Quebec has their own nation so they do things a little differently in la belle province…
Why the league imposes a ticket selling ban is surprising, but there must be a good reason or they wouldn’t do it.
It's not just Montreal, I know the Lions have done it as well. I can't find the press release saying when they became available, but your proof is in the link below with ticketmaster. The preseason game and first regular season game have gone on sale to the public:
[url]http://www.ticketmaster.ca/browse?category=8&tm_link=tm_sports_b_8&root=10004&dma=504[/url]
I think theres some Tom Foolery going on :?
BC is an interesting situation. First I heard "season ticket sales were on the same pace as last year," and I'm thinking, "really? We just won the Grey Cup and about to enjoy a whole year at a refurbished BCP and we're on pace to = last year?!?"
Now I hear we're ahead of last year (supposedly last year's total was 22K). Certainly having the Canucks bow out so early was good for the Lions. But it's also good for the other BCP tenants, the Whitecaps. It remains to be seen how much of the casual fan's dollar will get eaten by soccer. Different crowds for the most part, but it can't all be segmented in a town of 2MM people. This is not NY or Toronto. So the bottom line is that if the team gets off to a good start and remains competitive, they should be in the 30,000-32,000 range (my guess, not theirs). They lost a significant # of fans in the transition to Empire. It remains to be seen whether they all come back.
The elephant in the room no one from the club ever seems to address is the escalation in ticket prices. Yes, they won the GC, yes they play in a world-class facility, but Vancouverites are mortgaged and taxed to death and live in an outrageously expensive city. How much disposable income is left for football? That remains to be seen, but here are the 2012 prices:
Club Lounge - $125 (they come and serve food and drink at your seat)
Coaches Sideline - $85 (where my seats are located)
Red Zone - $65
Touchdown Corner - $45 (basically end zone corners....they're going to have a tough time moving these)
End Zone - $35 (the most expensive 'cheap ticket' in the CFL. $35 gets you in the stadium and behind the goalposts)
Was thinking the exact same thing. I think your assertions of which seats will be most difficult to move is dead-on the money aswell
I may be guessing but maybe they want to give season tickets holders [new and old] until the last minute to book their seats before they sell the rest , just like they do for the Grey Cup?
The Bombers have announced they have now sold 22,050 season tickets (which is a new record) and they only just started dealing with people on the waiting list. People are lining up out the doors of the Bomber office to buy season tickets.
… :thup: :thup: :thup: 
Here is the article about WINNIPEG's record ticket sales...
http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=396851Well done :thup: :rockin:
Judging by the turnout at the Lions' Kickoff 2012 event for season ticket holders 2 Saturdays ago the season ticket sales are going well.
Anything UP would be great for the ARGOS.
Their fan event was a HUGE success. :thup:
Drew Edwards just tweeted (https://twitter.com/#!/scratchingpost) a bunch of stuff about ticket sales from the TiCats season preview conference
-prez Scott Mitchell: sold out of corporate partnerships at Ivor Wynne Stadium
-Mitchell: 3,000 more season seat holders this season.
-prez Scott Mitchell says the team is on track to be sold out of season tickets when new stadium opens in 2014.
(and some other stuff, not season ticket related)
Dennis Skulsky, the B.C. Lions President, was on TEAM1040 radio yeserday and said the club will be at (or close to) 20,000 season tickets. Club sponsorship highest it's ever been.
They won the GC… hopefully they are trending updwards. Not to mention the revamped stadium.
You’re right Tony. Personally I would have expected this number to be higher, what with coming off a Grey Cup and first full year in the new stadium. But we’re also seeing price elasticity being tested. While it’s fine for the Canucks to jack up prices in a 19,000 seat arena, when the BC Lions do this year after year and start to slowly creep into the ‘big ticket’ milieu, people aren’t as willing to dig deep into their wallets for STs, not with our insanely high cost of living (BC stands for “bring cash” by the way). I know two people for example, who have cut back from 4 seats to 2.
There must be also be a ‘Whitecaps’ effect at play here to some extent. A fairly high % of Lions’ season tickets are bought by businesses. I can’t believe some didn’t switch to new and family friendly soccer. And while they don’t draw as well as the Lions, their sponsorship dollars blow the Lions away.
Still time before the season starts for that number to pick up. 
The vast majority of the soccer sponsorship money is from BMO. BMO is tied into MLS in a national deal for the league. Once that deal dry up, (i believe they have 1 year left) the Whitecaps will see their sponsorship take a big hit. BMO has put a lot of money into the MLS in Canada and their not very happy with the very poor TV ratings that MLS is receiving. The Lions have 6 times the TV audience as the Whitecaps
The Whitecaps largest sponsor is Bell Canada
Totally agree Rhymes. I think you perfectly described the situation. The Lions play in a larger venue (for CFL standards) yet they keep jacking up ticket prices despite the fact the place doesn’t come close to selling out. The presence of a new franchise (Whitecaps) with decently priced tickets (actually cheaper than the Lions) doesn’t help things much either That is NOT the way to attract new fans. Edmonton has an even bigger stadium but keeps the prices relatively low to ensure larger crowds. The Lions should do the same. Focus in on creating a better atmosphere at games, not squeezing every last dollar out of you loyal season ticket holders. I fear that this will happen in places like Hamilton where a smaller stadium could mean their loyal season ticket holders will take a beating in the pocketbook.
The Below is from the Vancouver Paper, you will also note that the Bell sponsorship deal has more to deal with the rights to use and promote Bell Services and Technologies then cash. The BMO deal is 4 Million CASH
Bell became the Whitecaps’ “premier founding sponsor” in a multi-million-dollar deal announced in June 2010. Financial details were not announced at the time, but subsequent media reports put it at about $4 million in cash and Services.