This morning season ticket holders received an email from team President and COO John Olfert after the survey the Jets sent out yesterday caused a bit of a stir. Here is what it said:
Yesterday we issued a short survey to better understand the feelings of our fans concerning health and safety considerations, as we continue to navigate the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several thousand responses were received and the following feedback was provided:
50% of fans would attend games presently if health orders allowed, while 28% would be hesitant and 22% are currently undecided. These numbers improve marginally if attendance capacity for home games was reduced to 50%.
There were mixed responses to the suggestions of using medical-grade masks, not having food & beverage service and disallowing children who were not vaccinated.
40% of Seat Holders had negative sentiment to the notion of relocating home games to another jurisdiction without capacity restrictions, while 30% were neutral and the remaining 30% were supportive if it helped the hockey club.
Furthermore, open-ended comments demonstrated a number of themes. First and foremost, the strongest theme was that Winnipeg Jets fans are concerned for the health and safety of our community, in Manitoba and beyond. Additional themes included sentiments of pandemic fatigue, a strong desire for fans to watch games in Canada Life Centre, and support for True North to continue to abide by public health orders.
Taking into account this important feedback, coupled with a host of other variables, Winnipeg Jets home games will continue to be played at Canada Life Centre. Accordingly, until current public health orders change (which currently extend to Jan. 11), any games played at Canada Life Centre would be limited to 250 fans. Furthermore, we join all Manitobans in encouraging first, second and booster shots when eligible, wearing masks, and in looking forward to the return of fans when public health orders change.
Additional correspondence concerning your account will be shared as the rescheduling of postponed games is confirmed, and there is better understanding on capacities as new health orders are communicated in the coming days.
So there you go. Team did their due diligence and made a decision accordingly.
