Stampeders Attendance

[corporatejay]

Games don't matter, it's too easy to make the playoffs.

[I wanna be like Miikka]

I watch or listen to almost every Stamps game. When I am in town I don't go to the game because the stadium is garbage and I would rather watch at home or at a bar with some friends. New stadium would do wonders for the fans.

[browna]

Let's assume either the Flames or someone else builds a $280m stadium out of goodness of their heart, with no city taxes paying for any of it. This, to hopefully get an extra few thousand casual fans, 9 times a year...do you really think the ticket prices stay at the same?

They go up by 30-40% and then people (some of the same who refused to go to the old stadium anyways, and some that were fine with heading to McMahon) complain that it's too pricey.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by browna

Let's assume either the Flames or someone else builds a $280m stadium out of goodness of their heart, with no city taxes paying for any of it. This, to hopefully get an extra few thousand casual fans, 9 times a year...do you really think the ticket prices stay at the same?

They go up by 30-40% and then people (some of the same who refused to go to the old stadium anyways, and some that were fine with heading to McMahon) complain that it's too pricey.

People would be more willing to pay for the price if the venue itself is a quality place to spend a few hours of your day to watch a game that occurs only a few times in the year. They already have the uphill battle of many people considering the CFL a second rate product. They have to present as otherwise to encourage people to come.

[stampsx2]

I'll admit i follow the cfl up until the nfl season starts. A month later you have hockey and that's about it for the cfl. Move the season so the grey cup is at the end of August and i'll watch.

That and it being too cold by october to go watch an outdoor game. If the stampeders played in a dome i'd make much more effort. If that means i'm not a true fan then i'll stick to the nfl and nhl.

Also three downs is harder to watch for me. The ball changes hands too often.

[Howie_16]

I'd like to see the CFL move the season up a month. One home game in July, one home game in August, but three in October? The Grey Cup game should be played before Hallowe'en.

McMahon is hardly a dump. It's got great sight lines, especially compared to Commonwealth Stadium where the stands feel like they are half a mile away from the field. Want to avoid a packed concourse? Use the walkway that's 2/3's of the way up the stands. Too cold? Dress for the weather.

Never understood how someone can like the NFL but not the CFL. Why can't you like both?

[Resolute 14]

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.

Of course that was an attempt to hate on the CFL. You can not honestly argue the CFL is a "dying breed" when the league's popularity is growing overall. Also, calling CFL rules "gimmicky" is, frankly, absurd given many of them predate the American version.

NFL fans in Canada seem to have an inferiority complex that rivals that of NHL fans. I honestly do not understand why some (many?) of you are unable to enjoy the American game without trashing the Canadian. But it is really quite pitiful that you do.

[Red John]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Of course that was an attempt to hate on the CFL. You can not honestly argue the CFL is a "dying breed" when the league's popularity is growing overall. Also, calling CFL rules "gimmicky" is, frankly, absurd given many of them predate the American version.

NFL fans in Canada seem to have an inferiority complex that rivals that of NHL fans. I honestly do not understand why some (many?) of you are unable to enjoy the American game without trashing the Canadian. But it is really quite pitiful that you do.

Attendance is down in every CFL stadium this year except for two and the league's popularity is growing? Ok. Given that the population is ever-increasing that number should not be going down every year.

You seem to be off on your assessment of an inferiority complex. A superiority complex maybe but definitely not inferior.

This thread was created to try and answer the question, why are less people attending CFL games?

Personally think its because each passing generation favours the NFL more. You can be butthurt about that opinion...or you can discuss it intelligently.

[DOOM]

Season should start on June 1st.

Regular season should end around September 30th.

Grey Cup should be the 3rd week of October.

[CedarMeter]

Personally I think it's TV.. I could go to all the games price is not an issue my business has 10 tickets and some go unused. When the Stamps use to black out every home game I would go to all the games. Now that they don't I find it very convenient to miss games. I guess TV revenue is much better for CFL that they can now lift the blackouts.

[JD]

Originally Posted by Red John

Personally think its because each passing generation favours the NFL more. You can be butthurt about that opinion...or you can discuss it intelligently.

You call someone butthurt and then call them out to debate intelligently? Haha okay then. Maybe you're the one butthurt about his opinion? Or maybe you two just have different opinions and nobody's "butthurt"? I digress...

Part of my problem with going to CFL games is that I never know when they play, other than Labour Day. Every week, every year, the schedule is different. With NFL games, you know your team will play on Sunday. You set your bowel movements to it. With Stamps games, you just never know. Might be Friday night, could be Saturday. Sometimes it's Thursday, then in the fall they play on Sundays sometimes. Even with the Flames, they generally play their games on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. It's fairly intuitive.

And yes, there are a lot of meaningless games. The Stamps are pretty much playing out the string now. Nothing meaningful until the West Final. That's a problem, especially with the Flames grabbing a lot of the spotlight once again.

[Fusebox]

Originally Posted by DOOM

Season should start on June 1st.

Regular season should end around September 30th.

Grey Cup should be the 3rd week of October.

I've been saying this for years. I have no patience for watching CFL football in -20 weather. Of course, the reason that they wait so long to start the season is that they are petrified at the thought of a CFL regular season game going up against a NHL playoff game. Remember in 2011 when the Stamps played a preseason game against the Lions in Vancouver the same night that the Canucks were playing the Bruins in the cup finals? There were about three hundred people in the stands.

[Cheese]

Nothing ever changes. I remember having this same discussion in the 80s and 90s with my friends. We were all season ticket holders back then and even with blackouts they couldn't sell the stadium out.
I think its the fact that most people would rather be out doing anything else on a hot summer/fall day than watching football and when it gets cold those damned benches give everyone hemorrhoids.

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by Fusebox

I've been saying this for years. I have no patience for watching CFL football in -20 weather. Of course, the reason that they wait so long to start the season is that they are petrified at the thought of a CFL regular season game going up against a NHL playoff game. Remember in 2011 when the Stamps played a preseason game against the Lions in Vancouver the same night that the Canucks were playing the Bruins in the cup finals? There were about three hundred people in the stands.

Better to have a couple games overlap with the nhl playoffs then losing fanbase after week 12.

If you ever get into the nfl you'll know why it's hard to pay attention to the cfl. Don't get me wrong, the cfl is a good league but it's like driving a jaguar then switching to a ferrari. Jaguar's nice when there's no ferrari around.

Move the season up a month or two or make a dome in calgary to keep your fanbase.

[stampsx2]

I would also be interested to know what percentage of fans are elderly and won't buy season tickets because of the cold/late season.

[Sainters7]

I think the main problem is the CFL seems to have lost an entire (young) generation of fans to the NFL. It's a troubling issue, and I'm not really sure how you'd fix it. I think another issue - as mentioned - is the rise of HD and affordable big screens / sound systems, making your couch a lot more attractive option than it used to be. I know you could say the same about the NHL, but hockey is one of the rare sports that's considerably better live. Football, not so much. An NFL / NCAA stadium makes up for it because the atmosphere is so electric and fun. A CFL crowd can't really boast this.

I'm having trouble buying the "stadium is a dump" angle on troubling attendance figures. Sure, its old and could probably use replacing. But for the CFL its not that bad, I think its in a great spot; somewhat central, right off the C-train line. Great scenery too, I love sitting on the East side on a summer evening, simultaneously watching football and the sun setting behind the mountains (and still a nice view of downtown) while having a beer. So great.

I really think this simply boils down to many people just not finding the CFL cool anymore. Which is a shame, its a great league, and more skilled than many give it credit for.

EDIT: And just say no to domes, can't believe this has been suggested multiple times. Put a lid on McMahon and you're taking away a major draw of going to a summer/early fall game. If people are that put off by the weather late in the season, I'd much rather just start it a month earlier.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Red John

Part of the problem is that the CFL is a dying breed. The officiating is awful and with the inferior talent level and gimmicky rules it's not something the younger generation identifies with. Not to mention it isn't marketed well and is really just a TSN thing sort of like the World Juniors.

Combine that with the fact that the NFL is marketed well and fantasy football has become a casual thing that everyone does instead of just a nerd thing.

The CFL could probably stay relevant by dropping ticket prices to $5 for cheap seats to encourage non-football fans to come out and spend an afternoon in the sun and drink (sort of like baseball). That probably doesn't make financial sense though, or one would think they'd have done that by now.

The CFL is sort of like classical music - your grandparents still watch/listen. And that's about it. The younger/trendy crowd isn't into it. Is it any wonder that the CFL cities with the worst attendance per capita are the ones where there are other things to do?

Dying breed. hahaha. Explain the TV ratings then?

The majority of NFL are pretty boring. Watching a team with a lead running out the clock at the end of the game is pretty terrible along with the 1 hours worth of commercial built into every game.

[Matty81]

The big thing with CFL regular season games is as somebody said that the regular season games barely matter at all, it's a good night out but it's not about the sport as much to me until the playoffs.

Also growing up in a mid sized city where my friends were from lots of diverse backgrounds, they have zero connection or interest from most first and second generation immigrant families, which unfortunately for the cfl is the segment of our population that's growing the fastest. The other big issue they have is that hardly any families put their kids in the sport.

They've been lucky in that tsn has embraced their product and invested in their production, it looks decent on tv.

Also total aside, for some inexplicable reason, they get a ton of public funds to build stadiums at a time when other sports struggle to get any funding to build much cheaper 4-5k stadiums at a fraction of the price. The amount of money we spent in bc on bc place actually made me angry. The MLS team offered to build their own privately funded stadium, they denied it and basically forced them to be secondary tenants in bc place.

Hate that the cfl is such a welfare case when it comes to their stadiums. Why the eff do they get so much money for a sport barely anybody plays... Pay for your own stadiums. Fine sport I'll watch from time to time but I don't think pro sports, let alone the cfl deserved government dollars.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Red John

Personally think its because each passing generation favours the NFL more. You can be butthurt about that opinion...or you can discuss it intelligently.

The intelligence of this argument is limited by your ignorance. And yes, popularity is growing overall. As Cheese mentions, fearing for the future and health of the CFL is a decades old past time. The league nearly went under entirely in the mid 1990s. Since then, overall attendance has grown significantly, which is far more reflective than single year-over-year differences. Also, as noted, television viewership continues to rise. This all combines to create a situation where nearly every team is playing in new or renovated stadia. This doesn't happen for a "dying breed".

And yes, inferiority complex. So many Canadian NFL fans seem to feel that their choice in code of football can only be validated if they make someone else agree with them. It is an odd pathological need for someone to say "you know, you're right!" so that you can justify your preference for the NFL style. It is something I just don't understand, myself. There is nothing wrong with liking the NFL, and there is nothing wrong with liking the CFL. The only butthurt we tend to find in these threads comes from people like you that seem unable to handle the fact that there are people who can and do like both codes, or who prefer the Canadian game exclusively.

[Red John]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

The intelligence of this argument is limited by your ignorance. And yes, popularity is growing overall. As Cheese mentions, fearing for the future and health of the CFL is a decades old past time. The league nearly went under entirely in the mid 1990s. Since then, overall attendance has grown significantly, which is far more reflective than single year-over-year differences. Also, as noted, television viewership continues to rise. This all combines to create a situation where nearly every team is playing in new or renovated stadia. This doesn't happen for a "dying breed".

And yes, inferiority complex. So many Canadian NFL fans seem to feel that their choice in code of football can only be validated if they make someone else agree with them. It is an odd pathological need for someone to say "you know, you're right!" so that you can justify your preference for the NFL style. It is something I just don't understand, myself. There is nothing wrong with liking the NFL, and there is nothing wrong with liking the CFL. The only butthurt we tend to find in these threads comes from people like you that seem unable to handle the fact that there are people who can and do like both codes, or who prefer the Canadian game exclusively.

Perhaps Matty81's (and Saints7) post explains my point better. A whole generation of young fans is being lost. Very few new Canadians put their kids in football, and again with the rise of fantasy football and the fact that younger Canadians tend to favour the NFL it seems like that's a market the CFL no longer has. You don't see many students/younger people at the games although this probably has to do with the price oftickets as well.

Increased TV viewership is probably more importnat to the league than filling the seats every night so that's the trade off. But then you get threads like this wondering why McMahon is a 3/4 full to watch a very good team.

You seem to want to pick on me...wasn't looking for any validation anywhere that the NFL is better, was just offering my best guess as to why CFL numbers are down.

Haven't personally found that NFL fans in Canada diss the CFL much at all...they just tend to ignore it. It's not much different from junior hockey actually...there's a small section of very loyal followers and those who don't like it just ignore it.

Obviously it's a sore spot to you that more Canadians like the NFL...why? If you like the CFL that's great keep watching it. And maybe start buying more tickets to games.