Also no sell out this year read this from the Vancouver Sun I believe
There’s a glass-half-full approach being taken by the head of this year’s Grey Cup committee that still accurately reflects where Sunday’s game at B.C. Place Stadium ranks in the local marketplace.
To committee general manager Jamie Pitblado, it’s not what hasn’t been sold but what has been bought in advance of the second Grey Cup game here in four years.
With just over 46,000 tickets sold, it’s highly unlikely the game will match the attendance of the 2011 Grey Cup, when 54,313 fans turned out for the last playoff win by the B.C. Lions over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The situation may prompt organizers to give away tickets to charitable outlets this weekend.
But Jamie Pitblado said Monday that that figure would represent a sellout in six of the nine stadiums in the CFL, that it exceeds the 44,710 who got in for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ coronation last year and that it will still represent the largest crowd to see any game leaguewide this season.
The rematch between the Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who last met for a Grey Cup game in 1999 at B.C. Place, is also assured to surpass the 45,118 fans who watched the game that year.
“I saw the Canucks still had 200 unsold tickets for the only visit of the Blackhawks Sunday. The Whitecaps suffered down the stretch,? Pitblado said.
“It’s an interesting thing that’s happening in the marketplace.?
The fact approximately two-thirds of tickets have been sold to B.C. residents is a show of support for a game which is not likely to return to Vancouver after this year for some time, said Pitblado.
But he admits ticket sales this week also represent something of a referendum on the Lions, who had a losing record at home for the first time since 2009, a fact that played a hand in the firing of coach Mike Benevides last week.
A surge in interest in the Seattle Seahawks and NFL fantasy football were cited by Pitblado as reasons behind the sluggish sales, plus buyer fatigue from the 1201 game.
And while out-of-B.C. ticket interest Monday predictably spiked upward, several hotel booking websites reported a wide selection of rooms still available.
Pitblado said if the game is not sold out by the weekend his committee will consider giving away tickets as they did in 1999 when members of the military were given a chance to watch for free.