How to attract Fans back to the BC Lion games?
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:52 am
Being Old School, I really miss the old Empire Stadium.
Ya, it was sooooo cold and damp on some nights, Yes the rainy days and nights were ugly if you were not under the roof, and yes it was way to Hot at other times, if you were on the wrong side of the field, but what a great ambiance....being outside, at a much smaller stadium.
Seeing the North Shore mountains in the back ground, just added to that feel and the ambiance.
Very much like what Nat Bailey stadium has now, that is what playing Football outside is like.
A much smaller stadium, is what Vancouver is really needing.
The days of being able to sell out BC Place in the Don Matthews years,( due tp the novelty of a Brand New Domed stadium and a Great Team ) is long over and long past.
In order for the CFL to survive, it is needing to get back to its grass roots, and return to playing in much smaller Out Door stadium, with seating for may be 25,000 Max.
By reducing the seating, you make it a much harder ticket to get, and if we are lucky enough to have a Good team, the place will easily be sold out, for each and every game.
The novelty of playing indoors, is over.
Playing in BC Place is now, very much like the Seahawks playing in the old King Dome.....it has absolutely no ambiance.
When the Lions returned to play at the the quickly constructed and temporary Empire Stadium, I actually had tears in my eyes, from being given the chance to RETURN to some where that was a big part of my life.
I had been going to Lions games with my Mom and Dad ever since the early '60s as a little kid, and then I played all of our Junior Big 4 games there with the Meralomas and then played our Shrum Bowl games there with my SFU vs UBC.
I wanted my own Son and my wife to experience Empire Stadium, and it was like a Dream, that we had that chance to go back in time again, and ya.....I'm a tough macho type of guy, but in spite of that, I had tears in my eyes, the very first game that we went to at the New Empire, and my Son and my wife were both with me.
We immediately bought our Seasons Tickets the second that they announced that they were going to be playing at Empire Stadium again, and we LOVED every single second of it, and each and every game.
Its like the clock stopped or we had been transported back in time, and we got to relive something that was soooo much part of my life, as a kid and as a player myself and now as a dad.
My Dad and Mom were now gone, but....it was like they were both there....with us...as a Family.
Yup....Empire Stadium was a very Emotional experience, and I am soooo grateful and beyond Happy, that I got to share that with my own Son.
We kept our Seasons tickets right up till we WON our last Grey Cup, and once we had WON.....We renewed our Tickets for the next year, and that was it for us.
BC Place, in spite of having Great seats......was just not the same experience and we just gave up on the Lions.
So......what would make us come back?
Well.....A few things.
Number one would be, a New Empire Stadium.....in exactly the same spot!
OK.....since that will never ever happen, the one thing that would spark our interest would be.....IF....the Lions were to do it Right!
By that we mean, take care of the Families out there......Families that want to take their kids to the games, but can not justify paying the ridiculous Ticket prices and then the even more insane concession prices for simple things like Hot Dogs and Pop!
Bring back the FUN into attending the games, as Nat Bailey and the Canadians Baseball organization do.
If Costco can sell their Hot Dogs and a pop for $1.50....I am sure that the BC Lions could do the same!
The cost of Food and Drinks at the Lions games is what turns off so many families from ever attending.
I'm telling you right now, "IF" the Lions were to have Cheap Hot Dogs ( $1.50 each ) and Pops for "Everyone"....each and every game would be packed, regardless of the product on the field.
The CFL is doomed, if they do not drastically do something in regards to luring the Families back to the games.
Cheap Family tickets and Cheap Hot Dogs will do it!
Bring back Empire Stadium, and watch ( 25,000 seats ) the place sell out, for each and every game.
I should be the Commissioner of the league! lol
Ya, it was sooooo cold and damp on some nights, Yes the rainy days and nights were ugly if you were not under the roof, and yes it was way to Hot at other times, if you were on the wrong side of the field, but what a great ambiance....being outside, at a much smaller stadium.
Seeing the North Shore mountains in the back ground, just added to that feel and the ambiance.
Very much like what Nat Bailey stadium has now, that is what playing Football outside is like.
A much smaller stadium, is what Vancouver is really needing.
The days of being able to sell out BC Place in the Don Matthews years,( due tp the novelty of a Brand New Domed stadium and a Great Team ) is long over and long past.
In order for the CFL to survive, it is needing to get back to its grass roots, and return to playing in much smaller Out Door stadium, with seating for may be 25,000 Max.
By reducing the seating, you make it a much harder ticket to get, and if we are lucky enough to have a Good team, the place will easily be sold out, for each and every game.
The novelty of playing indoors, is over.
Playing in BC Place is now, very much like the Seahawks playing in the old King Dome.....it has absolutely no ambiance.
When the Lions returned to play at the the quickly constructed and temporary Empire Stadium, I actually had tears in my eyes, from being given the chance to RETURN to some where that was a big part of my life.
I had been going to Lions games with my Mom and Dad ever since the early '60s as a little kid, and then I played all of our Junior Big 4 games there with the Meralomas and then played our Shrum Bowl games there with my SFU vs UBC.
I wanted my own Son and my wife to experience Empire Stadium, and it was like a Dream, that we had that chance to go back in time again, and ya.....I'm a tough macho type of guy, but in spite of that, I had tears in my eyes, the very first game that we went to at the New Empire, and my Son and my wife were both with me.
We immediately bought our Seasons Tickets the second that they announced that they were going to be playing at Empire Stadium again, and we LOVED every single second of it, and each and every game.
Its like the clock stopped or we had been transported back in time, and we got to relive something that was soooo much part of my life, as a kid and as a player myself and now as a dad.
My Dad and Mom were now gone, but....it was like they were both there....with us...as a Family.
Yup....Empire Stadium was a very Emotional experience, and I am soooo grateful and beyond Happy, that I got to share that with my own Son.
We kept our Seasons tickets right up till we WON our last Grey Cup, and once we had WON.....We renewed our Tickets for the next year, and that was it for us.
BC Place, in spite of having Great seats......was just not the same experience and we just gave up on the Lions.
So......what would make us come back?
Well.....A few things.
Number one would be, a New Empire Stadium.....in exactly the same spot!
OK.....since that will never ever happen, the one thing that would spark our interest would be.....IF....the Lions were to do it Right!
By that we mean, take care of the Families out there......Families that want to take their kids to the games, but can not justify paying the ridiculous Ticket prices and then the even more insane concession prices for simple things like Hot Dogs and Pop!
Bring back the FUN into attending the games, as Nat Bailey and the Canadians Baseball organization do.
If Costco can sell their Hot Dogs and a pop for $1.50....I am sure that the BC Lions could do the same!
The cost of Food and Drinks at the Lions games is what turns off so many families from ever attending.
I'm telling you right now, "IF" the Lions were to have Cheap Hot Dogs ( $1.50 each ) and Pops for "Everyone"....each and every game would be packed, regardless of the product on the field.
The CFL is doomed, if they do not drastically do something in regards to luring the Families back to the games.
Cheap Family tickets and Cheap Hot Dogs will do it!
Bring back Empire Stadium, and watch ( 25,000 seats ) the place sell out, for each and every game.
I should be the Commissioner of the league! lol