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Thunderball · 11-21-2018, 10:35 AM

There was simply no way Ian Allison was going to just come out and say that they messed up. I think they genuinely think this is the needed model for them to survive. Definitely some positives and negatives in what he said, and definitely a lot of questions for them to answer before they get to bill my credit card in January.

By saying "... I know that we’re not playing in a public facility or any of those kind of things, so we have some other elements that don’t fall into their setting of the equation, ” he pretty much admitted that they are pricing in the stadium upgrades and passing those costs on to the season ticket holders. That's understandable, but when your product has no proven demand, its also a bit disappointing.

By saying “You’re not going to be looking at CFL lines. You’re not going to have a half-empty stadium that was designed for 30,000 people but only using a third of the stadium. All these things came into account” it sounds like he expects most CPL stadia to not do what teams like the Sounders/Seahawks do and swap out the lines. Sounds like he also thinks we should pay a premium because of it. Now, if you have 3000 in a tarped up CFL stadium, that will look bad, no doubt. But 10000? tough to say.

Do I think that is worth a bit of a premium? Actually, I do. Worth a 25%+ premium? That I'm less sure on, but we'll see if the market is there for it.

It also sounds like they are focusing on the pro sports event rather than the pro sports product. I get the impression they know the on-field product will be poor by professional standards and will remain poor for at least a few years, but that having top notch amenities (to be demonstrated) can overcome that. As a soccer purist, I do have issues with this, but I understand that there aren't many purists in Canada as a whole, let alone Calgary, and they need to appeal to a different market to survive (and preferably a market with some deeper pockets).

That said, I think reading between the lines of some of his comments, they are aware there is a value proposition issue. Seems clear they are going to be tossing some extras at the higher tiers. I just hope its enough to justify MLS/Flames/Stamps pricing.

11-21-2018, 10:35 AM	#687
Thunderball Franchise Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Calgary, AB Exp:	There was simply no way Ian Allison was going to just come out and say that they messed up. I think they genuinely think this is the needed model for them to survive. Definitely some positives and negatives in what he said, and definitely a lot of questions for them to answer before they get to bill my credit card in January. By saying "... I know that we’re not playing in a public facility or any of those kind of things, so we have some other elements that don’t fall into their setting of the equation, ” he pretty much admitted that they are pricing in the stadium upgrades and passing those costs on to the season ticket holders. That's understandable, but when your product has no proven demand, its also a bit disappointing. By saying “You’re not going to be looking at CFL lines. You’re not going to have a half-empty stadium that was designed for 30,000 people but only using a third of the stadium. All these things came into account” it sounds like he expects most CPL stadia to not do what teams like the Sounders/Seahawks do and swap out the lines. Sounds like he also thinks we should pay a premium because of it. Now, if you have 3000 in a tarped up CFL stadium, that will look bad, no doubt. But 10000? tough to say. Do I think that is worth a bit of a premium? Actually, I do. Worth a 25%+ premium? That I'm less sure on, but we'll see if the market is there for it. It also sounds like they are focusing on the pro sports event rather than the pro sports product. I get the impression they know the on-field product will be poor by professional standards and will remain poor for at least a few years, but that having top notch amenities (to be demonstrated) can overcome that. As a soccer purist, I do have issues with this, but I understand that there aren't many purists in Canada as a whole, let alone Calgary, and they need to appeal to a different market to survive (and preferably a market with some deeper pockets). That said, I think reading between the lines of some of his comments, they are aware there is a value proposition issue. Seems clear they are going to be tossing some extras at the higher tiers. I just hope its enough to justify MLS/Flames/Stamps pricing.