The Blues have a waiting list for season tickets

The Blues have never not been a fixture in St. Louis since their arrival in 1967. The team has gone through low patches - Ralston-Purina’s sale and threatened move, not sending someone to the 1983 draft, the Chris Pronger trade and poor records that followed - but they’ve consistently been part of the sports scene. Over the past decade the team has worked hard to rebuild its season ticket base from the debacle that were the years from between the 2004-2005 lockout through 2011. Under the ownership of Tom Stillman, the team’s shown significant success thanks to actual bone fide interest in the team as a focus of civic pride instead of a tax write-off. Having St. Louis natives in the ownership group has allowed the team to be competitive in reaching their goal of winning the Stanley Cup.

Season tickets are on sale now, and they’re almost gone. The team’s had to gin up the first waiting list for season ticket purchases in the team’s history. Obviously, the biggest reason for this is that the Blues won the Stanley Cup in their 52nd season. The playoff run is a revenue cash cow in itself, but no one has ever said that they were disinterested in a local championship team. Expectations are high for continued success, and there’s a banner raising that a lot of people would absolutely love to see.

When you factor in renovations - a working escalator is almost too much to comprehend - along with the 2020 NHL All Star Game, the bigger picture comes into focus. Fans will basically need to be a season ticket holder to get into the first ASG since 1988, unless they want to pay through the roof scalper prices to watch Brett Hull MC another event.

Economically speaking for the region, this is big for downtown. Local bars and restaurants thrived before Blues playoff games, and Union Station is set to open the aquarium, ferris wheel, and new restaurant to replace Hard Rock Cafe. Factor in business from more season ticket holders this fall and a potential MLS stadium soon, and the area near Union Station and the Enterprise Center will probably be consistently busier than it has been in years.

Fans have been waiting decades for this kind of success to come to the Blues, and the team’s reaping the rewards. Hopefully the city will as well, but to do so will require the Blues to continue to put a worthwhile product on the ice.