GAME 4: Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs STAMPEDERS

[Bar-Down]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

I thought it was a pretty good turnout tonight. Must have been close to 30,000 people.

Yeah I don't know why everyone is saying the Stamps attendance is that bad.

The only other team that has higher attendance regularly is Saskatchewan.

Stamps usually get 27,000-30,000 on an average game, which is pretty good for that crappy stadium.

Here is a link to the CFL schedule that shows the attendance at each game.

http://cfl.ca/schedule/year/2015/time_zone/0

Hell, Sask only had 26,159 this week and Calgary had 29,225.

[You Need a Thneed]

Was at the game, and it looked like around 30k, maybe slightly above average these days.

Of course, it looks really empty for the first couple minutes of both halves.

[OzSome]

OLine situation situations is concerning but Stamps seems to have some depth on tha position. The one that concerns me lately is the struggle of Rene Paredes. Even though he's got a couple of winning field goal so far, I am not as comfortable whenever he kick a field goal right now. Obviously he is struggling since last season and it is starting to get to him. I hope he gets back to being consistent kicker again. Huf has to hide Tyler Crapigna to a 6-game injured list in order of not losing him to another team. I am sure that is on the back of Paredes' mind.
Our offense is starting to pick up. Trouble is, Cornish is not being used as often so far so it is kind of easy for the other team how to stop Stamps' offense. That is to stop Bo Levi's passing game. Hopefully after tonight's Cornish performance, DD will start using the run offense more often.

[JoseCuervo]

Yeah people who are saying the attendance is low are dead wrong, I was at the game and other then the high corners it was packed.

[Armchair Quarterback]

Originally Posted by Bar-Down

Yeah I don't know why everyone is saying the Stamps attendance is that bad.

The only other team that has higher attendance regularly is Saskatchewan.

Stamps usually get 27,000-30,000 on an average game, which is pretty good for that crappy stadium.

Here is a link to the CFL schedule that shows the attendance at each game.

http://cfl.ca/schedule/year/2015/time_zone/0

Hell, Sask only had 26,159 this week and Calgary had 29,225.

This. Calgary has had exemplary attendance for most of the season so far. Sure, McMahon seats around 35,000 (IIRC) but averaging around 27,000-28,000 per game is very healthy attendance. Cgy fans are just as dedicated as those from Saskatchewan!

McMahon stadium is showing its age but I think a few upgrades, like putting in actual chair seating everywhere (rather than just bench seats in certain sections) would make it more comfortable for fans.

[transplant99]

Yup...attendance was fine. Things are always down a bit until Labor Day, and that happens league wide.

Also....some were saying that the Stamps weren't running the ball enough. I disagree. Yes Cornish wanst used as much in the 1st half, which is true, but in the end it was a very nice balance of 23 rushes and 21 pass attempts. When you have guys like Rogers, McDaniel and Fuller on the squad, you have to get the ball in their hands as well as Corndogs. Also, Cornish make a very good decoy which should open up other options.

All questions on offense pretty much start and stop with the O-Line. I thought they did a great job last night considering the circumstances and 3 of them had never played a CFL down before. They will be OK but they have to get some reps in together. Losing Lavoie really sucks and throws the ratio into turmoil. Huf and company have to get another non-import guy or 2 in town pronto.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Yup...attendance was fine. Things are always down a bit until Labor Day, and that happens league wide.

Also....some were saying that the Stamps weren't running the ball enough. I disagree. Yes Cornish wanst used as much in the 1st half, which is true, but in the end it was a very nice balance of 23 rushes and 21 pass attempts. When you have guys like Rogers, McDaniel and Fuller on the squad, you have to get the ball in their hands as well as Corndogs. Also, Cornish make a very good decoy which should open up other options.

All questions on offense pretty much start and stop with the O-Line. I thought they did a great job last night considering the circumstances and 3 of them had never played a CFL down before. They will be OK but they have to get some reps in together. Losing Lavoie really sucks and throws the ratio into turmoil. Huf and company have to get another non-import guy or 2 in town pronto.

I heard the reporter was asking Huf on losing Lavoie to injury. He didn't mentioned how bad. I know he had some knee problem during the training camp but looks like someone fell off his lower left foot. I hope it was just a minor and he can come back on Friday's game. I thought Lavoie did well in his time at centre against Winnipeg.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by JoseCuervo

Yeah people who are saying the attendance is low are dead wrong, I was at the game and other then the high corners it was packed.

Attendance was 29k and change which is pretty good for a summer weekend. It's not like Regina has sold out a game yet this season either and I would be more concerned about BC and Edmonton as they had pretty poor attendance for their openers.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by OzSome

I heard the reporter was asking Huf on losing Lavoie to injury. He didn't mentioned how bad. I know he had some knee problem during the training camp but looks like someone fell off his lower left foot. I hope it was just a minor and he can come back on Friday's game. I thought Lavoie did well in his time at centre against Winnipeg.

Lavoie left the stadium before the game was over and headed for x-rays and an MRI. That's very rarely anything but bad news.

More telling was his own reaction as he walked off the field after that TD and him smashing his helmet into the turf in frustration when he realized it was not good.

Hopefully its a short term thing but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[tvp2003]

Parades has been injured, no? Guy has been pretty clutch; when was the last time he missed a last minute game winning/tying field goal?

[Pizza]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

with that being said, though, the stadium is located right on a train line and isn't hard to get to. attendance like this for the defending champs on a beautiful weekend with no hockey in town is actually really bad.

A huge factor in the attendance is the local economy, which happens to be O&G where many are getting laid off

Hard to justify spending money on entertainment when you're unemployed and have mouths to feed

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Pizza

A huge factor in the attendance is the local economy, which happens to be O&G where many are getting laid off

Hard to justify spending money on entertainment when you're unemployed and have mouths to feed

That's not the issue with Stamps attendance, it's been hovering around 26-28k for a few years now.

This year is actually a little better than previous years for early season games. It's a combination of the stadium's archaic, brutal condition and all games now being televised.

I think someone showed CFL ratings for TSN somewhere and they were very strong for what the league is. The fans are here. A lot of casuals have been permanently removed from the "attending games" group due to just watching at home for cheaper, but many more are just temporarily removed from attending games due to the Stadium.

I would suspect you'll see our new stadium seat 31 - 34k and we'll likely see sellouts on regular basis. And honestly, with the way CFL stadiums are around the league we end up looking worse on TV as a 36k stadium is on the large end for new CFL stadiums.

Nobody looks at a game in Ottawa and says what a weak turnout.......but their stadium holds 25k which the Stamps beat every single game. And nobody looks at 29k in Winnipeg and says what a weak turnout because their stadium is modern and the empty seats are less obvious on TV.

We have those huge empty corners where the sightlines aren't that great, you're really far away, and the benches are ****ing brutal to sit on. The fans that would normally be up there were the first ones to say "The games are all on TV? Perfect, **** that experience, I'll just get drunk with friends at home and forget the pricy game/transit/vendor food/beer evening out.

And if I recall correctly the Stamps have a hand themselves in the corners looking empty as I believe those used to be very cheap/affordable tickets but they decided to start trying to make better coin off them. Hopefully someone can confirm.

[jayswin]

And before you throw stones at Stamps fans Resurrection, here's an article from last season. You have a smaller stadium and it's new which attracted extra fans, as will Calgary's new stadium, but Winnipeg isn't a slam dunk football town.

http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/bombers-a...game-1.1995826

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers hosted the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Banjo Bowl at Investors Group Field on Sunday.
This is one game the home team expects to sell out every year, but overall, this season ticket sales have been disappointing.
Sunday’s game, the teams sixth at home this season, was the first sellout of 2014, something they had already done twice by this time last year.

Overall, the team is averaging 30,002 fans per game, down 1,846 customers per game compared to the first six home contests in 2013

"You know, it does surprise us a little bit, especially with the winning and the product on the field. It certainly is surprising,” said Bomber fan Dan Labelle outside the stadium Sunday

Which is exactly what you were saying when you took a shot at our fans.

The lower corners at investor group field often look like the upper corners of McMahon, except they're lower.....nicer.......and in a brand new amazing stadium.