Experts say adding WHL team to Winnipeg would be a challenge
Rumours rampant that Kootenay has plans to relocate for next season
Moving a Canadian Hockey League team to a crowded market like Winnipeg that already boasts NHL and AHL clubs would present several challenges, sports business industry professionals said.
According to a sourced report in the Winnipeg Free Press last week, the owners of the Western Hockey League’s Kootenay Ice were preparing to announce Monday that the franchise would be moving to the Manitoba capital for next season. However, in a subsequent report, the team’s majority owner told the outlet there were no plans for an announcement and nothing was pending.
The Jets have been king in Winnipeg since the NHL returned to the city in 2011. The AHL’s Manitoba Moose, who are also owned and operated by True North Sports and Entertainment, came back to Winnipeg in 2015.
Tom Mayenknecht, a marketing and communications executive, said if the Ice did relocate to Winnipeg, differentiating themselves from the other offerings in the city would be key.
“They’ll have to be very aggressive with their pricing in terms of really making it a family entertainment opportunity and price it a heck of a lot lower than the Jets and even the Moose,” Mayenknecht said from Vancouver. “I think it can be done given how strong the demographics are of the hockey market in Winnipeg, but it certainly is a crowded house.”
It’s rare for one Canadian market to have three hockey teams at those levels. Toronto was the last to do so, but that ended in 2007 when the Ontario Hockey League’s St. Michael’s Majors moved to nearby Mississauga, Ont., leaving just the NHL’s Maple Leafs and the AHL’s Marlies in town.
According to the original report, the incoming team would eventually play in a mid-sized arena just outside city limits near Winnipeg’s southwest end. The University of Manitoba’s Wayne Fleming Arena would be home — likely for two seasons — until the rink is ready, the report said.
“If they are smart in terms of the community partnerships that they establish, if they have a winning product relatively early, I think they can compete,” said Mayenknecht. “But I do think that not operating underneath the True North umbrella will make it, in my opinion, a challenging proposition to be any more sustainable or financially strong as the Kootenay market was.
“When you see a relocation, you tend to want to say, ‘OK that is definitely a better situation for them.’ I’m not sure that’s the case.”
Sellouts are the norm for the Jets at Bell MTS Place, but the Moose have seen a steady decline in attendance since their return. The junior game offers a slightly different style and could market itself as a showcase for fans to see the stars of tomorrow.
“The one wild card is the Winnipeg market,” Mayenknecht said. “It’s not a Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver . . . hockey is such a big part of how Manitobans get through the winter.”