Jim Rutherford insults Vancouver Canucks fans with embarrassing response to rising ticket prices
Photo credit: RDS
Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford spoke on Monday about the rise in ticket prices and the backlash the organization has received from fans.
Last week, Rick Tocchet and the Vancouver Canucks player met with the media for their season-ending pressers and on Monday, it was Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin's turn to reflect on the 2024-25 campaign and field questions from the media.
After a tough season which saw the club miss the playoffs for the fourth time in five years, Vancouver Canucks fans aren't happy and aren't too pleased with reports that ticket prices are rising starting in the fall.
Jim Rutherford responds to fans' complaints over rise in ticket prices
Rutherford was asked on Monday about the reports that season ticket prices will be going up starting in 2025-26 and the Canucks' President of Hockey Operations was quite transparent in his answer, although fans still won't be too happy.
According to Noah Strang of Daily Hive, Rutherford said that understands the frustrations the fans are feeling over the rise of ticket prices, adding that he wanted to let everyone know has no say in how much they cost.
Rutherford went on to attribute the increase to the rising salary cap in the National Hockey League as well as improvement to Rogers Arena, presumably new seats, etc.
"Well I understand the frustration. I don't like to pay more for anything either, neither of us do. But, not being in the playoffs after having a price increase is hard for people to understand. I'm not responsible for the price of tickets, so I'll make that clear. It's not my lane." Rutherford said.
He added, "But the one thing I will say is part of that is not just about the hockey team with the cap going up, that is part of it, but another part of it is the building that we have. Investing money back into an older building that we're fortunate this is almost filled for every game. Our renewal rate on season tickets is very high. It's well into the 90 percent. So I can understand the frustration of people, but they do have to understand that the money is being invested back into the building and offset the cap."
He added, "But the one thing I will say is part of that is not just about the hockey team with the cap going up, that is part of it, but another part of it is the building that we have. Investing money back into an older building that we're fortunate this is almost filled for every game. Our renewal rate on season tickets is very high. It's well into the 90 percent. So I can understand the frustration of people, but they do have to understand that the money is being invested back into the building and offset the cap."
It's great that despite the backlash, fans are still showing strong interest in season tickets, but in September, when single game tickets go on-sale, it's going to be very interesting to see how much those have gone up by when compared to the 2024-25 campaign.
If the team falters out of the gate in October and even worse, falls out of the playoff race early into 2026, the organization is likely going to hear it from the fan base and Aquilini's pockets could take a hit if those fans stop showing up.
Previously on CanucksDaily
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