25K tonight....lol.. That is 8K less then when Ackles was around. Plus the dome is waaaaaay more comfortable and not a sauna.
Time for Braley to sell the team while they are still worth something... His ridiculous 1970s ideas are not meshing with the local populace.
FYI... The Whitecaps will draw over 300K this season for MLS games alone(not including the extra games) and the Giants will be around the same.... The Lions are now last on the sports totem pole in Vancouver.
don’t black out games like an idiot business school drop out.
people won’t come to the game unless they learn to like the games through watching them on TV.
not to mention TSN will be mad, who other than local BC populace will watch a game Thursday at 10PM? You don’t black that game out.
I thought there would be more there as well agains't the defending GC champs and in a super building. I don't know. What I do know is CFL football, for this guy, beats the heck out of soccer or baseball but whatever turns people's cranks as they say. I love the contact aspect of football but I guess for marketing, it has to be more than that. But soccer and baseball compared with the CFL? I don't see it at all, brutal to watch compared with the CFL but as I say, there's more to it than what I like from a fundamental viewing aspect. I just can't watch soccer, I've tried but not happening. I'm more familiar with baseball but too many games for me and I certainly wouldn' t watch a minor league baseball game, not that they are televised anyways, when there are so many MLB games on when I do want to get a baseball fix. What trophy do the Giants play for? And the MLS championship game in Toronto a few years back wasn't even sold out at the 21-22000 seater BMO. That tells you something.
Agree, televise all games, only way to go.
BC has always had fickle fan support, no surprise . They have a great on field product a awesome venue to watch. It’s on the fans of Vancouver. No excuses , go to the games !!
I'm with Earl on the subject of soccer. Tried to watch it but it just bores me to tears. A Brit friend of mine says you have to watch the nuances of the game but it just does not compute. As for baseball, it's more of a live experience for me. We used to have Arizona's Class 'A' short-season farm team here; I'd go to about a dozen games a year. On TV, I'll often have a game on, but only half paying attention to it. Haven't really paid much attention to hockey since the Olympics. Basketball? I'll go to the odd game at the Uni here but can't stand to watch it on TV. CFL is the only sport I follow anymore.
BC gets 25,000 fans? It will be interesting to see actually how many fans show up for the Argo's next home game against Sask, the first game was a fluke since it was against Hamilton and 15 to 20,000 fans were Tiger-Cats at Rogers Centre of the reported 30,000 in attendance if the Argo's draw anything less of 25,000 for Sask it will be a total failure of the Braley teams in BC and Toronto? And Braley shouldn't have to give special promo's to draw fans in like half price tickets or % off, we are talking about two major Sports Cities in Canada in Toronto and Vancouver both with hot teams and both recent Grey Cup winners in 2011 and 2012 I think the fans in both Cities are a Bunch of Whiners and should get out support their teams respectively and it should be No problem to get 40,000 in BC or Toronto anything less says these fans Stink!!!
Yes Gern, for me I think much of it comes down to the word intensity on a real physical contact level. Gridiron has that every game even if every game might not be a real close barnburner but guys are flying, getting hit and combined with the strategy, well I love it. I know other sports have the intensity but nothing matches gridiron for me for those sports I'm familiar with. In the 80 plus game NHL schedule, some games end up looking like glorified pond hockey. And I do like hockey but don't see the intensity there as much.
Yeah, they had respectable attendance for sure in the opener.
Here is something rather encouraging as well:
http://www.rodpedersen.com/ - Friday, July 5, 2013"In Week 1, the average attendance for CFL games was 31,460 which was 2,000 more than Week 1 in 2012."
Actually, some interesting points in a blog called 25 GAME DAY OBSERVATIONS AND GAME NOTES
Sounds very encouraging depop.
The CFL will not likely break the years’ end attendance record due to Alumni Stadium holding only 13,000 although the BB’s and RR’s may help pick up the slack this season. (and quite possibly the ambiguous Argos as well)
100% agree
The games are all on HD, which any serious sports fan already has. Only blacked out on SD TSN.
yeah, the Riders apparently have already set an opening week team record for tickets…not too long and those extra seats will be open. They won’t sell em all, but even an extra 4 or 5 K will make up the numbers Hamilton is losing. Too bad they are in a temporary, for it would appear numbers could be fantastic league wide. On the bright side, if Hamilton has a good season it will create a greater desire for tickets and there will simply be none available…this should help their season ticket sales for 2014…I mean, plus the new stadium of course!
I was there tonight argo game that is, was sitting in the family section, ( excellent idea) finally someone was putting there thinking cap on reminded me of the nallys chip section at old empire, it was packed in that section, everybody was having a amazing time, know if the lions some how can do this with the rest of bc place, i guarantee you the lions ( as long as they are winning) would get 35,000 a game, it seemed to me that there were a lot of empty endzone seats , way to overpriced $42,00 each way to much i would say put the endzones at $30.00 each all in , the lions are on the right track with the fun zone and kids zone but they still have a lot of work to do with, marketing, and getting people excited about this team, again the half time show sucked, nobody was watching in fact when she was done doing her performance looked like she could care less walking off the stage, and yes the lions got to get more of the teenage youth into this team ( like they were in the mid 80's)
i hardly saw any teenage youth there at all, a lot of mid 20's age but the lions need to connect with high school kids do not see any of them there, Infact i was walking to the game tonight and there was a few youg kids ( looked liked sports fans) did not even know there was a game , i said are you guys lions fans thet said yes , but it is cooler to be at a whitecaps game, there you go that said it righ there.
Mr Skulsky/Brailey please wake up and smell the coffee , what the whitecaps are doing are first of all making the atmosphere unbelivable, by tarping off the top deck and squeezing everybody into one area, were right there makes it looks amazing, secondly they are connecting with the teenage youth and the chinese population downtown, THEY ARE MAKING IT COOL TO WEAR OR GO TO A WHITECAPS GAME , Something that Bob Ackles was doing when he was here, and has been going down hill ever since. Unless the Lions start looking what the whitecaps are doing, they are going to go from 25,222 from tonight to right back to 16-18k a game.
Come guys, crowds grow as the season goes on. The real season does not start until labour day.
also i forgot , why are they playing there home opener on a thursday night, also the lions getting killed against Calgary does not help either, i know they can not make excusses,but that was the lowest home opener attended game since 2005 when they played in front of 27,000 fans against ottawa, and that year the lions ended up averging 32,000 a game, i think if the lions go into edmonton win and come back play on a sat night against edmonton again they should hit the 30,000 mark. another stat in 1991 bc home opener only drew 23,000 fans and that year they averged 40,000 a game ( of course doug flutie was playing for them at the time) lets be optomistic, if the lions beat edmonton next week, come home to a sat night game, with the roof open and only get 25,000 then there is a serious problem.
wasnt blacked out on SD last night for some reason,.
Well, that’s what they kinda say about the Master’s, doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday. But somehow I don’t think the players buy into that one. 
I don't know what you guys are talking about, most people have HD now and watch HD TSN that's NEVER blacked out.
And I was watching Standard Def TSN and it wasn't blacked out either. There was absolutely no blackout for last nights game.
25,000 is still way better than the 19-20,000 we used to get. Also don't the Whitecaps and the Giants play a lot more games at home? The Whitecaps and the Giants will never be more popular in Vancouver. The Whitecaps will appease the soccer fans for now until they disappear once again like they did in the 80's when they were nearly selling out BC place.
I feel like I would've gone if the tickets weren't 40 bucks each. They went double price from the old bc place to here. I used to spend 40 now I'd have to spend 80 to take my fiancée. Its not as bad as other events but I hardly go to those events either. I'll make my way tho soon. They really need a 7-11 deal again or something.
I honestly believe that none of the people that followed the Lions in the 80's even live in BC anymore after they jacked up all the prices due to all the people moving in from other countries. I never heard the end of the people moving to Calgary from Vancouver in the 90's. It really killed our CFL population if you ask me. Half those people at the game were never there in the 80's I bet you anything.
Cost is a big issue, look at the free music festivals around the country that mainly radio stations I believe sponsor or media companies. If these weren't free, you'd get a fraction of the people attending. I guess hockey is the big thing but even then in Canada, teams in the NHL in Canada haven't always worked or at the CHL level.
I don't know what you guys are talking about, most people have HD now and watch HD TSN that's NEVER blacked out.
And I was watching Standard Def TSN and it wasn't blacked out either. There was absolutely no blackout for last nights game.
25,000 is still way better than the 19-20,000 we used to get. Also don't the Whitecaps and the Giants play a lot more games at home? The Whitecaps and the Giants will never be more popular in Vancouver. The Whitecaps will appease the soccer fans for now until they disappear once again like they did in the 80's when they were nearly selling out BC place.
I feel like I would've gone if the tickets weren't 40 bucks each. They went double price from the old bc place to here. I used to spend 40 now I'd have to spend 80 to take my fiancée. Its not as bad as other events but I hardly go to those events either. I'll make my way tho soon. They really need a 7-11 deal again or something.
I honestly believe that none of the people that followed the Lions in the 80's even live in BC anymore after they jacked up all the prices due to all the people moving in from other countries. I never heard the end of the people moving to Calgary from Vancouver in the 90's. It really killed our CFL population if you ask me. Half those people at the game were never there in the 80's I bet you anything.
You make a lot of excellent points, i like what you said about the whitecaps and giants, and about 7-11 or safeway tickets, like they use to in the mid 80's, i know that this is 2013 not 1984, were then ticket prices on the 50 yard line were only $30.00 each and safeway tickets were $10.00 each , besides what they have done in the family section, and the $30.00 section in the upper deck , some how or another they have to reduce those endzone tickets, especially in the corners $50.00 each make it more appeling the the buying customer, i know in sales you should be able to sale the product, that is on the field , that is a big part of it, but this is not the NFL, NHL , NBA,MLB, were that sales it self, The CFL is a gate driven league were the whole package has to be attractive not just the game on the field, I do Belive that david brailey has been a excellent owner, ( probebly the best the lions have ever had) but his time is over, we need younger owners that can relate more the younger crowd 14-25 years old, that are creative, willing to take chances, like Bob Ackles did when he got here, I still belive that the lions the most popular team in vancouver and bc behind the canucks, and the whitecaps, Giants, and canadians. follow behind , infact i do see more lions shirts, a few car flags, around town, way more than whitecaps , i still remember when the whitecaps came into the MLS a couple of years ago, there was a team 1040 poll question are the lions still the number 2 team in bc and 75% said yes, if you look at the whitecaps, they do play a lot more games and every game is on tv, but look at the tv ratings, for the whitecaps they do not even come close to the lions tv raitings, And with the blackout , GET WITH IT PEOPLE STD TELEVISION IS OUT THE WINDOW, GO GET HD AND EVERY GAME IS ON TV FOR THE LIONS , infact i do not even think you can get std tv's anymore anywere, SO STOP COMPLANING ABOUT THE BLACK OUT, PLEASE '''''' if you go around town when the lions are playing at home every bar has the game on , BECAUSE THEY HAVE HD.
GET WITH IT FOLKS I AM DONE.