NEWSLETTER
For more than a decade, the Chicago Blackhawks were home to the hottest ticket in town. Since the 2008-09 season, north of 21,000 fans per game packed the United Center night-in and night-out. Heck, it was arguably the hottest ticket in the NHL.
With a rebuild underway and a roster devoid of the massive star power it once featured, the Blackhawks will see their reign atop the attendance standings end this season. But that’s not wholly the reason for the changes they’re rolling out for fans. New Vice President of Revenue Jamie Spencer said today that the new Season Ticket Membership is was built based on fan feedback and a comprehensive market study and designed to give fans the most value for their investment in the Blackhawks.
“The fans have built this program,” Spencer said. “They are not shy about telling us what they care about. We listened, and we’ve incorporated all of their feedback or as much as we could into this membership program. We hope they’ll be happy. We hope that they see this program and say, ‘Yes, you heard what we said, and you’ve delivered on that.”
One thing that will make fans happy is that most tickets will be reduced in price or remain flat. According to Spencer, 93 percent of seats will not see an increase, and 84 percent of seats will see a decrease, with some seats seeing reductions of as much as 20 percent.
Another change coming this season will be how they brand and look at season tickets and multi-game packages. Rather than season ticket holders, fans will now be referred to as ‘Members’ of the Blackhawks community who own a Season Ticket Membership.
“Our season ticket members are such an integral part of the Blackhawks community, creating memories and sharing experiences together that go far beyond the game,” President of Business Operations Jaime Faulkner said in a news release. “We’ve spent much of the last year actively listening to our fans, and Members will now see new offerings in this program that are intentionally aligned to what they told us they value most.”
One of the cool new offerings available is the Pick ‘Em plan, where fans who care more about who the Blackhawks are playing than where they’re sitting can take advantage of by picking their games to create a game plan. Now, fans will have two ways to choose their season ticket membership. They can either choose their seats (available in full, half, quarter, and mini slates) and receive a pre-set slate of games to attend, or fans can build their own slate of games by choosing five, 10, or 20 game packages.
“There are two types of fans: those that want to choose their seats and know where they’re going to sit, because seat location is very important, and those that want to choose their games,” Spencer said. “Having these products is going to attract new fans and possibly create more value because in some cases, we learned there were too many games that they couldn’t re-sell or went to waste.”
The Blackhawks are also including (in every tier and package) member perks ranging from discounted food and merchandise purchases to free merchandise and gifts to remind fans that they’re appreciated.
The Blackhawks have also added the ability to swap games in select plans, allowing fans to contact their dedicated ticket rep to exchange a game from their package to another home date that season that better accommodates their schedule.
Spencer said he understands that the team is in a different place right now than they’ve been in the past, competitively. However, he believes that there’s still enough talent on the team to make fans want to come out and see the early stages of what the Blackhawks hope will be their next chapter of winning hockey. Spencer sees “no reason why attendance would drop off” next season. Spencer and the Blackhawks hope that making it more affordable and convenient to get to a game will keep the fans in the building moving forward.
