Winnipeg Jets Announce Individual Ticket Information

After a long wait, this afternoon the Winnipeg Jets announced the process for selling individual game tickets.

Here are the highlights

• Tickets will be awarded via random draw
• There are roughly 600 seats available for purchase, half of those are located in section P7
• On the 3^rd Saturday of each month, tickets will go on sale for the following months games
• Starting today, an online ballot is available for fans to enter into the draw
• Only one entry is allowed per name
• The credit card used to purchase the tickets, must be in the same name as the draw winner
• Draw winners will be able to purchase two tickets, either a pair to one game, or two single games
• Fans do not have to re enter their name each month.
• Winning names will not be able to be re-entered
• Any unclaimed seats after the draw, will be offered to the waiting list, then the general public

Read more about the ticket sales process after the jump,

For the lucky fans that do win a chance to purchase tickets

• There are variable pricing “A” “B” and “C” games
• The letter grade of game is determined based on opponent, day of week
• Example of “A” games: (MTL, PIT, WSH, ANA, TOR, TB)
• Example of “B” games (CAR, NYR, TB, PHI, OTT, PHX, NJD, BOS, LA, SJ, FLA, EDM)
• Example of “C” games (FLA, MIN, NYI, BUF, COL, DAL, CAR, OTT
• ome teams are in multiple categories, Saturday games were given priority
• Prices range from $48 – $200 (Full pricing information available here)

Other information

• A number of tickets are held for players, corporate sponsors, etc. those tickets that are held, but not claimed, will be offered to people on the waiting list, before given out to the general public.
• The Winnipeg Jets TicketExchange will be launched on Monday, September 19^th. This will allow season ticket holders to sell their tickets legally and securely.
• I don’t know how active True North will be in cancelling season tickets held by ticket resellers, as we have already said, it is a difficult law to control. They are openly discouraging the sale of tickets on the secondary market. If season ticket holders to have to sell their tickets, they should do so on the TicketExchange

My Thoughts:

True North has crafted a well thought out plan for selling tickets. A lottery, where people can only win once, gives as many fans as possible a chance to secure individual game tickets. Of course, the draw is not the only way to buy tickets, winning the lottery does not affect your ability to purchase from the official TicketExchange, or any other sources.

The million dollar question is: If True North Sports & Entertainment could redo the whole process again, would they have done the Drive to 13,000 as a lottery as opposed to the mayhem that occurred on Ticketmaster on Saturday, June 4^th, 2011?

To be honest, I don’t think that they would have done anything differently. True North was put in a difficult situation; they announced the purchase of the team on May 31^st, accompanied by a very well thought out season ticket pricing & distribution plan.

They were under a tight deadline to show the NHL that they could sell out the MTS Centre nightly. Following the announcement of the purchase of the Thrashers, the main goal was to sell as many season tickets as possible, as quickly as possible. After watching True North President & CEO Jim Ludlow’s reaction to the sellout, I strongly believe that they did not anticipate the high demand for season tickets. He was truly blown away, as the fans went above expectations selling out in minutes.

While it is unfortunate that not everybody will be able to attend a game this season, True North has presented another carefully planned initiative for ticket selling.

What do you think about the process for obtaining individual game tickets? Have you entered your name into the draw? What methods will you be using to obtain your game tickets?