2011 Western Final Ticket Count

[David]

He (Skulsky) obviously hopes for a sell-out crowd but “we have to earn the right to have the fans join the bandwagon and feel excitement....”

Sir,

11-2 in your last 13 games
43-1 victory in your last game
A first place finish
An exciting offense that finished 2nd in points for, and the league's 2nd ranked defense

I'd say you've already earned that right....


DH

[The_Pauser]

He (Skulsky) obviously hopes for a sell-out crowd but “we have to earn the right to have the fans join the bandwagon and feel excitement....”

Sir,

11-2 in your last 13 games
43-1 victory in your last game
A first place finish
An exciting offense that finished 2nd in points for, and the league's 2nd ranked defense

I'd say you've already earned that right....


DH

Agreed! There's no reason why fans should not come out. The Grey Cup has been sold out for months, so fans should buy up the tickets for the WDF and support the hottest team in the CFL that is one win away from hosting the Grey Cup. This isn't like 2005 where we went into the playoffs hanging by a thread, we are really on fire and looking to roll right on through to footbally's holy grail!

[sj-roc]

He (Skulsky) obviously hopes for a sell-out crowd but “we have to earn the right to have the fans join the bandwagon and feel excitement....”

Sir,

11-2 in your last 13 games
43-1 victory in your last game
A first place finish
An exciting offense that finished 2nd in points for, and the league's 2nd ranked defense

I'd say you've already earned that right....


DH

All very true, David. The problem is, and maybe I'm totally wrong on this, but I still don't get the sense that this team has really captured the public's imagination, and that's something all the numbers in the world won't achieve. Admittedly that is a very difficult task in this market; over the last twenty years, only Flutie and Printers really had the intangibles to do so for this team — and only briefly in each case.

Sure, it'll be great if this game sells out and it very well could yet, but for anyone who's thrown into a handwringing mood over the latest sales tally, I see no need to let it detract from one's enjoyment of the game. Whatever size of crowd shows up on Nov 20, I'm sure it will be a very enthusiastic, supportive one and that's what matters more to me as a fan.

[ziggy]

I think the negativity, generated by the poor start, in both the media and to be fair, a large part of the fan base will hurt early sales. I also suspect the out of town numbers may be down because many will have purchased tickets and hotels already for the GC weekend and likely won't make back to back trips.
I do think though that once the buzz starts and people realize this is their big chance to see a "wining" team that may go on to the already sold out GC final, sales will pick up. I don't think the 18,000 or so Canuck fans will make a huge difference and wouldn't be surprised to hear Canuck season ticket holders are willing to even miss one of the 40 odd home games to attend a one off.

[Belize City Lion]

An advert idea: play the clip of Kerry Jospeh shaking his hands desperately for the ball in the din of the 2006 Western Final, with the fan noise dialed way up. As he tears off his chin strap in frustration, introduce a voice-over. "There's only one sport where the fans can change the outcome of a game". Cut to audio/visual of the ref calling 'time clock violation'. Graphic: 'Home Field Advantage'....then... 'Get in the Game'. Tickets at ..... etc.

I love that ad concept. Hope you sent it to the Lions marketing people.

[Lion Guy]

So how many tickets have been sold so far?

[David]

So how many tickets have been sold so far?

I just read on another site that 28,500 tickets have been sold as of Thursday at 11AM, and should be over 30,000 by end of day today.

However, this is unconfirmed as there was no source attributed to the post.


DH

[Lion Guy]

So how many tickets have been sold so far?

I just read on another site that 28,500 tickets have been sold as of Thursday at 11AM, and should be over 30,000 by end of day today.

However, this is unconfirmed as there was no source attributed to the post.


DH

Thank you

[notahomer]

... but for anyone who's thrown into a handwringing mood over the latest sales tally, I see no need to let it detract from one's enjoyment of the game. Whatever size of crowd shows up on Nov 20, I'm sure it will be a very enthusiastic, supportive one and that's what matters more to me as a fan.

X2----I've spent my bucks so I've done what I can do. I will cheer until my throat won't allow me to anymore on November 20. And I'll appreciate the fans who made the trip (oppossing team fans and of course Lions fans) instead of worrying about those who chose not to come for the various legitimate reasons (and not so legitimate) to not come see the Western Final.....

[Centrum22]

A strange thing seems to be happening: as more time goes on, more seats are available in the Lower Bowl on Ticketmaster. Fooling around on their website a couple of days ago, I noticed that you could not buy even two seats together in the Lower Bowl. Only singles were available in the Non-Alcohol section. But now you can easily buy 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or even 7 seats together along the visitor's sideline in the Lower Bowl. The same is true for all Lower Touchdown and Endzone sections.

The Lower Bowl seems to be getting emptier and emptier.

[B.C.FAN]

A strange thing seems to be happening: as more time goes on, more seats are available in the Lower Bowl on Ticketmaster. Fooling around on their website a couple of days ago, I noticed that you could not buy even two seats together in the Lower Bowl. Only singles were available in the Non-Alcohol section. But now you can easily buy 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or even 7 seats together along the visitor's sideline in the Lower Bowl. The same is true for all Lower Touchdown and Endzone sections.

The Lower Bowl seems to be getting emptier and emptier.

Perhaps they've released the season ticketholder seats that weren't picked up. They were still holding those when sales opened to the public.

[MikeAK]

A strange thing seems to be happening: as more time goes on, more seats are available in the Lower Bowl on Ticketmaster. Fooling around on their website a couple of days ago, I noticed that you could not buy even two seats together in the Lower Bowl. Only singles were available in the Non-Alcohol section. But now you can easily buy 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or even 7 seats together along the visitor's sideline in the Lower Bowl. The same is true for all Lower Touchdown and Endzone sections.

The Lower Bowl seems to be getting emptier and emptier.

I noticed the same thing. I've been playing with ticketmaster as well and am seeing all kinds of seats available that weren't previously. I should have waited a week...lol

[Ravi]

As an FYI, the Lions have hosted 10 playoff games since 1983 with a record of 5-5. This is the attendance of all 10 payoff games:

1983 - 59,409
1984 - 59,421
1985 - 59,478
1986 - 40,381 (west division semi-final)
1987 - 44,385
1999 - 28,236
2004 - 55,527
2005 - 37,337
2006 - 50,084
2007 - 54,712

For comparison purposes, this was the attendance of the west division finals hosted by the west division rivals and you will see that overall, the Lions overall still have the best attendance with regards to playoff attendance. Of course, stadium size maybe constraint but as you can see with for both Edmonton and Calgary, the games were not sold out.

Edmonton (Commonwealth Stadium Capacity: 60,081)
1978 - 42,673
1979 - 43,033
1980 - 43,346
1981 - 52,861
1982 - 51,111
1986 - 32,490
1988 - 27,055
1989 - 35,112
1991 - 30,142
1997 - 38,258
2001 - 42,156
2002 - 34,322
2003 - 40,081

During their 5-year dynasty from 1978-92, none of the division final games were close to being sold out. The Lions can boast about six division final playoff games with over 50,000+, while only twice in Edmonton did they break the 45,000+ mark. And attendance was very pitiful in 1988 when the Eskimos were defending their title. I suppose the freezing, wintry weather can get to the fans come late November, but I remember very well that the 1988 WDF had mild conditions.

Commonwealth Stadium's 60,081 capacity didn't take effect until 1983 or 1984. The Esks drew capacity crowds or close to it when they hosted the West Final from '78 to '82. The original capacity of Commonwealth 42k and gradually increased over the next few years.