Winnipeg clock!

[TheLionKing]

I don't understand how people would take the Canucks in October over the Lions in October. The whole season is ahead for the Canucks, the Lions may have 2 or three home games left and are at the top of the league. The Canucks are over priced and tickets are hard to get, the Lions are a bargain and tickets are always available, and I'd take a wide open Jackson to Simon game anyday over a Roberto Luongo 1-0 win.

Bingo !

[chimpy]

The Lions need to be more assertive in their ticket sales/marketing by going head to head with the Canucks. Example: Lions are consistent performers, tickets are better priced and excellent seats are available in the upper deck. Last time I checked, Canucks tickets are not really available as they sell out all the time. When compared to football, in too many hockey games the players float, too many games in a season waters down each games importance etc.


I totally agree with this statment except Davis Brailey is not going to promote the lions as much as the canucks do because, he belives the lions will sell by just winning, well that is not the case anymore, you have to do more than just win, you have to promote, advertise, let people know out there you are winning. that is what the canucks do and the lions do not do, and that is why the lions are still averging 32,000 a game when they could be averging 35,000 a game.

[Krazy4football]

The Lions need to be more assertive in their ticket sales/marketing by going head to head with the Canucks. Example: Lions are consistent performers, tickets are better priced and excellent seats are available in the upper deck. Last time I checked, Canucks tickets are not really available as they sell out all the time. When compared to football, in too many hockey games the players float, too many games in a season waters down each games importance etc.


I totally agree with this statment except Davis Brailey is not going to promote the lions as much as the canucks do because, he belives the lions will sell by just winning, well that is not the case anymore, you have to do more than just win, you have to promote, advertise, let people know out there you are winning. that is what the canucks do and the lions do not do, and that is why the lions are still averging 32,000 a game when they could be averging 35,000 a game.

Why do the Lions not appeal to the family more? Is BC Place not big enough that you can have a family enclosure and not sell beer? The alcohol free sections appear not to be very effective, and you certainly are not going to tell people you can't drink at games, can one endzone not be a family zone? I would like to take my kids to games, but admit it, the dome is not a family friendly place. The earlier post from the chap who said he hadn't been to many games because of drunkeness is clear testimonial to the state of the dome by the third quarter. I took my son's minor football team to an exhibition game (courtest of Lui) and we had to watch repeated fights in the stands and had a couple of yobs standing in the aisles trying unsuccessfully to start the wave. The Lionbackers seem to be a group of hardcore fans that the Lions would listen to...why not lobby them with the idea.

[Blue In BC]

Are those comments that far from the truth.

The Bombers had about 27,000 paid attendance on Friday in a stadium with a seating capacity of 29, 600. I have no idea how many were there but those are the reported numbers.

The Bombers had 5 consecutive sellouts and the last 2 games only didn't fill about 6K seats in total.

Overall for the season, that must be about 98% of capacity sold. This has been huge in Winnipeg.

When you consider the population base in Winnipeg and Vancouver, it was a fair comment.


Aside form the 26K - 32K die hard Lions fans ( that attend ) in Vancouver, you have to admit that the Lions are always 2nd in the media with the Canucks.

Yes, when the Lions host a playoff game they usually fill the place, but where are those other 30K fan the rest of the year? They are casual fans and they need to become full time fans.


And yes, I haven't been to every game this season.

It's fair comment to say that B.C. Place has been a bit quieter this year compared to recent years, but let's put things in the proper perspective. There have been a lot of one-sided scores in favour of the home team this year, and as mentioned in my earlier post, through just a quirk in the schedule, we really haven't had a game this year that even diehard Lions fans have circled on their calendar. No Riders late, no "revenge match," no battle for first overall etc. I'm actually hoping the media will hype "Murphy vs Braidwood II" so at least we'll have one compelling storyline.

Not to denigrate the Bombers' accomplishments at the gate, Blue In BC (I hope for big crowds in every CFL city), but you have to admit that they definitely built momentum this season by "Stegall watch." And I'm always a bit uneasy about population comparisons when people say "well you have 2 million people so you should sell out every game." It's not that easy. I think it's a lot easier for teams in smaller towns (and yes, with a 600K population, I think Winnipeg qualifies as a smaller town) to get the message out there about the team and, in turn, for those citizens to really rally around the cause and take ownership in their club than it is for a bigger town with divergent backgrounds and a multitude of sports and entertainment opportunities.

DH 8)

There a lot of factors why teams fill stadiums and why they don't. Even winning consistently, doesn't always do that. There is more to do in Vancouver than Regina or Winnipeg, so the population issue is not a direct comparison.

Marketing in Winnipeg may be easier than Vancouver for those reasons.

I do believe that the Lions don't do a good enough job of marketing. IMHO, that's the key missing element.

Not that we have $500M lying around, but how much of a difference would a retractable roof make to getting people into the stands in July - August?

I don't have the answer, but in years past, I've posted suggestions to get people into the stadium. In some cases, it's not even that necessary that it drives huge increases in revenue. More people will eventually get people interested and drive revenue.

I've always like the idea of cheap seats sections directly opposite for SFU and UBC students. Give the young university people a break and let them yell at each other from opposite sides.

More family zones.

Just get people in the park.

[Rammer]

The Lions need to be more assertive in their ticket sales/marketing by going head to head with the Canucks. Example: Lions are consistent performers, tickets are better priced and excellent seats are available in the upper deck. Last time I checked, Canucks tickets are not really available as they sell out all the time. When compared to football, in too many hockey games the players float, too many games in a season waters down each games importance etc.


I totally agree with this statment except Davis Brailey is not going to promote the lions as much as the canucks do because, he belives the lions will sell by just winning, well that is not the case anymore, you have to do more than just win, you have to promote, advertise, let people know out there you are winning. that is what the canucks do and the lions do not do, and that is why the lions are still averging 32,000 a game when they could be averging 35,000 a game.

Why do the Lions not appeal to the family more? Is BC Place not big enough that you can have a family enclosure and not sell beer? The alcohol free sections appear not to be very effective, and you certainly are not going to tell people you can't drink at games, can one endzone not be a family zone? I would like to take my kids to games, but admit it, the dome is not a family friendly place. The earlier post from the chap who said he hadn't been to many games because of drunkeness is clear testimonial to the state of the dome by the third quarter. I took my son's minor football team to an exhibition game (courtest of Lui) and we had to watch repeated fights in the stands and had a couple of yobs standing in the aisles trying unsuccessfully to start the wave. The Lionbackers seem to be a group of hardcore fans that the Lions would listen to...why not lobby them with the idea.

I hope that you do not base your perspective of the atmosphere at BC Place on what you saw at the pre-season game. The fans attending that game are not the same crowd that you will see during a regular season game, as that crowd for the most part don't care about football and using tickets given to them. Myself and other Lionbackers regularily bring in our children to the games, and although I do have an advantage of sitting near a group of Lionbackers, I think that you will find most ST sections would provide a stable environment without cause of concern.

Try out a regular season game and if per chance you have an issue with your enjoyment factor being tainted, you can call the security discretly to help correct a problem.

[sj-roc]

It's fair comment to say that B.C. Place has been a bit quieter this year compared to recent years, but let's put things in the proper perspective. There have been a lot of one-sided scores in favour of the home team this year, and as mentioned in my earlier post, through just a quirk in the schedule, we really haven't had a game this year that even diehard Lions fans have circled on their calendar. No Riders late, no "revenge match," no battle for first overall etc. I'm actually hoping the media will hype "Murphy vs Braidwood II" so at least we'll have one compelling storyline.

I don't think that's going to happen since it will be the back half of a home-and-home. MvB2 will have already played itself out in Edmonton the week before (i.e., this coming Sat Oct 13). A compelling storyline for the rematch here will probably have to generate from something that transpires in Commonwealth. If MvB1 would have delayed itself until Saturday instead of happening here in the home opener -- which is ancient history now -- we might have had something on that front.

Maybe we will have the opportunity to mathematically eliminate Edmonton from the playoffs on Oct 20, if everything between now and then unfolds properly. I haven't confirmed one way or the other if that's even possible, but it would be a compelling storyline for more casual fans. However, that "everything between now and then" could possibly include the outcome of the Tor-Mtl game immediately before ours on Oct 20 -- since Edm can still catch either of them for a crossover berth -- in which case there'd be no leadtime to sell the story anyway!

[Rammer]

Edmonton is only 2 points behind the Stamps at this point, they don't have the season series though, and will need to pick up 3 additional points, with only 8 points available, and Calgary still has 10 potentially.

[sj-roc]

Edmonton is only 2 points behind the Stamps at this point, they don't have the season series though, and will need to pick up 3 additional points, with only 8 points available, and Calgary still has 10 potentially.

Yep... if Montreal and Calgary both win tomorrow, the Eskimos will be in tough. They'd be five points out of the 3W berth because of that tiebreaker, and four points out of the crossover berth -- a fair bit of ground to make up in four games, two of which are against us.

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

I don't understand how people would take the Canucks in October over the Lions in October. The whole season is ahead for the Canucks, the Lions may have 2 or three home games left and are at the top of the league. The Canucks are over priced and tickets are hard to get, the Lions are a bargain and tickets are always available, and I'd take a wide open Jackson to Simon game anyday over a Roberto Luongo 1-0 win.

When the Lions and Canucks are on at the same time, I watch the Lions. Simple math. 82 games or 18 games? I watched all of the rest of the Winnipeg game and had the radio on for the Canucks, flip to SNET during commercials.

[Lions4ever]

I don't understand how people would take the Canucks in October over the Lions in October. The whole season is ahead for the Canucks, the Lions may have 2 or three home games left and are at the top of the league. The Canucks are over priced and tickets are hard to get, the Lions are a bargain and tickets are always available, and I'd take a wide open Jackson to Simon game anyday over a Roberto Luongo 1-0 win.

When the Lions and Canucks are on at the same time, I watch the Lions. Simple math. 82 games or 18 games? I watched all of the rest of the Winnipeg game and had the radio on for the Canucks, flip to SNET during commercials.

When the Lions and Canucks are on at the same time, I watch the Lions. Simple math. I make sure to watch zero Canuck games every season. Life is good!

[No Ordinary Joe]

I don't understand how people would take the Canucks in October over the Lions in October. The whole season is ahead for the Canucks, the Lions may have 2 or three home games left and are at the top of the league. The Canucks are over priced and tickets are hard to get, the Lions are a bargain and tickets are always available, and I'd take a wide open Jackson to Simon game anyday over a Roberto Luongo 1-0 win.

When the Lions and Canucks are on at the same time, I watch the Lions. Simple math. 82 games or 18 games? I watched all of the rest of the Winnipeg game and had the radio on for the Canucks, flip to SNET during commercials.

When the Lions and Canucks are on at the same time, I watch the Lions. Simple math. I make sure to watch zero Canuck games every season. Life is good!

What do you have against the Canucks?

[Ballistic Bob]

The TEAM replayed the Lions game at 12 instead of the Nucks after Fridays games. Go figure. BB

[Rammer]

The TEAM replayed the Lions game at 12 instead of the Nucks after Fridays games. Go figure. BB

Yet TSN never bothered to replay the broadcast on Friday night, and instead showed bowling or something like that. Just goes to show you where the money flow is.

[Lions4ever]

When the Lions and Canucks are on at the same time, I watch the Lions. Simple math. 82 games or 18 games? I watched all of the rest of the Winnipeg game and had the radio on for the Canucks, flip to SNET during commercials.

When the Lions and Canucks are on at the same time, I watch the Lions. Simple math. I make sure to watch zero Canuck games every season. Life is good!

What do you have against the Canucks?

Nothing. Just don't follow Canucks or even hockey in general. If Canucks switched to playing football I might follow them tho'. Let me know if that happens!

[Shaggy]

Did anyone actually see a reason WHY the 20 second clock was out for a 2nd game in a row in the 'Peg?