Ullrich: Couches a formidable foe for Lions’ attendance
Home comforts and HD broadcasts biting into the number of fans watching the game live
BY LOWELL ULLRICH, THE PROVINCE JULY 29, 2014
A clear sense of euphoria came over B.C. Lions owner David Braley around this time three seasons ago, or as unrestrained a demeanour as the only two-team owner in the CFL allows others to see.
The western end of Braley’s football operation had successfully survived an 18-month stay at Empire Field that has proved problematical for every team in the similar situation of waiting for a stadium overhaul since, and the future looked bright.
It was at least good enough for Braley to forecast a crowd or two in the area of 40,000 once the Lions returned to B.C. Place Stadium midway through the 2011 season.
But if any subsequent obvious pattern has emerged, it is one of a healthy business that is having trouble keeping the paying customer from retreating to the comfort of their television room. It’s an easy pendulum to monitor.
Television revenues are up, thanks to the average $42-million injection into the bottom line of every CFL team as a result of the new broadcast rights agreement with TSN. While television ratings as up, attendance is down.
And though the Lions pulled out all the stops to recognize a departed superstar in Geroy Simon, it had little effect on pulling the paying customer off the couch, with an increase of fewer than 300 fans for their most recent outing against Winnipeg compared to a week earlier.
There’s a touch of disappointment in the voice of president Dennis Skulsky in looking back at a game Friday that drew 25,321 fans, dropping the Lions’ three-game average relative to the 2013 season and continuing a decline (see chart).
But it also measured against Skulsky’s resolve.
“I don’t read more or less into it, but I would have thought that the (attendance) needle would have moved more for the sendoff of probably one of the greatest Lions ever,” Skulsky said after handing out Simon posters to the crowd at practice Tuesday.
“That was a little disappointing because I thought we could have sent off Geroy in an even bigger way. I was proud of what the organization did. At the end it reinforces that we have to work harder.”
The core business metrics of the franchise remain positive, with gains in almost every measurable area relative to the bottom line, including corporate, group and season-ticket sales, Skulsky said.
TSN ratings remain strong, with the Lions-Winnipeg audience of 874,000 nationally outranking almost all Canadian sports television combined that was available Friday. As a concession to the new TV agreement, the Lions have played two of three home games on Saturday afternoons, hardly a traditional time slot.
However, even discounting the annual difficulty of attracting fans before Labour Day, single-game sales are down to the point where the Lions are now targeting a 10-year low in average attendance going back to the 2003 arrival of Wally Buono.
Skulsky wasn’t willing to concede a burnout effect is in effect over the fact the Lions are about to host their second Grey Cup game in four seasons. The 2011 game had already sold out by this point in the season, and he is confident the remaining 11,000 seats will be taken for the Nov. 30 game.
Traditional rivals are also selling well, as the club Tuesday announced additional sections will be opened for an Aug. 24 game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
It’s also clear the Lions aren’t about to adopt the business model of the Vancouver Whitecaps, who restrict sales to the lower bowl and announce a sellout in an attempt to drive demand.
“I don’t subscribe to the theory that you don’t make tickets available to fans if there’s a need or a desire,” said Skulsky. “If people want to come to the stadium there’s a good chance we’ll have a ticket available.”
The problem isn’t limited to the Lions or three-down football but that there are no significant attendance gains anywhere in pro sports, Skulsky said.
Overall, though, the Lions’ attendance of 24,969 is just below the early league average, with attendance across the CFL down seven per cent in the first year of the new TSN deal, where blackout provisions are extremely limited. The only team reporting an attendance gain is the 4-1 Edmonton Eskimos.
There is no shortage of marketing experts when a team loses a segment of its fan base, but it clearly also doesn’t help when neither of Braley’s teams scored a touchdown last week, which may well have been a first during the same week under the watch of the Lions and Toronto Argonauts owner.
“There isn’t any panic going on with our organization. It’s pro sports and the whole television element,” Skulsky said. “That’s what pro sports is up against, including the quality of the broadcast and the availability of the (HD) signal.
“Does it have some impact? Yes, it probably does. None of these things in isolation should be judged.”
Indeed, they are only examined when a Lions legend is honoured and the city is predominantly cheering from the comfort of home.
JUST AVERAGE: Average attendance figures for the B.C. Lions at various points through the Wally Buono era:
Year Avg.
2003 23,653
2005-w 32,614
2008-x 34,083
2011-wy 29,725
2013 28,311
2014-wz 24,972
w-Host to Grey Cup game
x-Year of Bob Ackles death; highest average since 1991
y-Played at both B.C. Place Stadium, Empire Field
z-through three home dates
lullrich@theprovince.com
Twitter.com/fifthqtr
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