Bubba did an outstanding interview with the cfl’s new commissioner Stuart Johnson
It’s a great watch
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17:10 Apparently 7 out of 9 teams lost money last year. 
Not suprised.
Winnipeg for sure and possibly BC made money ( BC mainly because of the Grey Cup).
Even Sask reported a million dollar loss last year.
I’m sure the Ticats are somewhat close to breaking even, but they have at least 4 thousand less people actually going to the games compared to 2015 ( not officially reported, just my eyeball test).
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Fans are voting with their feet. In a nine team league with one Grey Cup win in 26 years. Obviously people have seen enough.
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[quote=“GiasoneItaliano, post:3, topic:97991”] I’m sure the Ticats are somewhat close to breaking even
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I don’t think they are doing as well as people think. Lots of discounted and comp tickets from corporations who are not paying full price for their seasons tickets. The main thing they want to see is people at the stadium buying food and drink showing that this is the place to be seen. Lots of empty seats in my section.
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The " no shows" is a real issue in many Sports Leagues since 2020.
It’s a stat all CFL teams keep track of but don’t generally publish. There was a business article I read about Saskatchewan 2 years ago that said their " no show" rate was around 20%. So 25k sold meant 20k in the stadium.
Many younger fans will easily spend $40 on a ticket but then not bother showing up.
I’m sure the Cats have a similar problem. 23k sold really means 18-19k in the stadium.
How do they fix it? I don’t think Ticket prices are the issue. Consession prices, length of the games , competition from other events and the ease and comfort of home viewing are the main problems.
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Ticket prices vs the product on the field is the main thing for me. I’d have no problem paying the price if they were playing good ball. But most of my life, they have not, except on a few rare occasions). Product going down, price going up, doesn’t sit well with me.
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Sure, but more or less the Cats have kept their ticket prices in check. You can get into the Stadium for under $40 on gameday and season seats start at $275, plus this year they have these additional family ticket options that are a great value.
My point is it’s not generally ticket prices keeping people away. 20% of fans are willing to buy tickets and then not show up.
For me, game day and in stadium costs can get pretty high ( food,drinks,merch) that make it easier to just eat the cost of the ticket.
I’m sure you’re right that if the team was 10-0 there would be less no shows.
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In our case, I think it’s just the exhaustion of 26 years of no Grey Cup,especially the heart break of 0/4 in the last 10 years.
The on field product also seems less exciting these days. Limited number of sustained drives, limited big passing plays, limited big returns. I get up way less out of my seat in excitement these days unless the beer vendor is coming by.
I don’t know about other teams, but if we start winning like we were in…2015 before Zach got hurt, we’ll fill the joint.
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I got anxiety just reading this line.
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Last thing I want to see is another ‘Buy A Ticket, Feed The Cats’ advertising campaign. That sucked the first time around.
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I wonder how much that is actually true? Must be nice to toss around money like that.
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They buy it , and think they’re going to go, but then something comes up.
Whatever the speculated reasons, the facts are 20% of ticket holders are not going to games that they have tickets for.
This is especially true if they got some cheaper group ticket or giveaway promotion.
By staying home they aren’t actually loosing money as its cheaper to stay home and hang with friends or do something else.
Plus it’s just not as big of a deal to go for teenagers or early 20 somethings anymore.
Real example from this past week:
I had 4 tickets, two for my teenage kids, they canceled at the last minute. I upgraded my seats to 2 Club seats.
My cousin had 4 tickets for the opener, with two for their teenage kids ,the kids canceled at the last minute.
My best friend had 4 season seats for years, this year only 2 as their 2 daughters can never make the games anyways
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In all those examples you have given the “kids” never paid for their tickets anyway so it’s pretty easy to say sorry but I can’t make it to the game because something came up.
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Sure.
As I said in my post, the facts are 20% of people ( kids, adults, whatever) are not going to the games even when they already have tickets.
If you don’t want to believe that some people pay for their ticket and still decide to stay home, then fine you don’t have to agree.
My real life examples were more about the lack of enthusiasm and less about the money.
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I think that the attendance looks worse than it is because when I look at the crowd from my seat I say to myself it looks like 15,000 give or take and then when I go to get a beer on the concourse I see another few thousand because many don’t watch the game from their seats they seem to socialize at the bar or concourse so looks are deceiving.
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Facts? so you are saying that out of 22,000 tickets sold , 4,400 wouldn’t show up?
I find that hard to believe, especially for the Labour Day game when you can’t see too many spares seats.
Maybe the four thousand that don’t show up every game would be encouraged to donate their tickets to special groups, kids etc
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Here’s how I see it:
23,000 tickets sold or distributed means;
18,000-19k-at the stadium.
14-15K in their seats and at any given time with 3 to 4K not in their seats at any given time.
The upper West is usually at least half empty but that section only holds 3500 people ( I’ve counted).
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I’m not paying $15 for a beer
And I realise before the first quarter beers are a lot cheaper
Food there is ridiculously expensive.
So is the merch
The commissioner said that this league is an affordable product. It’s not let’s break it down shall we
The one of the cheapest ticket for a single game is $54.57
a Family of 4 that’s 218.28
2 15 Beers for mom and Dad 30.00
2 Soads for kids 10.00 each =20.00
4 Footlong hotdogs $10.50 = 40.00
Total cost 308.28
That’s not affordable!!!
now sure you eat outside the stadium and save some
but tickets are still over 218.00
You can go spend 2 hours in a theater for a family of four for 70 bucks just for the tickets
then buy 2 #2 Combos for snacks
Includes 2 Regular Popcorns + 2 Regular Drinks and your choice of 2 Select Candies.
wit Free Refills on pop corn and soda .
42.46 X 2
Total 140.00
or stay home in front 65" TV
Throw an $8 frozen pizza into the oven
Then crack open f a 2 L bottle of no Name soda $2.00
I don’t care how good in stadium game experience is
Bottom line is our money doesn’t go as far now
It also doesn’t help that the team has been kind of mediocre
A lot of families just can’t afford to go to the ballpark anymore
Compared to other sports games yeah the CFL is cheaper
you’d probably pay $2,500 to to go see the bills for a family of four
A lot of families have to make their money stretch further then before. Strictly because the economy is absolutely shitty
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Labour Day is a bit different. Less no shows for that game.
Facts ( according to me anyways).
This is a message board , just for fun, I don’t think I have to show pages of evidence or “proof” when I have something to say. I think there is logic in what I’m saying.
The Cats claim attendance was 22,800 for the home opener. There were not 22,800 in that stadium even is you account for 3 to 4K never in their seats at any given time.
I wish I could find the article, but Sask was very transparent a year ago in a published article about 20% no shows being very common.
Why is it so hard to think that would not be true for the Ticts as well?
Plus the commissioner himself stated this week that 7 out of 9 teams lost money last year, and it is safe to guess that the Cats were one of them. If 25k people were actually showing up every game I would find it hard to believe the cats wouldn’t at least break even.
I feel like I’m being “called out” by some of you.
Next time you’re at the stadium look around at all the empty seats and remember the stadium only has 22500 actual seats. The extra 2500 are standing room type tickets.
I don’t think I’m saying anything too crazy or radical.
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