All things Lions Marketing/Promotions 2014

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Robbie
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Be sure to check out the BC Lions Fan Open House on Sunday, May 25th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm!
http://www.bclions.com/article/open-house

•meet Lions alumni greats and current BC Lions players for autographs
•get a behind-the-scenes look at the BC Lions locker room
•take a photo with the Grey Cup trophy
•check out the brand new line of BC Lions merchandise
•take part in tons of great family activities such as fun inflatables, football tosses, balloons, face painting and much more!
Last edited by Robbie on Thu Aug 21, 2014 1:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
祝加拿大加式足球聯賽不列颠哥伦比亚卑詩雄獅隊今年贏格雷杯冠軍。此外祝溫哥華加人隊贏總統獎座·卡雲斯·甘保杯·史丹利盃。還每年祝溫哥華白頭浪隊贏美國足球大联盟杯。不要忘記每年祝溫哥華巨人贏西部冰球聯盟冠軍。
改建後的卑詩體育館於二十十一年九月三十日重新對外開放,首場體育活動為同日舉行的加拿大足球聯賽賽事,由主場的卑詩雄獅隊以三十三比二十四擊敗愛民頓愛斯基摩人隊。
祝你龍年行大運。
恭喜西雅图海鹰直到第四十八屆超級盃最終四十三比八大勝曾拿下兩次超級盃冠軍的丹佛野馬拿下隊史第一個超級盃冠軍。
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David
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Just came back from this event - always a lot of fun. Nice to see some fellow Lionbackers there - Bosco and Ballistic Bob. Club announced there will be 3 charter fan trips this year. IIRC, one is to Regina on July 12, Ottawa September 5, and a 3rd one in Calgary on September 27.

I've attended all of these in the past (a combination of state-of-the-union for STH and a "fanfest" of sorts). What was really surprising this year - in a good way - was the turnout. There was a massive line-up to get in (unfortunately they only opened a single entrance, perhaps not anticipating the crowds). We waited nearly 30 minutes to get in the building. I would say there was easily between 5,000 and 6,000 there - probably about a 50% bigger turnout than usual. Pretty impressive when you consider it was a rainy Sunday in a strike threatened season. :thup: Can't say enough how impressed I was with the player turnout too (Manny, Solly, Marco, Travis, Khalif, Ernest, Jamall, Jason, and Paul McC.). They could easily have blown this event off given the current labour climate. Shows they really do care about the fans.


DH :cool:
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Big Time
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Agreed. Today's event was tremendous. Brought my family and we had a great time. Huge turnout, good vibe on the field, and free food for season ticket holders! Had a good chat with Wally Buono and got my picture taken with David Braley. Really has me pumped for the season! Kudos to the Lions for putting on a great event today.
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David wrote:Just came back from this event - always a lot of fun. Nice to see some fellow Lionbackers there - Bosco and Ballistic Bob. Club announced there will be 3 charter fan trips this year. IIRC, one is to Regina on July 12, Ottawa September 5, and a 3rd one in Calgary on September 27.

I've attended all of these in the past (a combination of state-of-the-union for STH and a "fanfest" of sorts). What was really surprising this year - in a good way - was the turnout. There was a massive line-up to get in (unfortunately they only opened a single entrance, perhaps not anticipating the crowds). We waited nearly 30 minutes to get in the building. I would say there was easily between 5,000 and 6,000 there - probably about a 50% bigger turnout than usual. Pretty impressive when you consider it was a rainy Sunday in a strike threatened season. :thup: Can't say enough how impressed I was with the player turnout too (Manny, Solly, Marco, Travis, Khalif, Ernest, Jamall, Jason, and Paul McC.). They could easily have blown this event off given the current labour climate. Shows they really do care about the fans.


DH :cool:
Ditto David. Just a thought. Anyone else think the Waterboys should of or could of been acknowledge considering their deep pockets and commitment. Thnx BB
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notahomer
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Had a blast and really am glad I got there about 20 minutes before the doors were supposed to open....

Had lots of fun, met a few players and certainly enjoyed myself....

Certainly seemed like an awesome crowd and SO MANY KIDS!!! Great because they'll be the ones buying the tickets in 20 years...

First thing I did? Booked myself a spot on the Ottawa Operation Orange. Finally Triple O means something besides a pretty good burger sauce..... :wink:
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Toppy Vann
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As predicted by some of us, this is what the Lions will do to crank up per seat revenues while keeping costs down.

Decrease the number of tickets like the Whitecaps do and this will help move per seat revenues up like they do at the hockey arena.

Fans will be polled and if they are stupid enough to vote for the improved fan experience that will push this sort of drive, then they we will get the just desserts when they find huge ticket prices ramping up over the next few years. Remember the Lions say their surveys fans earns upwards of 90K per year IIRC.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/footb ... story.html

The sheeples voting this up need to go back and study some basic supply and demand.
A quick show of hands of the estimated 3,000 season ticket holders on hand at an open house Sunday did not suggest a majority of those were in favour of the idea but club president Dennis Skulsky said the Lions would abide by the survey outcome.
I find it a bit perplexing that the public paid for this stadium and upgrade and a business can come in as they have the right to do and make it smaller.

Hockey does fne with fewer seats so the Lions want to follow. Smart marketing but does little to grow the game with fans in seats. But not fully astute fans.
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B.C.FAN
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This isn't 2003, when the Lions closed off the upper deck, and the Lions aren't the Whitecaps, who seem happy to tarp off thousands of seats in the lower bowl for every game as well as draping the upper bowl. By all accounts, season ticket sales are up this year and the Lions can anticipate growing fan interest in a Grey Cup hosting year. The biggest complaint the Lions have faced in recent years is not having enough family-friendly pricing for casual fans.
TheLionKing
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Toppy Vann wrote:As predicted by some of us, this is what the Lions will do to crank up per seat revenues while keeping costs down.

Decrease the number of tickets like the Whitecaps do and this will help move per seat revenues up like they do at the hockey arena.

Fans will be polled and if they are stupid enough to vote for the improved fan experience that will push this sort of drive, then they we will get the just desserts when they find huge ticket prices ramping up over the next few years. Remember the Lions say their surveys fans earns upwards of 90K per year IIRC.
Not in favour of this proposal
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notahomer
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I DID NOT get lost in lines yesterday but many people did. Standing in a line to get hot-dog only to find out it was a line to fill your drink etc.... The lineups were a fiasco for many attendees yesterday and I'm thankful I was not one. I was there early enough that I grabbed my Seasons Tickets and got my free food before the lines got really crazy.....

What I did like is one of the first comments Skulsky said was apologizing for how they had prepared. He gave the excuse that they were unready for the sheer numbers but then immediately corrected himself and said 'EXCUSES don't matter, we didn't do well enough, I'm sorry.' (paraphrasing). I like that. I wasn't stuck for twenty minutes in a line only to find out its not the right line but a basic apology is the way to go IMO.

I chatted with Skulsky later and for all those fans who can't get out to the games (due to price and/or other reasons) apparently the new TV deal is making it even harder to do blackouts and they wonder if they really help anyways. I hear what they are saying. The BC Lions say its a special experience being at the stadium. I'd agree but at the same time, had I not HAD to buy tickets at one time a decade ago or miss the game, I'm not so sure I ever would have started being a ST holder. In a way I'm glad HDTV was not available because I doubt I would have bothered because I could watch at home but I'm glad I did.....
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David
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NOTE - I have moved this topic to the main football forum as a couple of interesting announcements came up at the Open House, and I wanted it to be visible. As reported above:

1) club considering reducing its capacity by using mostly lower bowl config with curtains.

2) Operation Orange is taking flight again this year with 3 trips planned (Regina, Ottawa, Calgary).



DH :cool:
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The_Pauser
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notahomer wrote:I DID NOT get lost in lines yesterday but many people did. Standing in a line to get hot-dog only to find out it was a line to fill your drink etc.... The lineups were a fiasco for many attendees yesterday and I'm thankful I was not one. I was there early enough that I grabbed my Seasons Tickets and got my free food before the lines got really crazy.....

What I did like is one of the first comments Skulsky said was apologizing for how they had prepared. He gave the excuse that they were unready for the sheer numbers but then immediately corrected himself and said 'EXCUSES don't matter, we didn't do well enough, I'm sorry.' (paraphrasing). I like that. I wasn't stuck for twenty minutes in a line only to find out its not the right line but a basic apology is the way to go IMO.

I chatted with Skulsky later and for all those fans who can't get out to the games (due to price and/or other reasons) apparently the new TV deal is making it even harder to do blackouts and they wonder if they really help anyways. I hear what they are saying. The BC Lions say its a special experience being at the stadium. I'd agree but at the same time, had I not HAD to buy tickets at one time a decade ago or miss the game, I'm not so sure I ever would have started being a ST holder. In a way I'm glad HDTV was not available because I doubt I would have bothered because I could watch at home but I'm glad I did.....
Pffft....I DID get lost in the lines...well not so much lost, just caught up in them, lol. Wasn't too bad though. In fact, I happily put up with the overcrowdedness. It's good to see that people are getting interested in football again. I hope to see 40k consistently at BC Place this year (yeah I know, probably a little ambitious).

Has anyone else noticed that they jacked up the price for Operation Orange this year? Prices are now based on double occupancy and not single. (Raised prices + based on double now). Oh well. I'll still probably go on the Regina trip.
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Toppy Vann
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B.C.FAN wrote:This isn't 2003, when the Lions closed off the upper deck, and the Lions aren't the Whitecaps, who seem happy to tarp off thousands of seats in the lower bowl for every game as well as draping the upper bowl. By all accounts, season ticket sales are up this year and the Lions can anticipate growing fan interest in a Grey Cup hosting year. The biggest complaint the Lions have faced in recent years is not having enough family-friendly pricing for casual fans.
You might have missed or forgotten the Skulsky statements some time ago on following the Whitecaps move to tarp it off with the prime objective making demand for a ticket rise.

The less open the stadium the less cost for security and staffing. The fewer seats set in stone means that those in Vancouver who are walk ups close to or on game day will have to find a scalper.

The optimum position for a business is loyal customers who will pay more and if the Lions can get to that scenario with the upper income fans having a smaller seating capacity but higher revenue per seat means more income.

Fans will have to decide pre-season to ante up for seasons as walk ups won't happen.

Playoffs might be different but who knows. They could still just make the post season tickets cost higher as they do for the Grey Cup game where all teams' fans want a shot at a ticket.
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SammyGreene
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Not sure how the Lions didn't expect to see that many people given you to to RSVP to go to the event and they issued you a ticket (which they didn't do last year). Would that not give them a pretty good idea how many was coming? The public wasn't invited until 2 p.m. Think it was more of a case of the one entry into the stadium which Skulsky pointed out and apologized for.

Their season ticket based has dipped from 6 to 7 years ago but the Lions have a base between 16,000-18,000 that is as passionate about the team that I have ever seen. It all started with the resurgence of the franchise under Ackles and this core has survived the raising ticket prices and a couple of lean years. The amount of people wearing Lions gear Sunday for a non-game event was remarkable. Hell, I just wore a hat and was badly underdressed compared to many. And as others have pointed out, the number of young families is very encouraging as well.

This reduced capacity story is getting a little overhyped I think. The only seats they want to curtain off is the north sideline seats and both end zones which have basically been unoccupied since the 2012 Western Final. The south sidelines and discounted goalline sections (Global family section and Gemstone Gridiron for $30 all in) will remain open. If it will improve the atmosphere then I'm all for it (I'm sure the south sideline lower bowl season tickets don't like looking at an empty north side upper deck every game).
That said the lower end zone (with service charges) seats are going for around $45 per game which is a really tough sell. I wouldn't be surprised to see those discounted sections moved back down to the lower bowl just like they were previously with 7-Eleven and Safeway. That could lead to further curtains up top in 2015.
Does the new TV deal mean less urgency to be more creative with selling tickets? Probably.

Just never want to see the Lions announcing games as "sold out" as the Whitecaps do using 21,000 of a 54,000 seat stadium. Sekeres and Price were going on and on today about what a hot ticket the Whitecaps/Seattle game was. They have apparently been drinking plenty of Whitecaps kool-aid. The fact they are afraid the atmospshere and urgency will be impacted by untarping about 6,000 more lower bowl seats is ridiculous.
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notahomer
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The_Pauser wrote:Pffft....I DID get lost in the lines...well not so much lost, just caught up in them, lol. Wasn't too bad though. In fact, I happily put up with the overcrowdedness. It's good to see that people are getting interested in football again. I hope to see 40k consistently at BC Place this year (yeah I know, probably a little ambitious).

Has anyone else noticed that they jacked up the price for Operation Orange this year? Prices are now based on double occupancy and not single. (Raised prices + based on double now). Oh well. I'll still probably go on the Regina trip.
Sorry, to hear that. I was in/around the lines so I know they got crazy at times. I haven't had a cheeseburger at BC Place before. For a stadium burger....I was quite impressed.

No, I hadn't noticed a huge increase in prices. Operation Orange was the first thing I did once I hit the field. I'm going to save any Operation Orange trips to Regina until they get their new palace to play in. I think it will be neat because the first time I get to see the Ottawa Redblacks play a game in person it will be in their stadium, NOT OURS! I'm a political junkie so I'm definately taking a tour of the House of Commons etc.... I chatted with Skulsky and he said we get into Ottawa on Thursday, watch the game Friday, sleep in the hotel Friday night and take the plane the next day, arriving in Vancouver sometime in the afternoon.

I hope you are right about the 40k in attendance, nothing wrong with being ambitious, I'm sure the Lions hope you are RIGHT!
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David
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SammyGreene wrote:This reduced capacity story is getting a little overhyped I think. The only seats they want to curtain off is the north sideline seats and both end zones which have basically been unoccupied since the 2012 Western Final. The south sidelines and discounted goalline sections (Global family section and Gemstone Gridiron for $30 all in) will remain open. If it will improve the atmosphere then I'm all for it (I'm sure the south sideline lower bowl season tickets don't like looking at an empty north side upper deck every game).
That said the lower end zone (with service charges) seats are going for around $45 per game which is a really tough sell. I wouldn't be surprised to see those discounted sections moved back down to the lower bowl just like they were previously with 7-Eleven and Safeway. That could lead to further curtains up top in 2015.
Does the new TV deal mean less urgency to be more creative with selling tickets? Probably.

Just never want to see the Lions announcing games as "sold out" as the Whitecaps do using 21,000 of a 54,000 seat stadium. Sekeres and Price were going on and on today about what a hot ticket the Whitecaps/Seattle game was. They have apparently been drinking plenty of Whitecaps kool-aid. The fact they are afraid the atmospshere and urgency will be impacted by untarping about 6,000 more lower bowl seats is ridiculous.
Interestingly, The Province and 24Hours reported yesterday's turnout at 3,000, but it sure looked like at least 5K from where I sat (not much smaller than the "rally" when the Lions won the 2010 Grey Cup). Easily the biggest Fan Open House since they started hosting them when BC Place re-opened.

Kind of sad that they're already talking about curtains when just a few short years ago they anticipated crowds of 40,000 in their shiny new digs. First, I am NOT in favour of a lower bowl only configuration like the Whitecaps, so I am glad to hear you say that's not in their plans, SG. There's a way to reconfigure the upper bowl but it's got to be done creatively, it's going to cost the club money, and it may be somewhat labour intensive to set up and take down. HOWEVER, it's going to look fantastic and miles more professional that those silly white drapes that hang and don't fool anyone into thinking "gee, I wonder what's behind those curtains?!?"

Check out these branded team tarps that have been used by: the Oakland A's, Oakland Raiders, Baylor football, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. If I owned the team this would be a no-brainer. Tarp the upper bowl endzones to about the 30 yard line on each side OR the end zones and the entire north side and leave the south side upper deck open (the TV side). Logo'd tarps would help "sell" a BC Lions experience as opposed to sitting in a generic, multi-purpose stadium, and more importantly, it would create a more intimate and dynamic atmosphere as fans would be packed in tight.

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