On the Point After yesterday, Ballsy was talking about attendance. Apparently there was just over 29,000 yesterday for a clinching game which is a few thousand short of a sellout. I remember back from about 2005 until about 2014 it was very hard to find a ticket. The 2007 playoff game, I remember, was sold out in less than an hour and fans who waited outside were po’d because tickets were sold online (granted this was the first home playoff game since 1988 I believe). This season, there are still plenty of tickets available for a first place finish (fourth in franchise history). I suspect a near sellout but the hype doesn’t seem to be there.
Is it because of
-A sluggish economy and less disposable income (along with expensive ticket prices)
-Something that can be fixed with in game experience ie investment in improving the tailgating?
-Decling interest
-A combination
-or something else
2018, 2013 and 2010 home playoff games were not sellouts. I don’t anticipate the one coming up to be a sellout. It gets cold, people stay home. This of course includes the regular season as well.
Just checked Ticketmaster. The lower bowl sidelines are sold out as is Pil country and lower north end zone. Some available in the corners of the endzone. A few sections sold out in the west side deck but still lots available on east deck and upper endzone.
Yes all very good ideas and yes crop on the field is a factor especially early fall. This past summer there was the exhibition admission/game day ticket combo for the Hamilton game. I ended up going to the game whereas I likely wouldn’t have without that promo. It was likely a win win for both as it sold more seats to the game and increased foot traffic at the exhibition likely increasing vendor sales, etc.
I think attendance is down through out the league. I went and seen the game in Edmonton on the 26th and that was the worse attendance I have seen for a Sask game there. I think price of tickets is part of it. I also think scheduling is a big part of it. Why on games in late October on a Saturday are they having the game start at 5pm? Why not 2? Will be a bit warmer and will be lighter. I don’t understand these late Saturday games in October. Even from a ratings stand point. Does TSN think they can compete with Hockey Night in Canada? For attendance schedule the games when they are best for the fans paying for tickets. I don’t think they are doing that these last couple of years. Same with Thursday night games. A lot of people have seasons tickets that don’t live in the city of the team. Makes it hard for them to get to those games.
“I wonder if there’s just a bit of strain on the pocket book this year, and maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with the Roughriders’ pricing.?
This was what I was replying to.
$60.00 for lower bowl endzone is a bit pricey. You have $30.00 standing room seats that you have to be over 18 to access. For a family of four, you are looking at a couple hundred minimum once you factor in food, and if you live out of town gas to and from the game.
Pricing shows through the season…it doesn’t explain the dip at the end of the season, and that dip happens every year, and the last 3 home playoff games have not sold out. Maybe being in first helps with 2 weeks to sell tickets, but it is pretty easy to see more empty as it gets cold.
I guess sellouts themselves aren’t everything. If it’s about pure profits you might maximize these by charging more for a ticket and drawing less fans than charging less for a ticket to fill the ball park. As a community owned team, though, it’d be nice to see all seats filled.
Sure…and like I said, it shows through the season (ie they have met their pricepoint in the present market as they are not selling out and new stadium novelty is worn off), but again, attendance generally drops at the end of the season and the last 3 home playoff games have not sold out either, when prices were a fair bit lower…always has been the case really. The stadium is built about right…right at threshold of what they can sell. It is not like those are suddenly drastically more expensive than the rest of the season, but the numbers still dip. We all know people who simply aren’t going to sit in the cold and are not shy about saying so.
I think with the bye week, this game will come close or maybe even sell out.
I agree. and in all honesty I would like to see it even earlier, like potentially May long weekend kickoff. The problem as it stands now is that you really can’t start earlier and get rookies into camp. The only way around it would be to have the draft mid-season…something I have advocated for in the past.
Start the season in May, have the draft a few weeks after the NFL drafts when it is known who is getting picked up for a shot in camp and who is not…that in itself makes the draft more real. Then you can keep them on the roster the rest of the season as non-counters. They have now already capped early draft contracts, so you finish by limiting others to eliminate contract shenanigans. If they make a gameday roster, the rest of their season hits the cap. If they don’t, then they hit camp the next season as non-counters in camp. Now you have rookies who are not missing camp due to chasing the NFL (other than a few who stick around for one season and not a second) and some of those fringe players have half a season (or so) to learn, plus an off-season to pro-prep. The odd one is going to learn and improve enough to stick around…that in itself is a win as well. It forces development. You would need a similar approach with international players as well. If you start the season in May, you could even do a league wide bye during the draft so appropriate staff could make it, plus there would probably be a lot more player involvement for the Fan week.