2015 All Things Lions Marketing & Promotions

[Dieter]

First...I'm from Kelowna so fall under the category as an out of towner who could be out of luck seeing a game.

And I still say this is a smart business move on the part of the Lions. The current atmosphere with 25,000 to $32,000 people scattered through 60000 seats is horrible. It can't attract a casual fan because the atmosphere isn't one that keeps them wanting to come back.

Nobody wants tickets that are easy to get.

I wish the days of my Bombers battling the hated Lions (I don't hate them anymore but they are still my SECOND team) in a sold out BC Place 80's style were still the norm. But since they aren't good on the Lions for doing what they can to recreate that on a smaller scale.

I sympathize with upper deck season ticket holders who don't want to move, but if you look at the big picture I think this is a logical move.

[BC 1988]

As the closing of the Upper Bowl has been a hot topic here I asked them out of curiosity how many ST holders they had last season in the Upper Bowl. He said there were only about 150 but he didn't know off hand the percentage of renewals there were prior to the announcement. Based on that number one can see how difficult it would be to make a business case to keep the UB open all season for 150 or fewer ST holders. He said the general feedback from those affected was of understanding. Most were longtime ST holders who have gone through this before. It sounds like they lost very few, if any, ST holders due the relocation.

No doubt this is due to most ST holders had already been shifted out of their Upper Bowl spots during the Tempire move. Only 150 bothered to go back up there with the return following the reno.
I am one of the fans who enjoy looking down on the field instead of being close to it. I would likely pick seats that are higher up in the Lower Bowl if that is the only option. I'm confident that the Lions will keep going with the Gemstone-Global Family Upper Bowl sections (or some new incarnation of that). They always wait until June before they announce that anyway. The big problem I noticed both seasons they had those sections is that the adjacent regular priced sections are empty--cross the aisle and pay $40 more.

[David]

First...I'm from Kelowna so fall under the category as an out of towner who could be out of luck seeing a game.

And I still say this is a smart business move on the part of the Lions. The current atmosphere with 25,000 to $32,000 people scattered through 60000 seats is horrible. It can't attract a casual fan because the atmosphere isn't one that keeps them wanting to come back.

Nobody wants tickets that are easy to get.

I wish the days of my Bombers battling the hated Lions (I don't hate them anymore but they are still my SECOND team) in a sold out BC Place 80's style were still the norm. But since they aren't good on the Lions for doing what they can to recreate that on a smaller scale.

I sympathize with upper deck season ticket holders who don't want to move, but if you look at the big picture I think this is a logical move.

Dieter, not sure if you've had time to read this whole thread but a couple of points. First, you won't be out of luck for a ticket. As I understand it, anyone who wants a ticket can still get one, according to Skulsky (although if they have a sold out lower bowl, I can't see them opening up another section upstairs to accommodate a few fans).

Second, per my last post on page 4, they're not planning on covering up the Upper Bowl seating like the Whitecaps do, so atmosphere is still going to suffer. It will be like holding a seminar or presentation for 200 people in a massive auditorium for 400....but not partitioning off the walls. Everyone is packed in tight at the front of the room but there's massive dead space at the back.


DH

[Hambone]

No doubt this is due to most ST holders had already been shifted out of their Upper Bowl spots during the Tempire move. Only 150 bothered to go back up there with the return following the reno.
I am one of the fans who enjoy looking down on the field instead of being close to it. I would likely pick seats that are higher up in the Lower Bowl if that is the only option. I'm confident that the Lions will keep going with the Gemstone-Global Family Upper Bowl sections (or some new incarnation of that). They always wait until June before they announce that anyway. The big problem I noticed both seasons they had those sections is that the adjacent regular priced sections are empty--cross the aisle and pay $40 more.

I'm an upper Lower Bowl guy myself. I had STs on the aisle in 243 Row DD for several years and thought they were as good as anything in the building for the combination of game vantage point and ease to get from seat to concourse without disturbing anybody. Turn around and take two steps and I was into the tunnel. The only thing I could imagine being better would've been the same seats in 242 or 241. Right now I'm in 242 Row O which are too low for my taste. Didn't have any luck relocating higher and closer to the aisle for 2015 but will try again next year. I've sat in the Upper Bowl on 4 or 5 occasions over the 32 years of BCP and also have sat on the visiting side a couple of times (Section 17). My seats back at Empire were also on the home team side. I have such a comfort level being in the lower bowl on the Lions' side of the field that sitting anywhere else feels just plain wrong.

[Mane]

No way i am spending a whole bunch of time and money to come over from the island and sit in the end zone. At least with the upper level I could buy tickets between the 30 yard lines. You lost our family!

[jmc24]

No way i am spending a whole bunch of time and money to come over from the island and sit in the end zone. At least with the upper level I could buy tickets between the 30 yard lines. You lost our family!

EXACTLY! Who wants to watch football from the end zone? Horrible. I'm one of the 150 who had season tickets in the UD. The best they can get me doesn't come close to what I had. I feel like I'm a first time buyer of tickets. 15 rows up to watch football? Again, no thanks. I understand what they are TRYING to do , but I don't like it. Oh well ,It was a good run...Once this fails , I'll be back with UD tickets

[KnowItAll]

No way i am spending a whole bunch of time and money to come over from the island and sit in the end zone. At least with the upper level I could buy tickets between the 30 yard lines. You lost our family!

EXACTLY! Who wants to watch football from the end zone? Horrible. I'm one of the 150 who had season tickets in the UD. The best they can get me doesn't come close to what I had. I feel like I'm a first time buyer of tickets. 15 rows up to watch football? Again, no thanks. I understand what they are TRYING to do , but I don't like it. Oh well ,It was a good run...Once this fails , I'll be back with UD tickets

right, ST holder numbers go down, walkup numbers go down...yet that will inspire them to open up the UD. I don't think so. Sometimes one just has to take the bad with the good

[Dusty]

Although my ST are in the Lower Bowl, I liked the upper bowl tickets, especially since the new Video Screen was installed. The screen seemed so close it was "touchable".... I thought that an upper bowl seat between the 45''s was every bit as good as a Lower seat. For a single seat purchase, that was a pretty good location. If now, the single game day tickets are being shuffled to the end zones with the small replay screen, I think a lot of people will figure its not worth the money and turn away from the Lions.... and go back to their HDTV....

No way i am spending a whole bunch of time and money to come over from the island and sit in the end zone. At least with the upper level I could buy tickets between the 30 yard lines. You lost our family!

EXACTLY! Who wants to watch football from the end zone? Horrible. I'm one of the 150 who had season tickets in the UD. The best they can get me doesn't come close to what I had. I feel like I'm a first time buyer of tickets. 15 rows up to watch football? Again, no thanks. I understand what they are TRYING to do , but I don't like it. Oh well ,It was a good run...Once this fails , I'll be back with UD tickets

[Coast Mountain Lion]

they should demolish the worse part of whalley and build a 35000 seat stadium there. With a multi level parking lot.

The problem is Whalley is hard to get to. A better location might be near the convergence of Hwy's 91/99/17/10 in south Surrey. There's lots of room for a huge parking lot and expansive stadium...plus we get half the rainfall of Vancouver. Surrey's population will double to over 1 million within 20 years, that's where the bulk of people will soon be living. Another option is an expansion franchise in Surrey to provide a crosstown rival to the Lions.

That's not the problem. The problem is trying to figure out which is the worst part of Whalley.

That's easy. It's the part above ground

[B.C.FAN]

No way i am spending a whole bunch of time and money to come over from the island and sit in the end zone. At least with the upper level I could buy tickets between the 30 yard lines. You lost our family!

EXACTLY! Who wants to watch football from the end zone? Horrible.

OK, I'll bite. I know I'm in a minority but I choose to sit low in the end zone (second row, because it has more leg room than first row). It's the next best thing to being in the game. You can read the play from the perspective of the QB, safety or middle linebacker and go through the same decision-making process that they go through. There's a reason that football coaches tape games and practices from the end zones. It's the best angle for evaluating players, especially for line play.

My seats are closer to the action than any sideline seats when the play is in my end of the field. I just hope that most of the scoring plays don't occur at the opposite end of the field. I can make eye contact with players and interact wih them as they come and go from the locker room, and I get a chance to try to catch the odd football on field goal attempts and celebratory touchdown tosses. I've caught only one ball over the years but I've had my fingers on many others. Balls come to our section nearly every game. I've also caught and given away more stuffed little orange footballs than I can count.

It took me a while to appreciate sitting in the end zone. My seats at Empire Stadium in the 1960s and '70s were mid-level reds. The royal box was my backrest. Watching the game from the sidelines is like watching on TV, but without the benefit of closeup camera angles. I want more than that when I attend a game. I want to feel closer to the players and see the game more from their perspective. Sitting in the end zone provides that experience for me. For $31 a game, it's an unbeatable bargain.

[Hambone]

No way i am spending a whole bunch of time and money to come over from the island and sit in the end zone. At least with the upper level I could buy tickets between the 30 yard lines. You lost our family!

EXACTLY! Who wants to watch football from the end zone? Horrible. I'm one of the 150 who had season tickets in the UD. The best they can get me doesn't come close to what I had. I feel like I'm a first time buyer of tickets. 15 rows up to watch football? Again, no thanks. I understand what they are TRYING to do , but I don't like it. Oh well ,It was a good run...Once this fails , I'll be back with UD tickets

I look at ticket buying similarly. As a ST holder travelling from PG and previously from the north end of the Island there is always significant travel cost involved with each game. Never makes sense to spend $600 in airfare or fuel and hotel then get chintzy trying to save $20 on the ticket. It's the same when I get a chance to see CFL, NHL, MLB and NFL games in various locations. If I'm going to endure the travel costs I might as well make sure I have a decent seat at a decent price.

I don't imagine the UB relocation exercise was easy because of the nature of the seats the UD ticket holder held and the scarcity of top end LB seats. Even though there were only 150 to deal with the vacancy rates in the most desirable LB seat locations would be next to zero. As mentioned earlier when I perused Ticketmaster at various times last year the number of sideline seats available between the 30 yard lines were few. They amounted to scattered singles usually right in the middle of the section. Decent pairs simply weren't available. One has to figure the average ST holder in those areas is a long-time dedicated fan who has held seats for years including some seasons where they could only dream wistfully of the team being as good as the 2014 edition. While there are rumours of ST renewals being 65% as of a couple weeks ago in the areas between the 30s and 20 to 30 rows off the field renewals are likely close to 100%. It' would be akin to rebooking 20 1st Class passengers from a cancelled flight and there's only unsold 1st Class seats available on the next flight but lots of regular seats.

[Sir Purrcival]

I think you kind of nail it. When trying to renew flex pack tickets in years past, My tx guy and I have looked in the LD to see what was available and it was more or less as you described. The odd one here or there, farther back and way off to the side for multiples. It just never seemed as there was much available for most games. It was part of why I started moving to the UD. When I was a STH years ago, I was on the 50 yard line Row F. Great seats. The UD wasn't quite so close but it gave a better over all perspective so I was able to compensate somewhat for the reduction from full time STH to part time. Now I'm afraid that this is will pretty much end my desire to go to the games. My DW isn't a huge fan to begin with but she tolerates my desire to see games. I for my part liked the ability to pick and choose my dates somewhat to work around trips and what not. Seemed like a good compromise but in the end, I think that this has pretty much ended the relationship. I may try for a single game this year to see just how tough it is to get a decent seat just to be fair but honestly, I keep thinking we are going to go back to the bad ole days of questioning whether or not there is sufficient demand to open the top deck for a game. I understand why they are doing it but it is incredibly hard to sit in a less than optimal seat when looking up, you see all kinds of great viewing positions just sitting unused. Starting to think of this stadium as a white elephant. It isn't quite that bad but an awful lot of time and money was spent renovating this stadium for it to sit only half used. If the Lions and the Caps don't use the upper deck at all then it comes down to a few concerts maybe here and there that may be big enough to require opening and that hardly seems worth the 1/2 billion dollars it cost to redo. Not to mention that they will likely have insufficient staff to be able to properly open and manage the level when they do on those rare occasions.

[Hambone]

If the Lions and the Caps don't use the upper deck at all then it comes down to a few concerts maybe here and there that may be big enough to require opening and that hardly seems worth the 1/2 billion dollars it cost to redo. Not to mention that they will likely have insufficient staff to be able to properly open and manage the level when they do on those rare occasions.

In the case of the Lions this year with the "there will always be a ticket" theory I'm guess there will be a caveat. Yes they will be willing to open up the upper deck if they sell out the lower bowl but I think there will be a deadline to that. If the lower bowl isn't sold out projected to sell out a week in advance they will likely leave it closed. They can't let it be a "game day decision". The Whitecaps have steadfastly refused to open it up even though they could easily have sold a few thousand tickets up there when Beckham and the LA Galaxy came to town. I've heard Lenarduzzi proclaim many times that they simply will not consider the upper bowl until they know there will demand for all games. The thought though does have me wondering what they'll do with that curtain. Having never been to a Caps game, and unlikely to see one anytime soon, I've never seen the stadium with it in place. Is that an all or nothing thing? If they opted to open a portion of the upper deck can they leave it up over the closed sections or would they have to leave the entire upper bowl exposed?

[Spud387]

Sounds like the Lions are getting shafted pretty hard by TSN1040 on the radio deal.

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2015/03/13 ... finalized/

[TheLionKing]

How are the Lions getting shafted ?