I am writing this as a die-hard and season ticket holder of my beloved Hamilton TIGER-CATS!
But even I am becoming concerned about the attendance in Toronto and wanted to hear from the “double blue? faithful what their thoughts are.
With MLSE taking over your team and taking the long term approach I thought that would have a boost in attendance but based on this game vs EDM that seems to not be the case.
Do the Argos need to move ? (Varsity, Mississauga)
Do the Argos need to just keep plugging along ?
(trust MLSE)
Is the CFL as a league dead in Toronto?
What does everyone think ? I’m very curious where the fan bar stands.
Yeah wanted to see a better crowd today as well. But they just need to plug along IMO.
Manning said it will take about 10 years to rebuild the fanbase.
Second home game traditionally drops from the home opener.
Last year the second home game drew 11,219. Also a nice summer day vs. a western opponent who is not a good draw and head to head with the Jays. Plus last year ST package included 4 free tickets for every season ticket.
Today's announced attendance of 12,196 is no means a good crowd but it is progress. The home opener was 3,000 better than last season's which was vs. the Ti-Cats.
The current ownership is dealing with the after-effects of 35 years of neglect and sometimes downright abuse by previous ownership groups. It is going to take years to get back to 20k averages -- five to seven years IMO.
Moving the team is a brutally bad idea. There is no "central" and easily accessible location in the GTA other than where they are. A move to Mississauga, or Pickering, or anywhere else will drive away some of the existing fans, which is the last thing the franchise needs.
As a perk the Argos should give away tickets for away games. Maybe there's a diehard Argo fan who hasn't been to the new stadium yet or has business out West. There are plenty of empty seats in Saskatchewan (and elsewhere). Surely it wouldn't hurt the league to find a pair of empty seats. Maybe even a sponsorship with an airline.
does anyone know what the organization has done at all to promote itself in the market? i still buy season tickets for myself but go out west to work in a national park, so i leave my tickets to be used by family and friends. because of that, i dont get to see what is being done to make the team visible.
is there already a thread for this?
The attendance has been an embarrassment. Even at the dome with some average teams the Argos were averaging between 20-25k. Now that they listened to the fans and brought this team back to the exhibition grounds no one is showing up. Where did these fans go??Its shameful to see that the Argos closed off the whole upper level on the east side of the stadium and we still can't sell out games let alone get 12k people there.
Trying to make the Argos work in Toronto is much like the NHL trying to make the Coyotes work in Phoenix. It ran really pains me to say that since I am a lifelong Ticat fan and Argo hater. But there are better ways the CFL brass can use their time to strengthen the league, For instance, place greater focus on locating (or re-locating) franchises in smaller markets like Halifax, London, K-W, Kingston, Thunder Bay, Quebec City, the Okanagan Valley or Sudbury. I am not suggesting that the Argos should move permanently. Rather I think they should a break for a season or two.
I understand your point to moving the team and then re-introducing it back in the market but that also might back fire. I don't think the people that aren't showing up will start showing up after a long absence. By then they will latch on to something else.
Over 18,000 in attendance today. Not too far from the capacity with the East upper deck closed off. An Argo ticket got you in to the Ex. for free, but you still had to purchase the Argo ticket.