Only 27,000 for Home opener

I always enjoy asking those boisterous Argo fans who take pleasure in ridiculing our team when the Boatmen win @ Rogers Centre how many of them make the trip down the QEW to see their team in our house.

Not surprisingly, there are very few takers.

Hamilton fans are not afraid to go to Toronto to cheer on their team…what about you fickle Argonaut supporters.

Argos Sick!

And what exactly is exciting during a time outs…certainly nothing at IWS.

The CBC guy claimed 41,000 at which point i laughed because half of the lower bowl was EMPTY

This was in the Star for what it's worth.
"Saturday's attendance was actual people in seats," he said. "And it produced the highest revenue since we've owned the team except for last year's Eastern final. So we're very pleased."
by Rick Matsumoto

Only one thing I will say: how long until the Argos move into the new soccer/football stadium? A true fully outdoor stadium with seats that will be close to the field.
The only other thing I'll say is that the Rogers Centre looks so much better as a stadium for football than baseball, I can't believe anyone would go there to watch a baseball game, no baseball look to it at all. But it really does have a nice football look to it, but with the heat on Saturday and with the lid closed until just before game time, I sure wouldn't have gone to the game there.

I can see this. This is the first time in the last 5 years that I 've been to Skydome and actually believed the announced attendance, and I didn’t hear much about corporate give aways ect…Felt like the announced crowd was a legit paid crowd…still 27K’s is pitiful for a season opener, vs your rivals and a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The citizens of Greater Toronto should be ashamed!

No Sec29, you have to put this in the larger perspective of Toronto at this time of the year and the weather, which was very hot. You would have to be a big fan to go to the game in that stadium knowing the lid was on until just before the game. And you have that Blue Jays factor in Toronto competing for sports fans dollars there in the summer. Why anyone would want to see a MLB game over a CFL game is beyond me, but the Jays do sell there, Rogers promotes them big time and it is the "major leagues" which is easier to sell in Toronto than the CFL (again, they could never sell baseball to me over football as to many of us here, but that isn't the case to many casual sports fans in Toronto and southern Ontario, they have to see those Yankees and Jeter and all that stuff, crap as far as I'm concerned, boring baseball).

So, let's get rid of those Blue Jays folks, any way we can, this will help the Argos I think.

I think the bigger thing that kept fans away was the Italy vs USA game that was on at the same time. Between Hamilton and Toronto, there are enough italians to fill four-plus Concrete Pimples.

Yeh but most of these soccer fans aren't North American type football fans, and in Toronto's case, if they are fans of NA football, many will only watch and follow the NFL.

perhaps the displaced americans that work in TO.

i really dont think thats an accurate statement of italians in this city however. (or in the big smoke for that matter)

I don't know, a lot of these real Italians I met have huge, huge inflated ego's of themselves and while I don't know many Toronto real Italians, if you will, I bet that most will only watch the NFL. Just my opinion of course, but that's what I think of them. The CFL would be "beneath" them with these egos.

This is getting a little too close to 'cultural stereotyping' for my liking...

Fair enough, let me say then that many people in Toronto, period, soccer fans or not soccer fans, have more inflated egos of themselves compared with Canadians in other parts of the country. Just a "Toronto factoid" if you will, ethnic groups and cultures aside.

:|

That's a really offensive statement... wow.. lol.

While i understand your reasoning, and in some cases may be accurate, i would also have to say that its fundamentally flawed

Most italians i know (self included) would be better described as.... big egos... yes. lol. self included of course.

of course with that comes a lot of pride, being proud of where you come from, be that your ethnic roots, or your place of birth/hometown. and being proud of specific traditions, like the world cup, or cheering for your home town team, whoever that may be.

most of my italian friends are die-hard CFL fans and watch NFL only for betting purposes.

of course i wont speak for all italians, i can only speak for me, and most of my family, and, some of my friends making that claim. but i would wager that its not too far off target for most of us.

(yet another reason why signing Adriano Belli was such a huge coup for the ticats in '04. but thats another thread entirely.)

just my $0.02 tho

now on the other hand making generic statements about Toronto and its fine citizen's i'm fine with :smiley:

like when McGowan calls TO a 'Leaf city' not a 'hockey city' (anyone who listens to PTS knows how that argument goes)

How many? Is this an opinion or fact?

It’s a fact that in Toronto, the TV ratings for an Argo game are significantly higher than that for an NFL game.

Espo wrote:

most of my italian friends are die-hard CFL fans and watch NFL only for betting purposes.
Right on Espo, I wouldn't have thought that. At any rate, thanks for agreeing about Toronto at any rate, this is really the more accurate statement to be sure. Yeh, Toronto is a Leaf city, heck, they don't even support the Marlies, the Leafs farm team. Unreal, Toronto really is just a Leaf city, very poor hockey town.

That being said i'm a huge Leaf fan :smiley:

lol.

For the size of their city, the Argos don't get the support that they should* but CFL numbers still tend to beat out NFL numbers in TO. lets not forget this.

those two points aren't mutually exclusive..... i hate to be the "lets all be friends" peacemaker here (just ask BG....) but you're both right

It’s OK Espo, we all have our faults…

Sono a metà italiano io stesso e dopo leggendo questo, tenderei ad accosentire anche. Siamo una nazione molto fiera, riempita di amore e di protezione per tutta l'Italia. Possiamo a volte prendere a quell'amore una punta troppo lontano, ma proviamo a farli per il nostro proprio buon. Forse siamo.....well diluiti, noi probabilmente siamo. Per quanto riguarda gli sport, li amiamo, tuttavia, la nostra marca di calcio è noiosa, lenta e sopra-over-rated. Non stiamo andando vincere la tazza del mondo. Infatti, la Ceco-Repubblica sta andando dare dei calci al nostro gioco seguente di estremità ed avanza dentro con il Ghana. Lo avete sentito.