This is the most frustrating and disappointing thing when the lack of fans in the stands becomes as big (or even bigger in this case) than the on field performance — to the point where your head coach/GM and star players are being asked about it. They are living up to their end of the bargain. I'm sure there are many others as well but are working against flawed marketing and ticket pricing plans that are out of touch with their casual fan base.
David's idea makes a lot sense as they will be unveiling their 2017 season ticket campaign typically by the end of the month. My fear is it will be more of the same with a modest increase across the board. You only have to look in BC Place and see the huge gaps of empty seats between the 20 and 30 yard lines (especially on the visitors side) to realize the old gold section needs to be brought back. I would jump on that in a heartbreat. Our old seats sit unsold (in fact our entire row is) basically every game since we moved to the 55-yard-line for the same price.
Perception is everything right now. The media sees all the empty seats, as do the fans at home that use to come to the games. Another idea to paper part of the house is providing complimentary tickets to the 10,000 or so season ticket holders they have lost in the last 8 years or so. Let them see this exciting product live again for 1 game. Surely, they must still be in the ticket system data base.
Ed Willes column:
Product is there, but not the fans; The Lions have second-best record in the CFL, but are averaging 20,194 fans a game
The Province
Sun Sep 11 2016
Ed Willes
The numbers from the B.C. Lions 38-27 win over the Montreal Alouettes Friday night tell a compelling story.
For starters, the Leos produced 593 yards in total offence, including a robust 252 yards on the ground. Individually, running back Jeremiah Johnson ran for a CFL-season high 159 yards on just 16 carries while scoring three touchdowns. Quarterback Jonathon Jennings went 24-of-33 for 341 yards and return man Chris Rainey accounted for 180 all-purpose yards.
So this was a night to celebrate for the Lions, a night when they dominated virtually every facet of the game. It was also a night when they ran their record to 8-3, the second-best mark in the CFL, keeping them in contact with the first-place Calgary Stampeders in the West.
But there was one other number from this game which told a story for the Lions, a story that isn't quite as happy as those gaudy statistical lines and the sexy won-loss record. A crowd of 18,107 took in the game, the lowest of the Wally Buono-era in Vancouver, and that dismal attendance is becoming as much a part of the Lions season as Jennings' passing numbers.
"I don't want to be critical," Buono said. "For a year, maybe more, we disappointed (the fans). You earn the respect and we have to continue to earn their respect. We're playing exciting football, but it takes 10 years to build a fan base and you can lose it very quickly.
"The organization is going to be patient. We're going to work hard to get one season-ticket holder at a time."
That, at least, would be a start. But it would be naive to think the Lions can fix this problem quickly and easily.
Declining attendance has been a storyline for each of the last five Lions seasons, but this year, it feels as if the CFL team has jumped the shark. After five home games,
they're averaging a paltry 20,194 fans per game, which would be their lowest total since the forgettable 1998 campaign, David Braley's second full season as the club's owner. Since then, there have been moments when the relationship between the Lions and its fan base was strained.
But it never felt broken. Until now.
"This is Vancouver," Solomon Elimimian said. "We all understand what's going on. I'm sure it will take care of itself."
Translation: This is a city of front-runners and loyalty can last as long as the next losing streak. Just ask the Canucks and the Whitecaps.
"We're in a different day and age," Elimimian continued. "The TV numbers are good. I guess people would rather be relaxing in a comfortable chair watching a big-screen TV."
The man has a point. In reciting the reasons for the Lions limp attendance, a familiar litany of excuses are given. There's the cost of the tickets at B.C. Place, the presence of the Seattle Seahawks down the road and the Lions in-game presentation.
But that TV monster is an interesting one.
The league's numbers remain strong. Over the Labour Day weekend in Canada, the fifth-, sixth-and seventh-highest rated sports shows were CFL games. The top four, not surprisingly, were Blue Jays games, but the fourth-ranked show was a Jays-Yankees game which drew an average audience of 926,000. The fifth-ranked Argos-Tiger Cats game drew an average audience of 902,000.
So there are CFL fans. The next question is how do you get them from their man caves to the stadiums, and that's where things get tricky. In 2010, the year they spent in exile at Empire Field, the Lions still averaged more than 24,000 fans a game playing in a facility that looked as if it was constructed from a Lego set.
Now, they just wish they could back to that level, but those salad days of 2011 when they drew 36,510 a game to the newly renovated Dome or even 2008 when they averaged 34,083 seem so far away, even when they aren't.
While we're spreading cheery news, here's something else to consider: If the Lions can't regain their lost drawing power with this team, they really do have a problem.
Jennings is the real deal; a young, dynamic franchise quarterback, and he has weapons all over the offence.
Rainey might be the most exciting player in the league. Bryan Burnham is an emerging star.
The defence has to withstand the loss of three starters in the secondary, but up front, they play fast and they play mean.
The Lions also have four home games between Oct. 1 and Nov. 5 and, by then, might have some real momentum on their side.
That's, at least, what the players were saying after the win over the Alouettes, and maybe there's something to that.
But it still doesn't explain why an 8-3 team draws just over 18,000 to a Friday night game after Labour Day.
"It's not happening as fast as we would like," Ryan Phillips said. "But once the weather changes we'll try to give (the fans) something to look forward to."
Hopefully, they'll be watching.
