I've really enjoyed the first 4 weeks of this season. I just can't believe the first month is gone. Games have been better than expected and, minus the disappointed with the Argos 2nd home game, things have been pretty good. TV ratings are up. Now sure about the attendance but the fans seem happy. As I said above, the games are better than last year and minus the excessive penalties, most games have been exciting.
I have no doubt 8 of the 9 teams will be in the black and I hope/believe the Argos can keep their losses to a minimum.
How does everyone else feel about our first month?
Attendance has been awful across the league. BC is the new Toronto IMO.
35 percent of penalties are procedure and offside... Im beating a dead horse, but that is simply a lack of practice time. The amont of dropped passes is alarming as well
On the positive. Passing yards are way up, scoring must be up too. Close games, and only one hurt QB so far this season. Hopfully its not a high ankle sprain and hes back soon.
Much more than 14 or 15.. I just really get upset seeing so many empty seats everywhere. This week's Bomber game had about 20k actual ,but they reported it at a measly 24. It just sets such a negative tone for the game.. The the penalties drice me nuts too. Its as delayed reaction to celebrate a big play until you figue out if the penalty is on you or the other team. Today was a great example. Where the Rider player made a huge catch, but the crowd couldn't celebrate for 5 minutes because the ref called a phantom penalty. By the time the video review corrected the obvious mistake, the lions D caught their breath, sacked the QB a couple of times and the game was over after a terrible mussed field goal. It went from an exciting game, ti a crapfest because the refs wrecked it.
Huh? You mean the catch by Roosevelt? That was actual pass interference on Yell. Buono challenged the call for offensive pass inerference and the call stood. It was the challenge that delayed the game, not the ref’s call (which was correct).
The odd thing this season is that the visiting teams have won just about every single game. Making it most difficult to pick the winners in my pools !!!
Visiting teams are 12-3-1. To compare that, the top participants in the VGCC are 10-5.
One thing I like is how much faster penalties are called. Remember in the past when an official threw a flag, all the officials had to huddle together to discuss it? Now, the ref knows right away what was called, and most penalties are assessed very quickly.
Offside and procedure penalties are usually high early in the year, but they should taper off as the season progresses.
Overall enjoying the season so far. I too am bothered by the empty seats. I hope the higher-ups are looking for ways to fix it, and have confidence that they will do so. The stadiums should all be full after Labour Day, but it would be nice to see some people packed in tight in 30-degree-plus temperatures. Mmm…smell that sweat! :lol:
I admit I’m at that point too. The first thing I do after a big play is looking for a reason as to why it might not have actually happened. Worse yet, whether it will be challenged. The PI challenge must have looked great on paper but too often it feels like it’s being used as a Hail Mary by coaches to have the outcome of a play changed.
But I’ve had more of an opportunity to watch games this year than the last couple and that aside, I’m finding most of them enjoyable enough (The Als/Cats atrocity of Friday notwithstanding). A few overtime games, a tie which was a disappointing in several ways but entertaining nonetheless.
I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about empty seats. Not a damn thing I can do about it.
Here is a novel approach. A 35% season ticket price cut across the league with token 5% cuts in Saskatchewan,Hamilton,and Ottawa
The 35% increase in sales will give you the exact same amount of revenues and make the product look 10 times better. These increases in attendance would still leave alot of seats empty, but it would be a start. If you increased actual attendance by 35% in the six trouble zones, you would have actual attendance of around 25k in BC. About 30k in Calgary, 33k in Edmonton, 30k in Winnipeg, 20k in TO, and actually sell out in Montreal.
These kids are the future Generation and should be exposed to the game as early as possible to generate life long fans not to mention the added revenues spent by families on concessions and merchandise. (and ST’s once the child hits adolescence)
The league has dropped the ball for decades by missing out on the youth and yet are only now scrambling to cultivate the most coveted consumer demographic of all. (18-49)
Free is the wrong approach. 5 dollars is also the wrong approach. You have to maintain value in your product. 50% discount is fair. Ticket prices have to come down due being overpriced first however.
Your math is incorrect. A 35% increase in sales does not equate to 35% increase in revenue when you are factoring in the same percentage in a price drop. The math is not that simple. It would only give you a little over 85% the original value of the tickets and that’s without taking into account the additional 35% of tickets sold. Factor in the additional tickets and the revenue could drop as low as 65% of the original value of the tickets.
Bottom line, 35% more butts in seats with an actual revenue drop of approximately 15% and a drop revenue from the total tickets sold as much as 35%.
This league could cut down on about 30% of the flags thrown if they simply used better discretion. Don't toss a flag on something marginal that happened away from the play and had no bearing on the outcome. And let a little 'in-fighting' between receiver and DB go (as long as neither gets a clear advantage).
I don't know if it's because Glen Johnson is getting his direction from the BOG, but it's been one hot mess since he became VP of Officiating. Games taking far to long to complete as well. Most casual fans are not strongly enough invested to sit through a 3 hours and 15 minute flag and challenge fest.
I’m talking about comps exclusively for children only.
All adults and adolescents still pay the going rate except that we now have full/fuller stadiums with more families in attendance which will increase ancillary revenues and breed a new generation of fans which results in more paying customers within a few short years…and hence greater franchise value overall.
The CFL is a baby boomer league that bears little resonance to the youth in this country and this spells major catastrophe if not addressed NOW.
If I owned a CFL team, Id keep the same price structure for people trying to impress others with their money(real or not) but then would drop the prices for fans sitting outside the 30s.
20 bucks gets you endzone crap. 10 bucks for kids
25 bucks gets you upper deck corners.15 bucks for kids.
Family packages for two adults and three kids for 100 bucks, that include hotdog and a pop. If you are like me and like to sit around the twenty in the lower upper deck 35 bucks is the absolute max price.
Yeah let the suckers sitting at the 45 pay 80 or 100 bucks. Those types wouldn't show up if the tickets were cheaper anyways. They like to feel special.
I think tickets are too expensive but the teams feel they can sell them and they set the price points. I’m sure they think, “I’d rather sell 20,000 at $80 than 30,000 at $50”. Since 8 out of 9 teams are profitable, it’s hard to argue with success. I know when teams were giving away seats, they weren’t in the black.
How do you determine if it had a bearing on the outcome in real time without clairvoyance? You can’t say “that interference didn’t matter” because if he wasn’t interfered with, who knows what would have happened? Maybe he gets open and the ball goes his way instead, which absolutely changes the outcome of the play.
If a penalty has no bearing on the outcome of the play, there is no reason whatsoever to commit that infraction in the first place. Player stupidity is not a reason to not call a penalty.
Now, getting Jim Popp off the sidelines would make a difference, considering how many penalties he’s taking this year for delay of game by not knowing the challenge rules…