Today the Province reports that there are 40 000 tickets sold for the Galaxy game on November 3.
Wow such a big event! What a frenzy! Over four thousand more than a Lions regular season game with a last place Edmonton. How long have they been selling tickets for it? Six,seven months?
120db you'll have to come up with a better example.
Id rather see the dudes wife.
last I checked they had TV ads, and radio etc etc. What is wrong with you?
Good points,
And let me add, after the White Caps Novelty in the NASL wore off, the Lions out drew them all the time. After the Beckham game, Soccer will continue to draw the usual hard core support of 5000, - 6,000.
Im not a BC fan and I can instantly see how this is a poor comparison.
You CANNOT compare a single event to a Lions regular season game, not even a marquee matchup game for the Lions.
The only similarities in the two is that they are being played in the same building.
It’s like comparing a Blue Jays home game attendance against a regular opponent like Baltimore to the Grey Cup game there this year. Of course the single event game is going to sell way more.
Dust, 120db and dupsel are as negative as they get.
If they put 40,000 in for every CFL game, they would complain that it wasn't 50,000. In fact I bet when there mothers served them chocolate cake for desert, they both complained that it wasn't double chocolate!
Exactly , the Lions get a crowd 5000 bigger than their previous best at 37000+ last game and all 120db does is start a negative thread about it. He does the same over at Lionbackers.com all the time and he’s become everybody’s favorite doormat over there . A bunch of the guys got one of his infamous quotes as their sig too . It’s quite comical , ya gotta see it.
And beyond that , who’s David Beckham anyway and why should we care . Soccer’s has to be one of the most boring games there is to boot.
The location of the dome hurts the lions as well. Skytrain is an option but alot of folks wont use it or are still to far out. Look at who lives in the downtown core. My own personal belief is that the if they built a new stadium closer to the population base that is CFL fans they would have much larger attendance. Look at the Canucks - alot of corporate seats and rich folks. The CFL has always been a blue collar lunch bucket crowd.
I may be a rider fan but I live in BC. Getting around the lower mainland is a pain at best and if your comming from the Valley it can take alot of your day just getting to sky train. Hence I only make it 4 times per year on average ( rider games and then what ever fits in with work ). I would probably buy seasons tickets if the Skytrain ran from Abbotsford or if the stadium was in a better location vs right down town.
Why are we worried about empty seats..., I was at the game and the place was rockin.Lot better than the Damon Allen Adam Rita years when we had 15,000 fans. The Canucks only have 19,000 fans/game so we have twice as many...., so kiss my ass and go back to your Nintendo before your mom finds out your on the computer again.
say what? Kiss your ass? I don't think so. Who actually says that these days? Kids ? Come on goldmember - it's not that your post is insulting to me lol, You come across as a 10 year old lol.
The stadium is located in one of the most accessible areas of Metro Vancouver. Two Skytrain lines run past it (both connecting to Sea Bus), almost all the downtown buses run a short walk from the stadium and the downtown core is the single biggest transit destination in Metro Vancouver meaning it is accessible to the greatest number of people, there is the highest population density in all of Metro Vancouver right at the footsteps of the stadium, he highest hotel density is in the downtown core, there is a high parkade density around the stadium, there are lots of bars and restaurants close by, and I could go on…
Where, might I ask, are you suggesting to put the stadium? Surrey? Langley? Abbottsford? No where else will have the same access to transportation, local population density, etc. Moving it will make it harder to get to, not easier.
There is a HUGE fan base out in the Valley that can't readily get in for games due to traffic. Ideally it would be nice to see sky train run all the way from Abbotsford in. As the downtown becomes unfordable to many alot of the traditional fan base is moving further down the valley. But - I do agree thats another huge issue with traffic and rapid transit that transcends well beyond the issue of getting more fans in.
Either that or the Lions should look into having fan buses on game day running from Hope all the way in - based on prepurchased game/ride combos. I know when the Grizz were still in town they ran fan buses and alot of students would pack the buses running from the valley. CFL tickets are cheap compared to Canucks tickets. Hell for the cost of 2 decent canuck game tickets you can get great Lions seasons tickets. Just the lions are missing out on a huge fan base due to logistical reasons.
My son lives out in the Valley. When we go to games, we park at the Scott Road station and take Sky train. We make an evening out of it, so when we go down and return, traffic on the train is usually good.
While a new Stadium in Surrey or Langley would be nice, (For us to travel) I’ve grown accustom to sitting in a nice warm, dry dome, (look at last weekend with the rain!) I don’t mind BC Place at all.
I thought we sold out the grey cup, or near to it, 59,000 at least it was for sure. 2006 West Final 50,000, 2004 west final 54,000.
You also have to keep in mind this is a lot different than David Beckham who anyone and their blind uncle would get tickets to just because people are marks like that, i bet you a lot of them never even watched him on TV, probably just saw BEnd it like Beckham, and wanted to go. There’s always been a large soccer fan base here, and a lot of them are immigrants from other nations where soccer is cool. Unlike here Soccer is lame, a lame diver’s sport.
What more do you want BC to do? To me i was more mad 7 years ago when we were only getting 15,000 a game. NOw attendance has doubled, and it keeps getting better and you still want to try and tear that down, ruin it for others as its just getting back on its feet.
Man, people really need to think before they speak.
Gee one game was our highest since god knows when (37,000) after the league almost died, and now you want it to be sold out every night like it was back in the 80’s? I mean Vancouver had half the population it did now and it was sold out every night. Even the Whitecaps played there and it was sold out too.
So either all those people moved to Calgary, or a lot thought the CFL was gonna die and now realize its not. Or i don’t know what else.
Tell you what 120db, if next season the Lions are still good and we don’t hit 38,000 one game, maybe say something then. But right now we’re averaging 30,000 a game, when 5 years ago we were averaging 20. So no complaints here, only that it keeps goin up, and these things usually take time. I’m pretty sure we’ll be averaging 40,000 again soon.
I know in my case last week, i couldn’t afford to go and i live within a 15 minute walk of the stadium coming from denman. But i did go to one game last year, the 2004, and 2006 West finals (in between those i was living in Vernon) and 3 regular season games last season. Probably catch the next two.
I agree with you and I really like the idea of fan buses. In fact, I wrote the Lions several years back to suggest this. I guess they figured the risk and market size weren’t big enough to support this. (i.e. how many buses do you have to fill to make it worth the administrative hassle?)
The funny thing is that years and years ago the Lions DID have shuttle buses taking fans to and from the games. (during the Empire Stadium era). There was one that took off from Woodwards in the “far off” municipality of NEW WESTMINSTER!!!(Today you could take the skytrain from there and be at the dome within 15 minutes).
Nowadays, I think the Lions should really have buses to and from the valley. I know that the Stampeders have them and it seems that they are very popular. Ditto for Seattle and the Washington Huskies.
What about shuttles to where the skytrain could pick them up ? It would be quicker than going through traffic.
I sure would not recommend parking at the Surrey Skytrain , my wife got her car stolen there . We've never parked there since. Apparently it's one of the top two Car theft sites in the the lower mainland . The other at the time was just up the road at the Guilford Mall.
They should look at running the Westcoast Express on game nights that way fans from the Fraser Valley can take advantage of the service.
So was that game tonight? Did that Beckham guy score? Anyone go? Was it exciting? Are you now a huge soccer fan?