As a season ticket holder of the Winnipeg Jets, I received and responded to the letter/survey about the upcoming provincial health orders that would include lifting the proof of vaccination to attend games. The survey asked: Are you very comfortable, comfortable, uncomfortable or very uncomfortable with the lifting of vaccination proof on March 1, 2022? It followed with: When would you feel comfortable with the lifting of restrictions and I believe the options were March 1, end of March, end of April or after April?
The response from the 3900 responses were: 42% were comfortable/very comfortable having the proof of vaccination lifted on March 1, while 55% indicated they were uncomfortable/very uncomfortable. Of those that were uncomfortable, 90% would prefer the vaccination proof stay in place until at least April 30. (The full letter from True North)
Takeaways:
- Personally, my response was I was uncomfortable about the proof of vax being lifted March 1 and I indicated end of April was my preference for it to stay in place. My reason is that at full 100% capacity we are crammed into this already too small space (yes, the concourse, lineups, washrooms included), I don't feel comfortable about having unmasked, unvaccinated fans standing face to face, sitting side by side just yet. There is some comfort with the fact everyone is vaccinated and I will still wear a mask (this will be an option March 15th) when I'm in the concourse and lineups.
- I commend True North for taking the time to survey the fans. The fans are the ones that are paying to see their product and the satisfaction (and comfort level) of their fans should be their number one priority. The organization has following the provincial and federal laws to do with COVID protocols and they have been transparent with their protocols and rules and so far it has worked. They have responded to their surveys and have acted on the responds from that feedback. When the capacity at games were at 250 people or 50%, True North was taking a serious financial hit. When there was rumours and talks that the team would play some of their home games in another location (Saskatoon? North Dakota?) to help coup some losses, that didn't have any capacity restrictions, the team surveyed the options of their season ticket holders whether they would support the idea. The response was negative (myself included) and the team respected that feedback by playing without fans or limited capacity in Winnipeg.
- As a fan of hockey, it was tough to see postponements or games without fans, but you have to do what you have to do. True North is out to make money, but to abandon your fan base would have been a big mistake. There is a small vocal minority of fans, even season ticket holders that haven't been able to attend because they aren't vaccinated or don't want to wear a mask and as a result the Jets might not get a full sell out this season because of it. Some of the unhappy fan comments on social media are laughably predictable: "Shame on you True North, where is freedom of choice?", "My
choice is to not give this organization a dime ever again. The absolute
ridiculousness of this call is beyond my comprehension!", "Glad we canceled our season tickets! Shame on you for continuing to enable this discrimination.", "I will not be supported any discriminating places. Sad day when you realize just how segregated canada still is", "This
is absolutely shameful, this entire time they’ve use the excuse that
they just need to follow public health orders. And now they show their
true colours by promoting discrimination and segregation. Shame on them
for banning my children and I"....fortunately there are more comments that support True North's position. I would guess that the fully vaccinated fans that have been attending the games this season don't mind showing their proof of vaccine since they have been already.
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