It's no secret that tickets go for a massive premium in Canada and some of the larger American markets. Scalpers make some serious coin out front of the Bell Centre and CONSOL Energy Center hawking tickets to Canadiens and Penguins games. Also making money are ticket brokers - those who purchase tickets in large amounts and turn around to sell them on sites like Stubhub and the Ticketmaster TicketExchange on team sites. True North Sports and Entertainment did the right thing when they found the brokers and canceled their tickets, releasing them to actual human beings who wanted to spend a ton of money to go to games in Winnipeg.
People buying them second market will probably get slightly gouged, according to WinnipegJets.org:
The Average % over face value is 152.8%
Based on this information, the Winnipeg secondary market ticket price is projected to look like the following:
- Average- $207.30
- Low- $147.27
- High- $271.09
Would you pay these prices to attend a National Hockey League game in Winnipeg?
Excuse me as I answer that: no. I was a Thrashers STH for three seasons, and watched them for eleven years. I think that I'm pretty qualified to say that I wouldn't pay more than my $999 lower bowl tickets for a season for these guys, and no more than $40-$50 a game to see the team as iced last season. Every other team in Canada (except maybe the Senators, who are still worth watching for the Calder Cup winning prospects) is either more solidly built or at least has a brand to fall back on.
I know that it's a product that's in high demand, and scarcity drives up prices, but this isn't bread in Soviet Russia, people.
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