The Lions & the Canucks...

[jcalhoun]

Hey all,

One of my concerns last year, with the lengthy playoff run the Canucks went on, was how the Lions would be effected. My thinking went something like this: everyone with disposable income spent far more on hockey than they normally would, on tickets, nights out watching the game, on booze, on jerseys, car flags, etc. Spending entertainment dollars every other day (or so) for two months, consumed a large slice of the entertainment-dollar pie. The Lions would of course be effected, because people would be paying off the bills they'd amassed during the Stanley Cup run, or tightening their belts after spending so freely. It seems a reasonable assumption.

I've been wondering if there is any correlation between a successful hockey season and how well the Lions do. During the NHL lockout of 2004-05, the Lions got a big jump in per-game attendance (though their teams were a lot better then too). The Lions also had a big jump in attendance in 2008, following a year the Canucks failed to make the playoffs. If one goes back to the '94 Cup run, the Lions average attendance dipped 3,200 per game over the previous season.

Now obviously the Lions won the Grey Cup last year, they have a great team, as well as the novelty of a new building. If there is an uptick in attendance (as there surely will be), it will be attributed to those factors. But I'm beginning to think that the Canuck's lack of success in the playoffs may be an additional factor that will spur more season ticket sales.

If the Canucks lose on Wednesday, or whenever the next game after that is, the Lions marketing people have got to kick it into overdrive, before those sports fans that set aside money (if only mentally) for another Stanley Cup run decide to spend it on something else. There needs to be a tactful pause, of course, to allow the city to get over the disappointment and the talk-radio people to dissect every aspect of the failure, but once that's done, the Lions have got to try and dominate the sports-media landscape.

Anyway, my two cents. Go Kings.

James

[Sir Purrcival]

Seems like a reasonable hypothesis. My theory is that in life, we have levels of things that make things comfortable for us. E.G. if you have a job that keeps you talking all day, you don't feel so inclined to be chatty at home, if you drive all day, you don't go for drive for entertainment later (or are less likely to at any rate). So to it is with the sports fan. There are elements of the experience which transcend the actual game. Maybe you eat out after or before the game, you enjoy the roar of the crowds, the anticipation of the event, opportunity to hang with friends. When you have events like last year's Canucks run, for some, the extra games and experiences would have quite naturally filled the overall amounts for that kind of experience that some are comfortable with. Add in the emotional roller coaster that many fans ride when they are following a team and you can top out, emotionally, financially and physically. It is human nature 101. If the Canucks bow out early which appears very likely, then the stage will be set for a very good year for the Lions. New stadium, coming off a championship, early Canucks exit.

[B.C.FAN]

One Lions season ticket can be brought for roughly the price of two Canucks single-game playoff tickets. If the Canucks are eliminated early, there could be disposable money floating around in the pockets of sports fans.

A bigger issue, perhaps, is the media saturation that a deep Canucks playoff run generates. The Lions opened the preseason last year on the same night the Canucks were playing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. That preseason game was on the road but this year's preseason opener is at home.

[David]

For an ad theme this year, I would like them to explore something along the lines of "there's nothing like being here;" the notion that, sure, you can catch games on TV, but there's no replacing the in-stadium experience for watching Lions games. Let's face it, most of us have high def. The "local blackout in effect" is an anachronism - almost a lame "TV Guide" message from the '80s when people's viewing choices were limited and viewing habits much different than today.

I'd show the inside of BC Place with the giant high def scoreboard, cup holders on every seat, hole in the roof, and have fun with it, something like "The Ultimate Man Cave."


DH

[Big Time]

My own two cents...

I'm a Canucks season ticket holder and a Lions season ticket holder. Last year I took a one year hiatus from Lions seasons tickets because I was completing my Master's degree and wasn't going to be able to go to all the games. I'm now back in the fold. Last year I dropped about a grand on playoff tickets (including games 1, 5 and 7 of the finals).

IMO the performance of the Canucks has no impact on my desire to support the Lions. The commitment to season tickets comes long before the NHL playoffs so for most people it's a sunk cost. The biggest factors for me are the time commitment and the quality of the product. Last year I made the tough call that due to lack of time and what I believed to be a rebuilding year (thankfully wrong) that it wouldn't work. Another factor is that the re-sale value for Lions tickets is non existent. With a Canucks ticket I can always sell it at a considerable profit which is why I kept my tickets to the Canucks. With the Lions, I'm lucky if I can find someone who will pay face value.

Vancouver is a big event town. That's why Grey Cup's and the Olympics were so successful. When it comes to supporting teams, the quality of the team makes the biggest difference. Canucks by and large have been one of the best NHL teams for the past decade. However many of us remember the Messier years where the Canucks were one of the worst. On those nights, they were lucky to get 12,000 fans per game. I remember turning down 2nd row tickets in the lower bowl back then because I didn't want to pay for parking. I knew there would be zero entertainment value and it wasn't worth my time. If the Canucks start losing again, you can bet that the fan support will dwindle.

I believe the Lions will be more successful this year because they will have a great team in a great new facility. The Canucks sink or swim will have no bearing on this.

[sj-roc]

Didn't think this really warranted its own thread so I just thought I'd add it to this most recent attendance-related discussion that I could find. Occasionally, disappointment is voiced here when the Lions fall short of crowd size expectations, so it might be worth noting that in this city, we're not alone in that regard:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/art ... le2414146/

And this is from a part of the entertainment industry that measures sold out audiences in the mere *hundreds*.