Stampeders Attendance

[Joborule]

For the casual fans, there's probably a bunch not even considering going because it's outdoors and cold. Dome it and it's a different story.

As much as I prefer football to be played outside (this is football weather), business wise, Stamps need a dome for games at this point of the season.

[CofR]

Just got my tickets for Sunday... I'm sure a dome would help for the casual fans.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I get why the CFL doesn't want to start the season earlier (end May/early June) because then they have to fight with the NHL playoffs for attention. Funny thing is though by choosing to keep its current starting schedule, it ensures the season gets to this point where its going to be -6 as a high Sunday, with 15cms to fall Friday and Saturday. Getting people to pay for that is next to impossible when HD TV exists. If the season ended the third week of October you might get crappy weather, but you have a good chance of also having nice weather as well. Otherwise yeah without a dome this time of year, who wants to freeze their ass off and pay to do it when there's the balmy living room and wonderful HD?

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Was it on here or a different site that someone mentioned the CFL's growing partnership with the CIS and the Vanier Cup as a strong reason as to why the league may not look at starting the season earlier. CIS Football would likely completely fall off the map if the CFL season ended earlier.

[Howie_16]

If the Stampeders played in the NFL, they would sell out every game even with a stadium twice the size of McMahon, roof or no roof. If they can play outside in January in Green Bay or Chicago, we can do it here in November.

I've got my tickets, will be wearing red and would be there even if the forecast called for -30. GO STAMPS GO!

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by M*A*S*H 4077

Was it on here or a different site that someone mentioned the CFL's growing partnership with the CIS and the Vanier Cup as a strong reason as to why the league may not look at starting the season earlier. CIS Football would likely completely fall off the map if the CFL season ended earlier.

I said that. Considering the CIS season can't start any later than it already does, and also can't be any shorter than it already is, the CIS needs the CFL to keep the current schedule.

[stampsx2]

^^^ Wouldn't that be like asking the nhl to adjust their schedule to accommodate the cfl? The cfl's the second biggest football league in North America.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

^^^ Wouldn't that be like asking the nhl to adjust their schedule to accommodate the cfl? The cfl's the second biggest football league in North America.

Ultimately, the CFL could do whatever it wants to, but I think it's in the CFL interest to have the CIS game grow in interest since it'll benefit the CFL in the long term as well. In super simiplisitc terms, it's possible more causal CIS fans - those who don't pay much attention to football but decide to embrace school spirit - could lead to more CFL fans. As well it's possible that, more CIS fandom = More money to CIS football programs (sponsorship and TV deals) = Better players coming out of CIS = Better Canadian players in CFL = Better quality product = More CFL fans.

The CFL would love for football to be truly embraced by Canadians as it is in the states; although same degree won't be possible. It's kinda hard to do that though if the amateur game gets no attention at all though. CFL needs fans that love Canadian football, not just pro football. That way you have a huge hardcore base, that will influence the casual base.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by troutman

I don't think a Dome would make a big difference. The Stamps have a good core of fans, and the rest of the City is just not that interested.

People seem to think that support in absolute numbers is waining. That's simply untrue, I recall attending many a western final in the Flutie/Garcia/Dickenson days where only 20,000 fans would show. The part about attendance that irks people I think is that Calgary metro now is wealthier and has 1.3 million people compared to 700-800k back then and that hasn't translated to automatic sellouts every night.

The reasons why are that while Calgary has changed rapidly, the people at the tailgate parties and going to Stamps games have not. The Stamps were a good draw and of decent importance in a more humble middle-income city of 700,000 people. Now there's many more things to do and money to spend on those things and it's fostered an attitude of indifference or even denegration towards the CFL. The people in my office look at me like I'm some kind of hick because my weekend plans include going to the Stamps playoff game. These are the same people who have places in Arizona and routinely attend Cardinals games there.

Next time you visit Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver ask around about the local teams there and you're likely to get a similar opinion. A flashy new stadium might turn this around when it's the talk of the town for a few years, but after that it will be the same old tried and true Stamps fans going to games. The scenesters who are too important, too sophisticated, and too cosmopolitan to go, won't.

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Next time you visit Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver ask around about the local teams there and you're likely to get a similar opinion. A flashy new stadium might turn this around when it's the talk of the town for a few years, but after that it will be the same old tried and true Stamps fans going to games. The scenesters who are too important, too sophisticated, and too cosmopolitan to go, won't.

So they should focus on people that want to go but can't. What percentage of fans are watching the game at home because of the weather and how many of them would love to be at the game? How many more would there be if it wasn't during the nhl season? How many more if it was a bit cheaper?

These are all things the league has chosen to ignore, so who's fault is it when attendance isn't where it could be?

Also the league is only considering putting at team in the maritimes. Why not? Smaller communities have the strongest fan bases. Look at Saskatchewan and Green Bay. Making the league into a 14 or 15 team league makes it even more relevant when you make the playoffs.

[burn_baby_burn]

I was born and bred in southern Alberta. Have lived in Alberta most of my 41 years. And I do not know a single Calgary Stampeders fan. I know plenty of Rider fans, but no Stampeders fans. Where are these people?

[troutman]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

Also the league is only considering putting at team in the maritimes. Why not? Smaller communities have the strongest fan bases. Look at Saskatchewan and Green Bay. Making the league into a 14 or 15 team league makes it even more relevant when you make the playoffs.

The league really needs to expand to at least 10 teams. When 6 out out 8 teams make the playoffs, the regular season is practically meaningless. CGY went 14-4, but only played two meaningful games.

Add Ottawa, then Quebec City and the Maritimes. Where could you add another team in the West? Victoria or the Okanagan? London, Ontario could maybe have a team too.

Keep the number of playoff teams at 6.

[Joborule]

The faster the league gets to 12 teams (in Canada), the better. It'll will help in making the league be more legitimate, and as you said, actually give some purpose to the regular season.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

The Western semi final is three days away and there's still 4000 unsold tickets. If it wasn't for Rider fans it would be a lot more. How does our team go to a western semi final without a sellout?

That's why I'm saying this city needs a dome. Sure an outdoor stadium is nice on a beautiful summer day but how often does that happen? I support outdoor stadiums in Miami, Dallas etc.

Reality check: How many elderly people and family's will watch the game from home because of the weather?

For the not tough enough arguements, I've worked outdoors for many years and played in an outdoor ice hockey league (even when it was -30 out). Neither bothered me one bit.

I don't support outdoor stadiums north of the border. Either that or move the season up so the playoffs are in September.

Big shot Stamps fan doesn't even know they got a bye right into the West Finals

[RogerWilco]

Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn

I was born and bred in southern Alberta. Have lived in Alberta most of my 41 years. And I do not know a single Calgary Stampeders fan. I know plenty of Rider fans, but no Stampeders fans. Where are these people?

I call BS on this. You need to get out more or something. I grew up here and am the same age as you and I know plenty of stamps fans. There are a bunch in this thread, and if you took the time to go to a game you would see 30,000 more. Everyone in my family and most of my friends are stamps fans. They may not have season tickets like me but they go to the odd game and watch on TV.

[Fusebox]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

^^^ wouldn't that be like asking the nhl to adjust their schedule to accommodate the cfl? The cfl's the second biggest football league in north america.

ncaa

[Fusebox]

For the guy who keeps going on about the CIS, I don't get why you think anybody cares about it. The Mitchell Bowl was one this past weekend and there were more people on the field than in the stands.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Fusebox

For the guy who keeps going on about the CIS, I don't get why you think anybody cares about it. The Mitchell Bowl was one this past weekend and there were more people on the field than in the stands.

I'm not saying many in the nation do, but I'm saying the CFL may prefer to see the CIS grow rather than keep it dead in the water, and moving the schedule doesn't help that. CIS needs to be going on while CFL is to at least encourage people to give attention to the game at all. Of course it's up to the CIS/schools itself to find a way to get people to watch the games more.

[calgaryred]

Originally Posted by Red John

This wasn't an attempt to hate on the CFL. It was an attempt to explain why attendance is dropping. While you enjoy it, it seems like many don't, which is why the thread was created.

There has to be a reason for it. Hypothesizing that it's because each passing generation chooses the NFL instead.

In the late eighties when I was in high school, most teens I knew prefererred the NFL to the CFL and attendance to games was so bad a average crowd of 26,000 would be considered fantastic, so if the crowds are better now then 30 years ago in Calgary its relevant to someone.

Back in the 80's there was no players that fans could really embrace until Flutie came along. Season after season of losing, once the Stamps started to win and get to the Grey Cup fan interest really grew. I think today the stadium is the real issue its so outdated, the experience of going to a sport is more than the game its the venue itself as well. I really hope with a new Flames Arena in the works, theres a Stamps Stadium thats coming soon too.

[browna]

No way can the CFL handle Canadian expansion past Ottawa. They've gotten tepid response from the East coast in the last two regular season games out in the Maritimes, and Quebec City is pretty meh as well. Certainly not a guarantee to get 20k per game, every game. Thus, those are the largest untapped markets that would be anywhere close for a franchise, and those teams would have revenue issues and trouble paying for a competitive cap roster.

The league of course makes the money off of expansion fees, and do you really see any cities who can't get 20k people to drop any sort of up front money? The other teams would be propping up any more expansion teams within a year or two.

One idea is to just scrap east vs west and play in one division. This isn't the era of train travel anymore, flights between all the cities are not that long and arduous. You'd have to balance the schedule among all teams, but forget the geography.

Other ideas would be to start the season a few week earlier in June, even play 2 or 3 less games, and end it by the end of October, if not earlier. Thus, better weather for fans to attend, more favorable/fair conditions for teams to play. Considering the league plays 2.5 months of basically summer weather, 1.5 months or so of Fall weather, then 2 or 3 weeks of winter weather at the end, doesn't make sense if you think about it in this climate.

Or, in conjunction with the above ideas, have the one division, and have no byes...top 4 teams make it as semi-finals.

All ideas that have been kicked around before.