Dave Dickenson 'surpised' by off-season exodus

The Place for BC Lion Discussion. A forum for Lions fans to talk and chat about our team.
Discussion, News, Information and Speculation regarding the BC Lions and the CFL.
Prowl, Growl and Roar!

Moderator: Team Captains

Post Reply
User avatar
sj-roc
Hall of Famer
Posts: 7539
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 2:39 pm
Location: Kerrisdale

SammyGreene wrote:Not sure guys, I think that 2015 seating chart was prior to their decision to close the upper deck. The link to 2015 season tickets on their home page takes you to this seating chart.

https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/bclion ... ils/15FS10
I was thinking the same thing. It seems they were initially selling 2015 STs for what appears to be the first five rows A-E (i.e., the ones below concourse level before the double lettered AA etc rows begin) but they probably changed horses midstream when they were faced with such a low uptake that it wouldn't offset the custodial, concession and security expenses of having the UD open.

The number of seats getting closed down as a result of this move isn't all that large, perhaps a couple thousand, it's just that the optics of closing it off entirely are a bit of a downer. If they were to have just as quietly tarped off an equal number of seats at the very back of the lower deck endzones, it wouldn't have come off so negatively — not that this would have been viable, as the UD closure was done to cut costs; tarping lower bowl seats wouldn't accomplish this as readily.

We will probably (hopefully) see those first five UD rows, maybe more, opened up for single games as warranted during the season, esp perhaps the two Ssk games.
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
Top
User avatar
SammyGreene
Team Captain
Posts: 8082
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2002 11:52 am

sj-roc wrote:
The number of seats getting closed down as a result of this move isn't all that large, perhaps a couple thousand, it's just that the optics of closing it off entirely are a bit of a downer.

For sure sj-roc. The Lions will now have to point to their TV numbers to say they are the No. 2 team in this town over the Whitecaps because the optics of this is terrible, and in many people's eyes, puts the two franchises on equal ground. Pretty sad when both of BC Place's main tenants won't be using the upper deck in 2015.

You are very good with historical attendance numbers but the alarms bells needed to be going off in a major way at the conclusion of the 2008 season when they lost a big chunk of season ticket holders. They couldn't do much if ST holders didn't want to go to Empire in 2010 but the return to BC Place and higher ticket prices — plus the reconfiguration of some sections (my old gold seats were eliminated and became platinum) — caused further damage.
Top
Post Reply
Jump to