Not sure how many of you tried (or are trying) to get through to the mothership for Grey Cup tickets, but the number has been jammed since 9am this morning.
And that is a good thing!
I'm interesting in buying two tickets, but not the season seats we have. It's been hellish trying to get confirmation on how (or when) that can be done. Have sent emails, waited on hold (and got dropped), as well as left recorded messages.
Normally I'd be frustrated, but I'm quite the opposite. I'm pleased to see the "volume" of calls. Hopefully the tickets are selling, and the lines aren't clogged with the noise that this board is full of.
I signed onto my account and the posted invoice made no sense as related to the price of a seat posted (my gold seats are now a cash grab platinum) The invoice due date for full payment says March 31, 2021. Not drop dead date posted for the 30% deposit as the rest of the payments would be April, May and June. So I sent an email asking for details of how the total invoice posted was calculated. In past years I’d get a response same day. Still waiting for a response. Maybe your experience explains what’s happening or there is an issue with the accounts. I want to delay a far as I can to put down a deposit.
So I finally received my call today...only what, 8 days later, lol.
But again, that's a good thing. My ticket dude said they have been very busy - again, a good thing!
Reiterated the seats I wanted to purchase for GC, and was advised seat upgrades would be made available to season ticket holders in January or February. Section 103 please
Further, we discussed their opening plans for the stadium. While he admitted they have 'many' different options on the go, at the direction of the caretaker, the one they feel has the most merit is season ticket holders access only. He told me they have 4,000 season ticket "account holders". Now some accounts are for one ticket, others for many. I have "assumed" 4K accounts generate 8K in tickets - at least.
But the good news is they are fully preparing for fans in the seats! Who knows, maybe I'll catch a game from my actual seat....would be the first time since I purchased them when THF opened.
Now to see where my nose bleed seats are actually located, lol.
I secured my seats the day they went on sale for season seat holders. I really hope we can have a full stadium but that seems pretty far fetched at least at this point. If a vaccine can be available and rolled out and is effective that will help. We are a year out so lets hope this improve and get us back to somewhat normal ways.
My mother was born in 1914 but I’m sure I must have been there in spirit .
Actually I’ve been to 2 games : Cats - Bombers 1961 at CNE Stadium , Ottawa - Sask 1969 at the Autostad in Montreal .
I would have loved to have been at the 72 and 96 games in Hamilton but money was tight back in those days . There are plenty of Cat fans who have been to many , many more games than I .
We have a huge list of free agents as does every CFL team.
There have been rumours of teams not wanting to spend to the cap.
TiCats can start re-signing their own FA's on Mon. Dec. 7th
With Hamilton hosting the Grey Cup, I believe Caretaker will spend every dollar to the max to get the best TiCat team to Grey Cup 2021
We should get a user’s review from AH. He can make recommendations as to what to take and proper dosages.
I suggest the players should demand to be tested en masse so that their 2 game suspensions could be served earlier in the season (game 5 and 6) after having gone 4 - 0. That way, although they would forfeit those games, when they returned they likely either would be in 1st place, or within striking distance.
They would then go undefeated the rest of the year having overcome their version of adversity.
The rumour is the league is encouraging clubs to spend the cap floor, but in reality, what stops an owner like our Caretaker, who was willing to fund some additional loses for the CFL for the hub season, to say to his GM, here is an additional $600,000 out of my own pocket, spend up to the cap and don't worry about what the league says. Unless the league wants to go to a blanket ownership, profit sharing type model, I don't think they can force an owner to spend the bare minimum. I also think, and I know some will disagree, that some of these rich owners and ownership groups, who I'm pretty sure their stock portfolios have all recovered from the crash in March, should commit to playing a full 18 game schedule. Even if the first 9 or 10 games will be without fans and do their best to ensure the best product on the field moving forward. You can only cut salaries and expenses so much before the whole league becomes "semi-pro" and second rate.
There are three teams that are community-owned, so their pockets are not necessarily "deep", and would face a LOT of public scrutiny (since the public is paying for them) if they have to operate at a significant loss; especially if they must play without gate revenue. That's an entire THIRD of the League.
One team is without an owner, although he left (what he believed to be) adequate funding for the next few years. That owner threw pennies around like manhole covers, so that funding would be pretty inadequate in the COVID era. That makes FOUR teams with funding issues.
One team has a brand-new ownership group that basically saved a bankrupt team (again). Not only did they have to make up for the losses of the previous owners, but they had to fund the team this year with zero revenue. There's no way in heck they should be expected to spend any more money than they already have next season. That brings the count up to FIVE.
There's one team that, while being owned by one of the most valuable sports conglomerates in the world, can barely fill a third of the stadium on the best of days, plays second-fiddle to a soccer team in that stadium, the stadium must use field turf in the endzones because it's inadequate for football, and the team, by definition, sucks. Does that huge sports conglomerate have the pockets to fully fund that team? Yes. From a business perspective, SHOULD they continue to operate at a loss in order to spend to (and above, without any consequences) the Cap? I would say no. That brings us to SIX teams - two-thirds of the League.
Hamilton, Calgary, and Ottawa have, IMHO, the best ownership in the League. All owners have been in it for the long haul. All have had (relatively) decent on-field success, and VERY good attendance in their stadia. Even these owners will be losing MILLIONS if they have to play without any gate revenue - money that they will probably not make back for years and years to come. Again, it makes business sense to limit your expenditures when there is no income.
Look, I want to watch a full 18-game schedule as much as anyone. I just don't want to see teams opt out of the season (if that's at all possible) or "pause operations" because they are losing money hand-over-fist. Even in the NHL there have been reports that up to TWELVE teams (so far) are seriously thinking about not playing this season. The numbers look like this - a team would lose $60M if they played the entire season with limited gate revenue; and only lose $15M if they sat out the season. That's real money. While not at the same level, I would make the argument that the ratios are similar in the CFL.
I can’t disagree, except I am equally excited and frustrated by the CFLs business as usual approach over the last 2 weeks.
1-Schedule published for 18 games
2- Grey Cup week promotions
3-Season tickets renewal campaigns
4- Edmonton new team name surveys
5- Free Agency lists published and teams can start re-signing on Monday.
I know the league has no choice but to move forward but it just feels like smoke and mirrors unless they say, 18 games are being played , no matter what.
I see your point except I have to also say
1- The community teams have all recently shown to be profitable and , according to their own reports operate at a very inflated 40 million a year budget, compared to Hamilton at around 25-30 million.
2- BC , regardless of the exact amount, it seems have been funded for at least a couple of seasons by their deceased owners will.
3- Montreal now has an owner, who has cleared their debts and has stated publicly that the team is " very well funded"
4- Toronto, who most likely has lost the most money recently, has owners with the deepest pockets in the league.
I would argue the league is in the best shape to absorb the 2021 loses then it has ever been.
If the season is cancelled again I think the league, as we know it, is finished. I think they need to at least play 9-12 games to make the season legit, so in my mind playing 14-18 games ( some with no fans) is a necessary investment.
A vaccine is coming soon, as early as January.
Hopefully, February should be a better month than January!
Feb. better than Jan.
Mar. better than Feb.
April better than Mar.
May much better than April
June much, much better than May
.....
I am actually not upset that the vaccine rollout will be after the USA and the UK. That gives the government a chance to learn from them with regards to the logistics of needing -80*C freezers for storage/transport, getting them to remote communities, to see the ACTUAL efficacy, potential side effects, etc. of brand-new vaccines. NOTE I will be getting vaccinated as soon as it’s my turn.
The Canadian Bowl is usually a week or two earlier than the Grey Cup. It might be best to move the Vanier up a couple weeks as well so all three championships can share the limelight and reduce the probability of harshly cold temperatures.
