Just three years ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets were at the bottom of the National Hockey League standings and brought in the fewest fans in franchise history.
They finished with their third-worst season and worst attendance ever at 13,658 fans per game, so the franchise decided it needed to amp the publicity for the team’s student rush program, which offers discounted tickets to students.
The program allows high school or college students to acquire upper-level tickets for $15 and lower-level seats for just $25, compared to the normal price of $25 to $100 for the lower-bowl and $29 to $60 for upper-deck seating.
Since then, Columbus has implemented a culture change on and off the ice, including several promotions that bring in young, enthusiastic fans.
“When (the Blue Jackets) first came to Columbus, they did a really great job of reaching out to all of the communities,” former Ohio University hockey coach Dan Morris said. “They did a great job with this in communities with ice rinks. (They used) a foundation they have to build the game of hockey.”
Morris, who was until recently also the director of Bird Arena, said the outreach to students declined as the product on the ice worsened, but the team has recently ramped up its efforts.
“There’s a lot of fans in Nationwide (Arena) that are Ohio University students and graduates,” Morris said. “When I go to their games, a lot of them go out of their way to say hello to me.”
The CBJ Student Rush program has been used since the franchise was established in 2000, but it has been modified since the outbreak of social media.
“Two years ago we took a hard look at the program and we realized that (students) were an important demographic for us,” said Jim Riley, Blue Jackets’ manager of marketing. “(The program) has really transformed over the years because we have more support and resources now than we did in the past.”
Through the first 11 games this season, the CBJ Student Rush increased its ticket sales by 20 percent compared to 2011, and it’s also averaging more than 50 more tickets sold per game since the 2011-12 season.
Fans can buy rush tickets for a group over the phone before a game and are also allowed to buy up to two tickets per person on game days starting one hour before the puck drops.
The Blue Jackets’ marketing department has six student representatives at Ohio State University who are in charge of spreading the word about CBJ Student Rush through social media and events held on campuses.
Riley said they want to start increasing the efforts to market to other schools within the area, such as OU and Miami.
“As this program continues to grow and we do a good job at it, we’d like to set up similar situations (like at OSU) at places like Ohio University,” Riley said.
The team has been great at appreciating OU students that make their way up to Columbus for games, and even more recognition of the school in Athens would boost the student rush and overall crowds significantly.
“When (the arena) is full and rocking it’s a fun place to play, it’s up there with any other building in the league,” said Jack Johnson, a Blue Jackets assistant captain. “When the fans are energized, into (the game) and supporting the team, I don’t think it gets any better than that in professional hockey.”
Columbus is the NHL’s second-youngest team, with only Buffalo being younger, and the team is using its youth to build for the future.
The Blue Jackets have 10 players on their roster 25 years old or younger, seven of which are 23 or younger after they went through a rebuilding period two seasons ago.
“The idea is to build a team that can be a contender for a long time, part of the process is having some young guys (early in the process),” Johnson said.
“We’re not treating them like young guys during the game. We expect them to contribute and they do. They’re having to grow up fast, but they’re more than capable of that.”
The Blue Jackets went from the worst in NHL to just missing the playoffs last year after changing their head coach, president of hockey operations and general manager in the past two years.
Columbus also traded 2009 all-star forward Jeff Carter and five-year captain Rick Nash, but it has received a share of valuable assets from trades and free-agent signings.
The new management has helped turn the team around in several ways, so it has set expectations for the players and coaches now that the team has the tools to be successful.
“We have a good team in here that has a chance to win every single night,” said Ryan Murray, a rookie defenseman. “Every single game we do expect to win and that’s our focus every day.”
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