You’re very welcome. It’s a beautiful park. Something out of ‘Field of Dreams’. After tomorrow night they only have 2 home games left next tuesday and saturday night then it’s the playoffs.
Setting the record straight on the “better GM than Jim Popp” comment:
It was in the thread about Chad Owens…and I was expressing concern about how Cobourne was allowed to go to free-agency:
...and while I agree with Niagra about the boneheaded-ness of the Chad Owens debacle... I fear the shrewish frugality that led to the departure of Avon Cobourne will be the crowning "gorey" of Jim Popp's career.It was HfxTC who quipped:
You think you can do a better job than Jim Popp ?Sort of a "So why'd you beat your wife" kind of question No way to answer it without "looking the fool"
So…in the context of the discussion I wrote:
And yes...I do think I could do a better job than Jim Popp Certainly never would have let Cobourne get away...you can bet on thatSo I modified this seemingly brash assertion With the belief that letting Cobourne go was an obvious mistake I still feel it And considering our problems on kick-returns Feel the same way about Chad Owens Was the first person to mention that loading up on import receivers was all well and good...but the team has weaknesses in other areas Still think McPherson's been neglected much more than is necessary...and that his tryout this off-season in the NFL could have led to disaster etc...etc
It’s so easy to condemn people out of context
Politicians and media hounds do it all the time
Do I think I have the qualifications to be a GM on a CFL team?
Don’t be absurd
Do I think I could make better decisions sometimes?
Oh yah…
Abso-Friggin-Lutely
Whoa! Not so fast! For the last two years or so, they have experimented with the NFL in Canada and the Bills have played both pre-season and regular-sseason games in the Rogers Centre in TO. They drew good crowds, as I recall, but not necessarily sellouts. Now, what portion of the paid attendance (and they paid plenty!) made the trek from Buffalo and how many were from the GTA, I don't know. Was that a novelty? A curiosity? Would the NFL sell here? Could an NFL franchise regularly sell out in TO (assuming, of course, that they built a new stadium with a capacity of 70,000+)?
Montreal has had a great run for more than a decade, and they have done well at the box office. Whether those numbers were padded or not, it certainly appeared as if the place was packed. Is that because we have had a winning team or has football really taken hold in Montreal and Quebec? So, the question remains, I think - is Canada football territory? In Regina, for sure - but I'm not so sure about the rest of us.
I made a post in the CFL forum which I think is relevant.
I'm thinking the Al's have just gotten stale. Similar to the Atlanta Braves, who couldn't sell out play off games because it was just expected they would make it.
As one journalist said, the Al's not making the play-offs may be the best think that happens to the league. Now this was in regards to other teams and there fans, and also TV ratings I believe. But maybe this would also be good for the Al's. They will once again need to improve and become the best, and take someone out, go through adversity, and perhaps that will be more interesting to fans.
Another point I raised was that the league as a whole has become stale. The same old match ups year after year. I think teams need to be added immediately to the league, because if you aren't growing, then your competition is. And the CFL does have competition, entertainment options are everywhere. A 10 team league would be a start.
It's probably a combination of plenty of factors, but I think these are right up there.
The Als are not selling out, but the stadium is filled at 90% capacity during the summer months, with the festivals and a lot of other summertime activities competing for people's precious few entertainment dollars.
Am I the only one who thinks the Als are actually doing pretty good? Especially considering they have the highest ticket prices in the CFL.
Its not that they aren't doing good in relation to the league, to me its the fact that they are doing worse then they were. Can't deny that.
And you say that based on what? Last year was the first season the stadium had 25000 seats. Larry Smith fudged attendance figures to claim sellouts during that first year. This year, that practice of claiming dubious sellouts is no longer in effect. Nobody, except the Als know the real attendance figures from last year. So, any comparison to this year is difficult, if not impossible.
Since the games are almost sold out this season, and we know they were almost sold out last year (but announced as being sold out), it is reasonable to assume that attendance is very similar. The Als went from selling 20000 tickets, to 24000 plus in 1 short year. A 20% increase. Pretty good! The fact that the stadium is consistently filled from 90%- to 100% capacity, also means that it has the perfect number of seats.
It is more profitable to sell 24000 tickets in a 25000 seat stadium, than to sell 30000 tickets in a 45000 seat stadium.
Not only that, if they've sold one more corporate box than last year, they are likely ahead in attendance dollars. Always been the same story in Montreal with the exception of the Holy Habs, many in the media try and bring down and destroy pro franchises.
Further to your point and not that I am a big stats guy, but they do have a season ticket base of 20000 (if I am not mistaken). The first home game of the season drew just over 22317 which is 89.2%. The following home game drew 24698 which is 98.7% and the last home game drew 24434 which is 97.7%. Average attendance over 3 regular season games is 23816 or 95.2%.
Overall, seems pretty good to me.
Lol…humans
Love to play with their statistics
The fact remains that the Alouettes don’t sell out a their pint-sized stadium
After 2 successive Grey Cups
In a city of ~3.8 million people
23,000 people to watch a Championship team?
Hell…the Argos almost pull that many
And they’ve been the “dogs” of the East forever!
You don’t half like to talk yourselves into being happy happy
While the rest of the league scratches it’s head and wonders what’s up?
I doubt losing will improve things
If Montreal is mired in apathy by the “same old” Grey Cup Alouettes
We all know how they’ll react to a last place team
I sure hope they win tonight
Because losing ain’t going to make things better
From wikipedia :
with an estimated metropolitan area population of 3,859,318,[11] and [b]a population of 1,934,082[12] in the “agglomeration” of Montreal, which includes all of the municipalities on the island of Montreal. The city of Montreal proper had a population of 1,620,693 (as of 2006 census).[13]
Home game # 2 314 shy of a sellout
Home game # 3 578 shy of a sellout
They have to have a good fan base as 50 000 turn up at the Big Owe for playoff games. Without doubt the fact that there are free telecasts of games has something to do with attendance. Attendance is, of course, only one criteria in looking at fan support. I believe there is a french telecast of these games in Montreal, and, it would be interesting to know what are the revenues that come from this? In addition it would be of further interest to know how much TSN gives the team for the telecasts. I wonder how many fans would show up at Molson Stadiam if the home games were blacked out? I know that Hamilton blacked out some home games a couple of times in past. I don't know , however, what the result re attendance this produced. I gather some of the western home games are blacked out. I would bet more fans would show up at Molson Stadium if the Als blacked out their home games? In looking at team revenue, therefore, one has to consider all revenue in order to find out the revenue of the team.
The Buffalo Bills only agree to telecast home games when (I'M guessing) 90% of the seats are sold. There is a move afoot in NFL circles to utilize " Pay TV" for home game situations. If the CFL were to blackout home games I am sure " Pay TV" would be model for these home games. If the Als do draw 24 000 fans in a city with no blackout of home games I believe the team must be doing OK in financial terms.
I don't recall where I read this (the Gazette I think), but the Als are selling more merchandise this season. In fact, in one of their home games this season, they had a record day for selling merchandise. Merchandise sales are another good indication of a team's popularity.
Believe it was the game against the Argos when AC broke the TD record and Cahoon was there. Somewhere around $67k in merhcandise sales…
Sorry to add more bad news to this string, but the attendance at tonight's game (Als at Argos) is only about 19,000 - in a 50,000+ stadium!!!!
Which is only a few “thou” less than the 2 time Grey Cup Champs get regularly
If Molson were sold out…it’d be a non-issue
But as things stand
For shame
Montreal!!!
You guys are really crying over 400 short of a sellout, really. You got the highest ticket prices in the league (and those sections are sold out) your game day gate is close to 1.8 million even at 23,000. Which would be higher then any team, other then the riders. Been to many Canadian games that don't sell out, or even when they announce a sell out and you see sections of empty seat's everywhere in the Arena, yet no one talks about that
Hey, don’t paint us all with the same brush. I agree with you and think this no-sellout thing is a complete non-issue for the Als.
The only thing that’s changed is that Lalonde isn’t padding his attendance figures the way Smith did.
Not all are crying…
Senior is our resident pessimist... :lol:
There is NO problem in the Als organisation.