Winnipeg Arena 1955-2004

[Stampman]

Now Winnipegers can hear how Burton Cummings sounds with a GOOD sound sysyem

Where's the run screaming from the room smiley?

[Lee.]

why did the jets move?

to piss me off.

money I assume.. grass is greener on the other side, or something.

A large reason was that the NHL was looking to expand into major American markets in preparation for the windfall TV deal... that never happened.

Not to paint too rosy a picture... the Jets weren't exactly thriving, no small market Canadian team has been for the last 15 years, but the fan support was there and Bettman just wasn't willing to put the effort in to develop an ownership group/find an owner willing to keep them in town.

They ripped the heart and soul of our town out to become the (at best) 3rd-favourite team of Phoenix. And they've done nothing but lose money since.

Serves 'em right.

Now the NHL owners (namely Bettman) isn't hesitating to dangle the possibility of the Jets returning as a way to get fans' support throughout the lockout. He's screwed us once, I wouldn't be surprised to see him screw us again... but I have to agree... the NHL would not work in Winnipeg in the current NHL financial environment.

Let's expand on this too, though. At the same time the 'Save the Jets' campaign was rolling, Ogden Entertainment Group proposed a $150M arena/team purchase deal to the City of Winnipeg and Barry Shenkarow, the majority owner. Under this plan, Shenkarow and his partners would have received $45m for the Jets, and a state-of-the-art arena would be built downtown, adjacent to the Convention Centre, with the top level being the largest Casino in Canada. Naming rights were in place (rumored to be Ford Motors), concession rights were in place, Shenkarow and the city were fully behind the idea.

But the province nixed the idea, since they wanted to be the only ones in Manitoba who controlled the casinos and the cash windfalls therein...they currently take home about 95% of any VLT income, where the Ogden proposal would have split the revenues with them, which would have kept the Jets flush with cash, potentially one of the richest teams in the NHL, for years.

This is a fairly simplified explanation of some of the backroom dealings...but there ya go.