Moderator: Team Captains
I think that your 31K would be acceptable within the confines of the management office of the Lions. However, I do find the statement (and not blaming you for it, as it is a by-product of offering this promotion) of "prospects of a free ticket to a future game fails to generate sufficient local support?", somewhat difficult to appreciate. This insinuates that the fans purchasing tickets, do so with the intention that the Lions will lose the game, vs going to watch Lions win. This promotion is all about winning Sunday's game at all costs, losing is the safety net. If I am buying a ticket at this late stage, I am doing so expecting the Lions to leave it all on the field, no prisoners taken kind of football.David wrote:Hambone, presales looked to be strong and after the Lions victory against Toronto I thought this was going to be a hot ticket. But even Rider fans couldn't be snapping up tickets in their usual numbers; we still look to be hovering around the 28-29K mark, which would look fine at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, but not so good for a game with all this hype in massive BC Place.
My point is that if the club gets a gate of 40,000 on Sunday (highly unlikely) or even 36,000 (doubtful), then they've accomplished their goal. If however, they get 30K or 31K for this game, it's going to be a PR disaster. I can guarantee you Ed Willes in his Monday column will be writing something along the lines of "what does it tell you about the Lions' decline in popularity when even the prospects of a free ticket to a future game fails to generate sufficient local support?"
DH
Looking at Ticketmaster they may be well on the way to accomplishing that goal. The lower bowl is showing scattered singles from 204 to 222 and 232 to 249. Pairs or more in the lower bowl are only available in top 8 to 12 rows of the TD Endzone sections and there seems to be quite a few of them that have moved since I looked 3 hours ago. Sales look good in the upper bowl sidelines 440 to 444 in the $90 and $53 price brackets + the Global Family Zone and Gemstone Patio. Looks like 500+ have been sold on the other side upper bowl too. I'm guessing 3000 or more upper bowl seats are already gone.David wrote:My point is that if the club gets a gate of 40,000 on Sunday (highly unlikely) or even 36,000 (doubtful), then they've accomplished their goal. If however, they get 30K or 31K for this game, it's going to be a PR disaster. I can guarantee you Ed illes in his Monday column will be writing something along the lines of "what does it tell you about the Lions' decline in popularity when even the prospects of a free ticket to a future game fails to generate sufficient local support?"
DH
Current capacity (full lower bowl + both upper deck sidelines) is only ~37k so 40k isn't even in the conversation.David wrote:Hambone, presales looked to be strong and after the Lions victory against Toronto I thought this was going to be a hot ticket. But even Rider fans couldn't be snapping up tickets in their usual numbers; we still look to be hovering around the 28-29K mark, which would look fine at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, but not so good for a game with all this hype in massive BC Place.
My point is that if the club gets a gate of 40,000 on Sunday (highly unlikely) or even 36,000 (doubtful), then they've accomplished their goal. If however, they get 30K or 31K for this game, it's going to be a PR disaster. I can guarantee you Ed Willes in his Monday column will be writing something along the lines of "what does it tell you about the Lions' decline in popularity when even the prospects of a free ticket to a future game fails to generate sufficient local support?"
DH
On the bright side, TV ratings are up!sj-roc wrote:Current capacity (full lower bowl + both upper deck sidelines) is only ~37k so 40k isn't even in the conversation.David wrote:Hambone, presales looked to be strong and after the Lions victory against Toronto I thought this was going to be a hot ticket. But even Rider fans couldn't be snapping up tickets in their usual numbers; we still look to be hovering around the 28-29K mark, which would look fine at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, but not so good for a game with all this hype in massive BC Place.
My point is that if the club gets a gate of 40,000 on Sunday (highly unlikely) or even 36,000 (doubtful), then they've accomplished their goal. If however, they get 30K or 31K for this game, it's going to be a PR disaster. I can guarantee you Ed Willes in his Monday column will be writing something along the lines of "what does it tell you about the Lions' decline in popularity when even the prospects of a free ticket to a future game fails to generate sufficient local support?"
DH
Like I said Sunday I was rather skeptical of this game even approaching, let alone matching, recent crowds for Rider visits and even with this promotion it might not happen. But I don't see it as (totally) a Lions problem, and anyone in the media would be greatly misguided to take such an angle. To me it's more of a league problem. Several factors have conspired to cast a malaise over the CFL this year, some of which are the type of thing NFL fanboys would gleefully scoff at. Too many penalties get called. Reviews take too long. Sometimes they don't even make sense — we get called for a chop block after the fact when we appeal a PI non-call? Games take too long to play. There's an overwhelming divisional disparity where all season long so far, the worst western team has a better record than the best eastern team, and there's no telling if this is going to undo itself. Our largest market team has been saddled with a terrible schedule even by its own recent (low) standards, while the team next door has been basically without a home, period, for the last year and a half, with all sorts of question marks so far this season about when it will all end.
Taken together, all of this gives the appearance of a second-rate operation; it's enough for the casual ticket-buyer to say "see ya." And I haven't even mentioned hi-def. If I'm not mistaken attendance is down everywhere except possibly Edm & Wpg where on-field reversals of fortune could overcome these challenges, and Ssk where there's far less competition for one's discretionary dollar.
It should come as no surprise that Cohon is leaving. It seems he's taken this league as far as he could and there'd be nowhere for him to go but down from here.
That's actually part of the problem; the folks who haven't been entirely driven away from the product are staying home to watch on hi-def, but I suppose you're well aware of this as your comment could be read sarcastically.Ravi wrote:On the bright side, TV ratings are up!
I was being a little sarcastic but the high TV ratings do show that there is an enormous amount of interest in the Lions/CFL which is always a good thing. I agree with you that there is a lot this year around the CFL to be negative about but it won't stay this way forever. This season might be a tough one but I suspect that we will see some very good seasons ahead after this one. I do think that the future is bright for the league; the biggest issue is getting Toronto straightened out but I am optimistic about that happening. While Hamilton is having tough times now, once their stadium is completely finished, all will be well in Steeltown.sj-roc wrote:That's actually part of the problem; the folks who haven't been entirely driven away from the product are staying home to watch on hi-def, but I suppose you're well aware of this as your comment could be read sarcastically.Ravi wrote:On the bright side, TV ratings are up!
One thing that's hard to tell is how much, if any, BC's start times have been impacting attendance. This is the 5th home game and the 3rd that would be considered a non-traditional day and start time for the BC market. Traditionally we've been a Friday and Saturday night at 7:00pm start market. This will be the 3rd mid-afternoon start. It may take a couple years for the market to feel comfortable with those times. Back in the 80s when I was back in Montreal and Toronto for Grey Cups I took in hockey games on the Saturday night. At that time Canuck Saturday games started at 5:00pm. It actually felt uncomfortable if not wrong to be heading to the Forum and Maple Leaf Gardens for an 8:00pm puck drop on a Saturday night.Ravi wrote:I was being a little sarcastic but the high TV ratings do show that there is an enormous amount of interest in the Lions/CFL which is always a good thing. I agree with you that there is a lot this year around the CFL to be negative about but it won't stay this way forever. This season might be a tough one but I suspect that we will see some very good seasons ahead after this one. I do think that the future is bright for the league; the biggest issue is getting Toronto straightened out but I am optimistic about that happening. While Hamilton is having tough times now, once their stadium is completely finished, all will be well in Steeltown.sj-roc wrote:That's actually part of the problem; the folks who haven't been entirely driven away from the product are staying home to watch on hi-def, but I suppose you're well aware of this as your comment could be read sarcastically.Ravi wrote:On the bright side, TV ratings are up!
I agree with you that a lot of the malaise right now is short term. Hopefully next season will see better divisional parity, for starters. But for now we'll have to live with even Ssk not drawing their usual interest level in this market.Ravi wrote:I was being a little sarcastic but the high TV ratings do show that there is an enormous amount of interest in the Lions/CFL which is always a good thing. I agree with you that there is a lot this year around the CFL to be negative about but it won't stay this way forever. This season might be a tough one but I suspect that we will see some very good seasons ahead after this one. I do think that the future is bright for the league; the biggest issue is getting Toronto straightened out but I am optimistic about that happening. While Hamilton is having tough times now, once their stadium is completely finished, all will be well in Steeltown.sj-roc wrote:That's actually part of the problem; the folks who haven't been entirely driven away from the product are staying home to watch on hi-def, but I suppose you're well aware of this as your comment could be read sarcastically.Ravi wrote:On the bright side, TV ratings are up!
I noticed a copy landed in my inbox about 10:15am this morning, with this curious addendum I hadn't heard of before:notahomer wrote:I haven't recieved my copy of the email yet either. I almost wonder if its a ploy to get more Riderfans to buy tickets? You have emailed STH's about this but not the ones who cheer for the Lions?sj-roc wrote:Apparently the Lions have emailed STHs about the guarantee. I haven't received a copy yet but I see someone on twitter who did (and who also happens to be a Rider fan) has tweeted it to Regina media:
SECURITY POLICY OF NOTE
In regards to "melon heads" typically worn by Roughrider fans, please note that they must remain on the head at all times. Any melons that are removed and/or carried around may be disposed of by security staff. This policy is in place to ensure there no issues with them being dropped, thrown, etc. and to eliminate any concerns with safety and cleanliness.
It would be a little rich for Rider fans to get their backs up over what some suit from business ops of a rival franchise had to say about the outcome of their game. It wasn't even two years ago that their own head coach (you know, a FOOTBALL guy) made a guarantee that Cornish wouldn't rush for 100yds against them and backed it up with player cut threats.Hambone wrote:Surprisingly the response on RF.com is quite the opposite. A few are playing the arrogance card. By far the majority see it for what it is, purely a marketing ploy, and actually think it's a smart move by the Lions. As for the Rider fans who were calling it classless or arrogant they are largely being flamed by their own kind. I'm not big on gimmicky moves like this but there can be a time and place for them. Why not pick this game? It's the last home game before Canucks camp opens up to draw the sports market's attention away from football. Why not try and make a splash now. As for putting pressure on the team? Why not. Good teams thrive on pressure. If they're as good as we think they can be they should be welcoming this.David wrote:Now, the Riders and their fans will be feeding off this perceived arrogance and will really want to stick it to Skulsky. We would have had a decent sized crowd and great atmosphere anyway. Why put more pressure on the team than they're already under? And how bad will the optics be if this doesn't move the needle all that much?? Dumb move.
DH
As long as the team president is not telling players or coaches what to do, then what does it matter is he prefers watching the game from the sidelines vs a vip suite?smphantom wrote:Now if he could guarantee that he will stay off the sidelines from now on it would be great. He looks like a fish out of water and has no business down on the field!
