2016 All Things Lions Marketing & Promotions

[B.C.FAN]

I heard the first 10 minutes only, which focused on David Braley's slowly improving health and Skulsky's delayed transition to a lesser role, and I have no audio to listen to the podcast. Can anyone recap the highlights of the session?

[Hambone]

I admit I have not thought costing through, but I am a bit of a nerd I love trains and I love my BC Lions, seems a match made in heaven to me. And if it helps those in eastern suburbs come to games and negate "getting to Vancouver" as a problem argument? Sweet!

I love the concept but shudder to think what the cost would be. I'd think at minimum $50K to run the special train. Given WCE is a M-F service everybody associated with the special Saturday train would be in on OT if not DT. It's one thing to fill a train for an event that draws 400K and creates a gong show up people trying to get there and quite another to fill it for an event drawing 20K. The Lions would be pissing away money to try it alone but if they could get sponsor(s) to cover train costs it definitely would be worth a try.

[Alputt]

I heard the first 10 minutes only, which focused on David Braley's slowly improving health and Skulsky's delayed transition to a lesser role, and I have no audio to listen to the podcast. Can anyone recap the highlights of the session?

Oh man I just spent 2 hours listening to that program and transcribing the main points then when I hit submit I WAS NOT LOGGED IN ANYMORE AND THE POST WAS LOST.

It was a good interview... but I don't have time to redo.

If anyone else is interested he confirmed there will be a CFL Video Game from EA sports by 2017 season open!!! Wow!

Apparently the team is not for sale, but they keep a list of 8 - 10 prospective buyers. Sidestepped criticism of the uni's they are working with Adidas. Tenth expansion team not a priority, but believes it will happen under Orridge's tenure (seems like Quebec City was a leading contender). Camp likely to stay in Kamloops. Nobody brought up the train idea... He believes bridge tolls may be affecting ticket sales in the Valley somewhat. They are married to BC Place hopefully improved transit in future will help. Biggest cities for season tix: Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby. Lots more:

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040- ... 2-1.535164

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040- ... 3-1.535199

[B.C.FAN]

I heard the first 10 minutes only, which focused on David Braley's slowly improving health and Skulsky's delayed transition to a lesser role, and I have no audio to listen to the podcast. Can anyone recap the highlights of the session?

Oh man I just spent 2 hours listening to that program and transcribing the main points then when I hit submit I WAS NOT LOGGED IN ANYMORE AND THE POST WAS LOST.

It was a good interview... but I don't have time to redo.

If anyone else is interested he confirmed there will be a CFL Video Game from EA sports by 2017 season open!!! Wow! L

Apparently the team is not for sale, but they keep a list of 8 - 10 prospective buyers. Sidestepped criticism of the uni's they are working with Adidas. Tenth expansion team not a priority, but believes it will happen under Orridge's tenure (seems like Quebec City was a leading contender). Camp likely to stay in Kamloops. Nobody brought up the train idea... He believes bridge tolls may be affecting ticket sales in the Valley somewhat. They are married to BC Place hopefully improved transit in future will help. Biggest cities for season tix: Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby. Lots more:

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040- ... 2-1.535164

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040- ... 3-1.535199

Thanks for the recap. Sorry about losing the post. I hate when that happens.

I wonder if the Lions distinguish corporate and individual ticket sales when they break down the geographic distribution of ticket holders. We have dozens of tickets through our corporate account based in Vancouver but the people who use them are from all over the region.

My tickets are under my Langley address but the two people who share them with me live in Abbotsford.

[David]

Was that David from here asking Dennis about the shades of orange? So glad it was asked, and I was pleasantly surprised by his admission that it is an issue and they are working on it. Surprised Sekeres was oblivious to it though.

The question was very well received. Much better than I thought. Sekeres said something like it would have never been something he would have thought to ask and that I should be working in the newsroom with that keen of an eye.

Some of the repeated from above:

* Braley recovering from health scare. Goes into the office for a few hours. Wouldn't rule out him coming out to Vancouver at some point this season for a game, but they want to get him to the Toronto game in 3 weeks.

* He flat out doesn't like black and the home unis were a tough sell ("you do what you think is best," which is owner speak for "I'm really not on board but not going to torpedo this." Skulsky said you only get a couple of those to use).

* Club not for sale. 6-10 interested parties though. Braley's boys are big football fans.

* University Of Washington marching band to appear here again in the Ottawa game in October.

* Kids program has already matched their subscription projections.

* Confirmed something that their Marketing Director told me years ago in a meeting I had. That Vancouver (proper) is still their #1 market for ticket holders. Surrey and Burnaby are next.

* Someone asked about reconfiguring the stadium from bowl to sideline configuration. Skulsky said they would consider at it but some people like sitting in the end-zone.


DH

[Honour Dewalt]

Skulsky has since come back and said he mis-spoke about the video game. There are no plans for a game. Just that they have discussed it in the past. How does he make that mistake?

[Alputt]

Skulsky has since come back and said he mis-spoke about the video game. There are no plans for a game. Just that they have discussed it in the past. How does he make that mistake?

Really!?!? He was so definitive about it thats why I was so surprised this has been on the CFL Christmas list for 20 years! Bummer.

[Alputt]

After hearing his slick PR talk for 2 hours I was almost beginning to like the guy... but he "misspoke" about the video game? Christ what else was just on the spot BS? You are paid to know these things, disappointed.

And he never really answered Daves question about the jerseys and merchandise or other poignant questions about ownership either. Meh.

[Alputt]

I heard the first 10 minutes only, which focused on David Braley's slowly improving health and Skulsky's delayed transition to a lesser role, and I have no audio to listen to the podcast. Can anyone recap the highlights of the session?

Oh man I just spent 2 hours listening to that program and transcribing the main points then when I hit submit I WAS NOT LOGGED IN ANYMORE AND THE POST WAS LOST.

It was a good interview... but I don't have time to redo.

If anyone else is interested he confirmed there will be a CFL Video Game from EA sports by 2017 season open!!! Wow! L

Apparently the team is not for sale, but they keep a list of 8 - 10 prospective buyers. Sidestepped criticism of the uni's they are working with Adidas. Tenth expansion team not a priority, but believes it will happen under Orridge's tenure (seems like Quebec City was a leading contender). Camp likely to stay in Kamloops. Nobody brought up the train idea... He believes bridge tolls may be affecting ticket sales in the Valley somewhat. They are married to BC Place hopefully improved transit in future will help. Biggest cities for season tix: Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby. Lots more:

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040- ... 2-1.535164

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040- ... 3-1.535199

Thanks for the recap. Sorry about losing the post. I hate when that happens.

I wonder if the Lions distinguish corporate and individual ticket sales when they break down the geographic distribution of ticket holders. We have dozens of tickets through our corporate account based in Vancouver but the people who use them are from all over the region.

My tickets are under my Langley address but the two people who share them with me live in Abbotsford.

That is a good point they probably look at mailing addresses and many corporate tickets would be addressed to Vancouver, how would they know if the employee lives in Langley?

Also, chicken before the egg, how many potential ticket holders are discouraged from buying seasons because of commuting issues from the Fraser Valley suburbs, whereas Vancouver, Surrey and Burnaby are not only the major population centres but also the easiest to get to the game via Skytrain routes... Would I do seasons if I had to deal with the tolls and traffic? Not sure... I have no doubt the fan presence in Langley, Valley etc. is strong, probably even bigger per capita than in the inner city. In any event BC Place is here to stay so until the province builds a train to the valley or they find solutions like the WCE idea mentioned by another poster this will be a structural issue the Lions can't really do anything about.

I've noticed on the CFL forum many Argos fans cite similar issues about their attendance. Theory being much of the existing fan base have left for the outer suburbs due to affordability and quality of life issues and just can't be bothered fighting traffic to come in to the city when they can watch TSN. The new residents of downtown are either not interested or too cash strapped to go to games... Same forces at work in the GVRD.

[JohnHenry]

Fans also know they can watch all the home games...at home, with blackouts always being lifted regardless of attendance. At one time the CFL thought this would hurt ticket sales, especially their season ticket bases. The Argos have been lifting home blackouts for 30 years or more...with their season ticket base dwindling to a reported 3,500 last season, but the Argos are apparently one of the top CFL draws on TV. Coincidence?

There may become a time when the CFL's TV contract will cover each team's expenses, like in the NFL. But could the CFL survive if only a few thousand people bother to attend the games live, despite the league being popular on TV? The CFL's current TSN contract pays about 25% of an average CFL team's expenses...while ticket sales amount to about 50% of each team's revenue.

One factor to consider is TV is crucial for the promotion of the league. If your team has a great and exciting away game on TV, this normally adds thousands of ticket sales for the next home game (or at least it used to).

I believe the CFL needs a minimum of 20,000 fans in attendance to remain a credible pro football league. The way things are going, with the erosion of fan support even in Edm, Cal and Wpg, that may be becoming a concern. The league may need to examine how they can hold on to existing fans while encouraging new fans to attend CFL games live...not just watch on TV.

One idea is for CFL teams be required sell a minimum of 22,000 tickets for each home game. Team's would purchase remaining unsold tickets at 34% of face value (with that money being added to the player's pension fund) and distributed to worthy fans who otherwise wouldn't attend that game.

Team's should have the flexibility to blackout up to 5 home games each season, but only those games with under 22,000 ticket sales. Team's could market the concept that the only way to guarantee to see every home game is to purchase tickets. The home blackouts would affect a maximum of 5 games, with the other 4 home games, all road games and 68 other CFL games available on home TV each season.

[CardiacKid]

Skulsky has since come back and said he mis-spoke about the video game. There are no plans for a game. Just that they have discussed it in the past. How does he make that mistake?

Really!?!? He was so definitive about it thats why I was so surprised this has been on the CFL Christmas list for 20 years! Bummer.

He may have misspoke about being misspoken....

An outfit called Canuck Play, as of an article that appeared on 3downnation.com in May of this year, are in the works of developing a CFL game. Their work was due in part to a developer program undertaken by Microsoft. The game was going to be powered by the Unity engine. According to that article, they were planning a release in June 2017. I haven't referred to Canuck Play's Facebook page to confirm the game's current status. The May article is listed below.

http://3downnation.com/2016/05/03/an-ex ... otball-17/

But what is this about the team not being for sale? So what was all that ballyhoo about when Braley said he was selling the team? Didn't Skulsky the day before contradict that? I am royally confused and a little disappointed with that news.

[Lions4ever]

* University Of Washington marching band to appear here again in the Ottawa game in October.

The band will be available because the Huskies play Stanford at home on the Friday evening (September 30). It'll be a quick turnaround for them, but I'm hoping to do the same!

[Hambone]

Skulsky has since come back and said he mis-spoke about the video game. There are no plans for a game. Just that they have discussed it in the past. How does he make that mistake?

He explained it on Mayenecht's program on Saturday. His mea culpa starts at the 9:00 mark.

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040- ... a-1.535638

[TheLionKing]

Just got an email from the Lions regarding Grey Cup tickets presale starting tomorrow. There is a service charge of $18.00 per seat plus a $5.25 transaction fee. What a rip off

[BC 1988]

Saturday's game will be Bighill bobblehead night (for the first 5000 fans).

The Lions are rolling out the info slowly --I couldn't find this anywhere online yet, but it will be Team 100 part 1 of 2 (according to the ad at the top of today's Metro front page). They haven't revealed when the followup #56 bobblehead night will take place--maybe it will be the next game sponsored by Telus (vs MTL on Sept 9th).