Report: Canadian team suffers worst ticket sales in over 15 years

The powerhouse franchise is reeling for the first time in decades.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Report: Canadian team suffers worst ticket sales in over 15 years
Keystone Press

December 10th, 2001. That’s the last time the Vancouver Canucks played to a crowd of less than 16,000 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Until Friday night when they took on the Winnipeg Jets and drew a crowd of just 15,589.


The kicker? At least a few thousand of those fans in attendance were Jets fans. The Canucks are just three years removed from a 12 year sell-out streak which lasted nearly 500 games. But, with the team underperforming on the ice while ticket prices continue to increase, fans are simply tuning out.

After failing to make the playoffs again last season and with the 2017-18 season looking like a write-off just four games in, Vancouver hockey fans tuning out on the team en masse. A quick scroll through social media reveals just how disenfranchised the team’s fanbase have become with the direction of the team. President Trevor Linden and GM Jim Benning are accused of losing touch with the fanbase and as a result, they’re losing fans quickly. While young players like Brock Boeser and Jake Virtanen may hold the key to getting fans back into the rink, head coach Travis Green's reluctancy to play them regularly isn't helping matters. To make matters worse, the rest of the team's impressive prospect stable is playing elsewhere. Elias Petterson and Jonathan Dahlen are in Sweden, Olli Juolevi is in Finland and Thatcher Demko and Nikolay Goldobin are in Utica. Aside from a farewell tour from Henrik and Daniel Sedin, there's not much to get excited about in Vancouver. 

How long until Vancouver becomes a market at risk? Things don’t look to be getting any better on the ice, could they sink even further in attendance before the problem is finally addressed?

Source: Jason Brough