeeds beyond the 3-5 year investments that have already been (and will be) made, but the passion and money seems to be there in the beginning. As we discussed earlier, True North Sports and Entertainment’s pre-sale was a resounding success.
The Drive to 13 Twitter account revealed that the “P1" category sold out, meaning that most expensive season ticket packages will be available. If you believe this story in the Winnipeg Free Press, money might not be much of an object for hockey-starved Winnipeg fans either way, though.“It is worth it for me to steal Internet to get these tickets. You can put that in the paper,” proclaimed Moorehead, a Brandon teacher. “I just want a seat. I would sit behind a wall in a three-quarters-obstructed seat all season long to get there.”
It is possible Moorehead will cry if he doesn’t get tickets.
Nearly every fan who gathered Friday night at the 4Play Sports Bar and Grill expressed a sense of genuine panic at the looming ticket frenzy. There are only about 5,800 season tickets left and exponentially more people vying for them. Everyone said they weren’t fussy about which “P” -- for price point -- their seats were in. They’d take anything. And they expected everything to be sold out by 12:30 p.m., if not earlier.
“I don’t think anyone wants to be in the same room with me if I don’t get tickets,” said Shawn Knox, who changed his shift at the city’s 311 information line so he could be home at his computer at noon.As much as we feel for jilted Atlanta hockey fans, it is beautiful to see how passionately Winnipeg is embracing its second chance to succeed as an NHL market, even if the small Canadian city faces an uphill battle in some ways. We’ll keep you updated about the Drive to 13, especially since we could find out the team’s new name shortly if True North keeps their promise.
