ok bare with me folks as I explain it, i'll try to be as short and sweet as I can!
now I realize that obviously unlike in Saskatchewan where a sell out is barely below 30,000 seats. That Commonwealth has to get just over double that for a sell out.
so I'm in no way trying to make a comparison between Edmonton and Regina.
This is not about trying to sell Commonwealth Stadium to a full capacity for all 10 games (and possible playoff game) during the season.. this is about attempting to create ticket demand and increase the # of seats sold or create an atmosphere similar to that in Regina or Montreal.
My idea is.. make a Max # of tickets at commonwealth stadium that are sold.. based on average ticket sales for each team that comes to the city.
for example, lets say that The Roughriders will help sell 50,000 seats on average per each game that they play here.. then only have 47,000 seats available for sale! no give or increase. you sell the 47,000 out .. that's it.
for a team like Hamilton that perhaps only get 36,000 into the seats.. then you only sell 35,000 seats for that game!
Now, sure you might say that it's dumb but look at the other places that sell out? Montreal has millions more citizens than Edmonton, and when they have a game at the Big O.. they have been able to sell it out!
The demand for tickets and the atmosphere that gets created in an environment where tickets are at a demand instead of knowing you'll always get one no matter what.. is quite different.
Regina has for the past number of seasons seen a big change in the kind of atmosphere you see at a game!
it used to be where they had a difficult time selling out whether or not their team was having a good year.
NOW, they have a party type atmosphere at the game.. why? because they are selling the idea of it being a party! a festival, a social gathering and they're putting more emphasis on the party atmosphere and the people buying the tickets have totally bought into the idea!
I Do not see that here in Edmonton. I have gone to on average 6 games a season and I usually skip the games where the really bad teams come to town. When I go, there is a very different atmosphere in the Stadium.. based on what I notice they don't seem to be selling the idea that the game is a party! that it's an event and that it's a place to go have a good time, party it up, dress up and go watch football. but not just to watch football.
Most of the fans that come to the Game at Commonwealth, seem to be there for the game.. I notice a lot of the times that the fans are not always noisy, they a lot of the times have to be enticed or reminded to be loud for their team!
the atmosphere doesn't seem to necessarily be a party like atmosphere.
I think that if they were to create a demand for tickets and not have the entire stadium open to people to sit where ever they wish! (except for the corners and the one endzone) that there could be a much more condensed atmosphere and they wouldn't be so spread out.
so basically.. limit the # of tickets available for each game.. base the #'s available on who you're playing against.
cut off the areas and push people into an area to condense the fans into a smaller area.. and the game atmosphere would be more fun and way more entertaining.
![http://www.bcplacestadium.com/files/construction/spring2011/spring2011-1.jpg[/url]](http://www.bcplacestadium.com/files/construction/spring2011/spring2011-1.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}