Lansdowne never had a capacity of 35k. I think it was only 27k at its peak. With the addition made in the one end zone (bar/patio area) the capacity is now 25k.
Of note, the proposal for the Halifax Stadium is for a permanent grandstand of 12 - 14,000 with a temporary grandstand seating around 12,000 bringing it to a total capacity of 25 - 26,000. It will still cost over $100 million, even with half the seats being temporary.
There isn’t anything concrete with regards to funding a renovation of McMahon Stadium.
Seems to be a lot of Chicken Littles here. I see the “Usual Suspects” here again trashing the CFL, and trolls with new names. I have heard the same wishes of the CFL’s demise 40 years ago, and the same “people” will be wishing it 40 years from now.
Oh, yes, I see that now. Looks like they reduced capacity during the renegades brief tenure.
As for Calgary, we know there have pulled out of the Winter Olympics bidding process. Like I said, there is nothing concrete with regards to funding renovations for McDump Stadium. Those renders are null and void at this point.
Typing attendance stats is not trashing the CFL, it is simply stating the facts. Nothing more, nothing less. Based on the numbers of the past few years, it is a cause for concern as other avenues for revenues have stagnated. Thankfully, the commish had the foresight to see this and is trying to expand revenue streams outside the country with CFL 2.0. It will be awhile before that bears fruit though.
Interesting conversation. I made the same observation to the missus last night as we were watching the game: how empty Commonwealth stadium seemed to be but also noting that with a capacity of around 60K, it is bound to look very empty and especially in the upper decks.
Is the CFL in trouble? Hell, I have no idea. I am not in the boardrooms. The fact that they get crowds in the 10s of thousands tells me that we are still in good shape. We cannot and should not expect the type of attendance that is seen in the USA which has over 10 times our population.
That being said, the CFL needs to do a much more aggressive job of marketing itself as a uniquely Canadian institution and one worth preserving, not for its own sake but because it is truly an entertaining game to watch.
And while we are at it, the CBC, which is presumably there to tell Canada’s stories to Canadians, gets over a billion frigging dollars a year. What do they do with that money? I have no idea because for the most part, what they peddle, just ain’t worth watching. How about a mini-series about the history of the CFL? How about some movies about some of the storied CFL teams? By way of example, the story of the Ottawa Redblacks and their Grey Cup win of 2016, in their third year of existence, had it happened in the United States, would have been a movie by now. How about hour-long biographies of CFL stars past and present?
For my part, I love those inspirational football movies that they make so many of south of the border. Why the hell can we not do something similar? Canadian football history is every bit as interesting and inspirational as American football.
What will this do for attendance you ask? If people know something more of the history of the sport and are inspired by feel good football documentaries, movies and biographies, they will be more prone to embrace the sport and buy tickets.
I certainly don’t want the CFL to fold that’s for sure. That being said, at some point, the league may have to reinvent itself in some way as the major leagues seem to be attracting more and more attention and be more in the spotlight so it seems. What this reinvention, if it ever happens, might look like, not sure. One idea related to this could be the merging of the Cats and Argos with Tim Horton’s Field the home field of this merged team. Toronto and Hamilton is becoming more and more one area as the Go Train is now in Hamilton and soon to be right to the east end in Stoney Creek and so many people from Toronto moving to Hamilton for cheaper housing and what Hamilton has to offer with the escarpment and waterfront trails and a more “small town atmosphere” that can be appealing to many. But no need to panic on this one at this time with MLSE as the owner and their deep pockets.
What you're essentially proposing is to fold the Argos.
I suppose so Crash. As I say no need to panic now with the deep pockets of MLSE, at least the Argos are playing in a smaller and better stadium for football in BMO. How important attendance at Argo games is to MLSE and also to the CFL, well I don't know. Could be very important or might not be at all. Don't know.
While I definitely did enjoy viewing the thrashing of the Argos close-up, one thought kept going through my head; this absolutely will do nothing to help with their attendance.
Maybe the league will help with one of their forced trades a la Ricky Ray. Wait for it, BLM to Toronto for a backup middle linebacker and a bag of used footballs and a Derrel Walker bobblehead.
But the playoffs are still being played at the same time, with the Grey Cup the last Sunday in November, so nothing’s changed there.
I think it was to add an extra bye week for each team, to help them stay as healthy as possible.
Now, of course, it means butting up against the Stanley Cup (which rarely means anything to CFL cities) and the NBA Finals, which this year was HUGE all over the country! Attendance at Hamilton’s home opener was hurt by that. Great for the Raptors, but how often can we expect that to have an impact? They won’t get that far every year.
As for whether the CFL is in trouble, we should be careful about comparing attendance at home openers (which are now much earlier than they were in the past), and comparing attendance at game 1 with average attendance from previous seasons (since attendance usually increases as the season goes on.)
I think you have to look at the Junior Hockey model. The CFL is at a point where it works better in the smaller cities. Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal have outgrown the league. Even in the cities out west have been showing cracks in attendance. Thankfully the Argos are owned by MLSE so the can take the loss, but they can’t force people to go to games.sometimes I think they would be better off moving outside the city. Far enough away that there is little competition for the sports/entertainment dollar and small town community feeling, but close enough that they can still be called Toronto. Just a thought.
