The Attendance at Argo games this year and previous years has been down considerably and many have complained about the figures including the team management, fans and so on, this year attendance is averaging around 22,000 the first game of the year was the highest attended game so far at 29,852 and that was the Tiger-Cats in town, hopefully tomorrow they will surpass 30,000 at the gate but you never know?
It's interesting I speak with many fans of the CFL in either Hamilton or Toronto and when I go to a Tiger-Cat game in Guelph or Hamilton I always purchase my tickets as do many of my family or friends in the Hamilton, Burlington areas but when I talk to almost 90% of the people I know in Toronto who are Argo fans, they tell me that they get their tickets given to them either through work, or a client or a friend or whatever, one even boasts it's been years since he has paid to attend an Argo game because their are so many free tickets out there? I had heard that the Argo's were trying to get more people out to games by doing giveaway promos and marketing but you would think that just providing the fans with a great product on the field like a Grey Cup Championship and great play by the current team would be enough but I guess it's not?
I really hope they get a good crowd tomorrow night for the Argo and Tiger-Cat game but the Argo's can't play the Cats every-time to get a good home crowd, I'm sure they wish they could!
this shouldn't be a surprise. they didn't even come out for flutie and the pinball led powerhouse argos when they won back to back. imo, best team ever. gonna take more than winning to get paying fans in the seats.
it's the dome (amongst other reasons such as poor local media support, but largely the dome)
http://www.argonauts.ca/page/home-attendance
there it is in print...not hard to see.
Worst attendance in the old stadium was over 23K average.
There is also something to be said for supply and demand. The Argos have a massive stadium, so seats are a novelty. the Riders and Bombers pack their houses on a regular basis, but I strongly believe that if they had 50000 seat stadiums on a regular basis attendance would drop.
Skydump? Yikes, I like baseball to a fair extent and will no longer go there for a baseball game. I was conned into believing at one point it was a great baseball stadium but when I fell asleep at a Blue Jay game, first for me at any sporting event, I realized the place is crap. I don't fall asleep at sporting events, but it did happen at a BJ game at the Dump. The Dump was mainly built for baseball. Ok, now football, all Argo fans and CFL fans in S Ont - don't go, it's not worth it. I'd rather the Argos and CFL vacate Toronto than play in that baseball first dump of a place.
As I say, finally the CFL and Braley know this. The Dump is bringing down the CFL to the lowest common denominator and thankfully the Argos have been given an eviction notice. Thank you Rogers!!! :thup:
The Argos have the strongest walk-up crowd in the league, by far. So by that measure they could be the most popular team in the CFL.
The problem is the Argos have the weakest season ticket base of about 8,000 to start from. Most other CFL teams have between 18,000 to 25,000, with the Riders reaching 30,000. So when the Argos drew 30,000 for their home opener, essentially 22,000 walk-up tickets were sold. In comparison, the Als may draw only 2,000 walk-up fans above their large season ticket base of 20,000. So which team is more popular?
One factor could be the Argos have lifted all their home blackouts for 20 years or more. Fans know in advance that all Argo home games will be televised in Toronto. Walk-up fans are the audience the Argos have cultivated by televising home games while plenty of good seats are still available, which may explain their weak season ticket sales.
Other factors could be the poor atmosphere/sight-lines at Skydome and inconsistent scheduling of home games. Without hunting on the internet for the schedule, many fans would have no idea what day or time the Argos games are on.
The Argos have great fans, but many have just gotten out of the habit of attending games live. The CFL ratings are excellent in Toronto and don't let anyone tell you anything different. :thup:
Walkup generally equates to...yeah, why not. They have walkup because of the capacity empty...everyone knows they can get a ticket at will. What is ideal is a franchise where one must plan for a game...where it is an event, not why not like it is a movie.
I absolutely agree Skydump is the worst sports venue in North America, however, I think you fell asleep at a Jays game because baseball is one of the most boring team spectator sports in the world and not because of the stadium.
Strongest walk up in the league ? you haven't factored in freebies and papered attendance figures. Even now , I'd bet Winnipeg , sells more walk up tickets than Toronto !
Exactly, and this isn't the type of fan you want as your core fanbase, because this kind of fan doesn't buy the merch, doesn't follow the team, doesn't engage in all the extra intangibles that contribute to your sports franchise beyond gate revenue. You certainly want room for these fans, as they become those fanatical season ticket holders, but not so much room that they are the only game in town.
So what happens tomorrow if there's 30,000+ in Toronto?
Going by the ticketmaster site again just a few minutes ago and even when I click on the darker shaded sections in the upper bowl a lot of them appear to be already 50% or more sold. And like I stated already the horseshoe is looking nearly sold.
The Rogers Centre is a fantastic venue for sports. As someone who lives not in Toronto, I can tell you straight up that it is the envy of most other cities (Vancouver aside).
Stop crying because it's "too big", or "too boring". It works.
Ottawa hasn't even HAD a stadium for roughly a decade. Think about that for a second. No major outdoor venue for the 4th largest city in the country.
Do you have any idea how completely awful that was? No events. No outdoor sports. Nothing.
But by all means tear it down. I'm sure something else will fall right into its place that is so much better. :roll:
The freebie's for the Argos are no worse then anyone else in the Cfl. The freebie's are generally %10 of the tickets sold and their given out to corp sponsors and business partners, so are they really free. When Metro Links is reported that they received 15,000 worth of Bills tickets from Rogers, when they have no partnership agreement for the Bills game, that are Freebe's