‘Really good hockey’, wins will bring back Canucks fans: ticket broker
Posted October 3, 2018 9:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s a new season for the Vancouver Canucks, but it looks like many fans decided to stay at home for Wednesday night’s match up against the Calgary Flames.
Vancouver Ticket broker Kingsley Bailey says the game didn’t even come close to selling out, despite the team lowering prices in the off-season.
“Not looking so good,” he tells NEWS 1130.
He says team management said in an email to fans that the team was undergoing a slow and gradual growth.
“It’s a rebuild and a new identity, and win or lose they’re going to do the best that they can,” Bailey says.
He believes slow ticket sales have a lot to do with the fact the team wasn’t very good last year, and that it’s likely going to be another long season with many young players on the roster.
“They’re selling the team on youth, and there’s a very good chance that 60 per cent of these kids aren’t going to make the NHL. It’s a numbers game. They have the potential of being good, but they still haven’t proven themselves yet. So what we’re seeing is there’s a six out of 10 chance that these guys aren’t going to come to fruition.
That being said, Bailey says winning changes everything, and some victories would translate to more people in seats.
“The fans aren’t sold yet, and if this team can produce and do some wins and play really good hockey, they’ll show up. That’s what this fan base is all about is, they want to see success before they put the money out.”
Bailey says a number of season ticket holders that didn’t renew four years ago are slowly starting to come back.
“But the hardest customer to get back is the one that says ‘I’m not paying anymore,'” he adds.
While slow ticket sales might be bad news for ownership, Bailey says it’s good news for anyone wanting to catch a game.
“If any fans out there that haven’t gone to too many Canucks games want to see hockey, it’s going to be very reasonable this year.”
This summer, Canucks Sport and Entertainment said there was a 90 per cent renewal rate of season ticket purchases ahead of the start of the regular season.
The rebuild the team has been undertaking over the past few months was cited as partly a reason for strong sales.
