To me the problem of McMahon is the gameday experience. It's not the marketing or the product. And sure, maybe they do have more fans, but it's still a cavern. I suppose YMMV, but I'd rather have a more out of the way place like Spruce Meadows and a better gameday experience personally.
I will always remember playing a Provincial League final at McMahon stadium.
Initially we thought it would be so cool! McMahon!! It was going to be awesome!
Do you want to know what the environment of McMahon stadium is like when you're playing in front of a raucous crowd of about 50 people?
Its not good.
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To me the problem of McMahon is the gameday experience. It's not the marketing or the product. And sure, maybe they do have more fans, but it's still a cavern. I suppose YMMV, but I'd rather have a more out of the way place like Spruce Meadows and a better gameday experience personally.
Yup, I totally get it. Watching Mustangs games at McMahon led me to believe that the venue is probably incompatible with footy. However, the Cavs surprised me with ATCO Field and I would love for Wild FC to do the same even if they have a much larger challenge.
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Even a packed McMahon would have a terrible atmosphere for a soccer game. It’s about as bad a location I could think of. Playing out of there is a recipe for failure if you ask me.
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Certainly it is easier with C-Train, but it isn't central IMO
In a city that goes from 144th Ave North to 212 Ave South, I'd suggest an address on 24th Ave is fairly central.
As for atmosphere, as somebody that is a Dino football season ticket holder, 2000 people @ McMahon doesn't make for a great atmosphere. 7000 is better (that's one side almost half full), but I'm not sure that is a reasonable expectation.
Hopefully the new turf coming in will not have any lines sewed in.
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I'm really interested to see how this team is received by both the soccer community as well as the general public.
I've been a Cavs season ticket holder in 109 since the beginning and have brought quite a few general sports fans to games. Those who returned all cited the atmosphere as the biggest reason. The Foot Soldiers have created something that is so unique to other sports events in the city and I feel that's become the major draw for your average sports fan who catches the odd Cavalry game. Little kids who don't care about the soccer love jumping up and down, kicking the metal floor and banging the drums. I honestly think the fan atmosphere has been possibly the key component to whatever success the Cavs have had in drawing your average sports fan or family to Spruce Meadows. When I've watched the odd game on the other end of the main stand (section 102 or 103), the experience is vastly different. It feels like any other sporting event. When I'm in 109, I know I'm somewhere very unique in the sports landscape in Canada.
I have heard a few people share with me that they think Cavs tickets are overpriced and I tend to agree. I think my season tickets are priced quite fairly (though they're the lowest in the main stand) but the price I pay jumps around $10 to $40 if you buy my seat for a single match. $40 to sit basically in line with the six yard box is overpriced, in my opinion. But, Surge basketball tickets seem even pricier and I think the Surge is a good comparable when it comes to the level of the leagues. So, maybe I'm kind of stuck in the 90s when it comes to what I think is fair value for entertainment.
I do think the Wild have an opportunity to develop a niche market, naturally including families with girls who play soccer but also families just generally looking to attend a sports game. But I'm in agreement with others who say that playing out of McMahon will seriously hamper the game day experience. Will the advantage of being in a much more central location than Spruce Meadows help balance that out? I'm really not sure. If your natural target market is families and you play on the weekend, is LRT access that much of a carrot? If Wild tickets are, say, 20% cheaper than Cavs tickets, does that tip the scales for some people? I really don't know.
Anyway, I will definitely attend Wild games and I look forward to seeing what kind of fan experience and on field product the club creates. The league and the club seem pretty solidly financed, so that's encouraging. The salary cap level indicates to me that they will be able to attract some good talent, both in North America and beyond.
As someone who attended Calgary Boomers games in 1981 and supported every pro soccer team in the city since, I never thought I'd see the day where Calgary would support pro soccer, long term. Now we've got the opportunity to support two teams in this city. It's a great time to be alive as a Calgary soccer fan.
Last edited by ditty; 05-31-2024 at 04:23 PM.
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Great for the league to get exposure on TSN and CBC, which hopefully leads to more butts in seats at the end of the day. I would be surprised if any TV money comes into the league but maybe NSL is more valuable to these networks than CPL.
Also maybe this means that games won't just be called and covered out of a broom closet in Toronto...
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Last edited by shermanator; 06-11-2024 at 12:16 PM.
Yeah, there are more larger corporate national sponsors behind the NSL compared to the CPL, similar to the PWHL after they unified their pro leagues and got a business plan in place which attracted corporate and media partners.
The CPL and CSB took the MediaPro income and kept both a defined income stream and the control over the media partner. Same goes for some sponsorship.
