The people of Winnipeg have already made a big impression with its second chance at the NHL.
True North’s ‘Drive to 13’ campaign to sell 13,000 season tickets has already sold off 7,158 ticket packages in the first three days. That may not sound that impressive on the surface; however, the general public in Manitoba hasn’t even gotten a crack at it yet.
At the team’s introductory press conference, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman warned that the NHL in Winnipeg wouldn’t work real well unless the MTS Centre was sold out every night. He then alluded to the Drive To 13 campaign, saying selling 13,000 season tickets would make a good impression on the NHL’s Board of Governors.
Winnipeg listened.
The presale of season tickets will end at 10 p.m. tonight to existing Manitoba Moose season ticket holders and corporate advertising partners, with sale to the general public starting at 12 p.m. tomorrow. That means the 7,158 number is only the ticket holders from the AHL club. At this rate there might not be any left for the entire arena after tomorrow.
Winnipeggers certainly aren’t messing around this time. In just three days a select few bidders have sold out nearly half of the MTS Centre’s total capacity. Now THAT is impressive.
With the early returns, it appears that Winnipeg is nearly a lock to win the Board of Governor’s approval for relocation.