It's all about filling seats.
I think the League should be careful about moving the season around. What was a snowy Grey Cup like in terms of excitement and viewers. What about the Bills game the other weekend? The prairie teams do have it tough weather wise in November, but weather is not too frigid for the rest...
Sellouts increase with better weather. If the league is serious about increasing revenues then putting more bums in the seats is priority #1.
I believe this is the common thinking at work here.
It seems to me that attendance has traditionally peaked in Sept, starting slow in the summer months and then tapering off as the cold weather creeps in, especially for the four prairie teams.
I've often thought the league should be promoting itself in May as a summer sport, an alternative to staying indoors and watching hockey on TV. They need to do something to get more fans out right off the bat.
However, I think having Thanksgiving and Halloween tie-ins to end of season and/or playoff times could be a positive for the league.
So you’re saying that Argos and Lions fans will appreciate Edmonton in -30c for the 2018 Grey Cup if their teams make it there?
Ummmmm…no. They wouldn’t.
We’re from Regina and at the last GC in Edmonton in 2010 - we froze our butts off.
Not a fan of the change.
I have lived on the Prairies for most of my life. 30 years ago November was freezing. Now we get the odd day or week that is -10 to -20. Most days hover just above or below freezing.
If its cold, wear layers.
For 2017 Saskatchewan had night games last fall at 7pm the last game was the earliest at 5pm . Wouldn’t it be common sense that in areas where people travel to games they play at an early afternoon game no later than 2pm when it gets cooler out . I see both Edmonton andSaskatchewan were both given better schedules in 2018 in the Fall months for which I applaud the league .
If getting bums in the seats areimportant it’s the ticket’s sold before a game that count the most .CFL is not a walk up day of game buying ticket league anymore that ended years ago before theInternet andTicketmaster .
If this is not the case and you need more walk ups then more roofs over the fans for rainy day games is a must no matter if it’s raining in May or October .
Lastly if it’s Montreal, Toronto andVancouver attendance is lagging how again does this change help them ;when it’sSaskatchewan who has no problem selling tickets right now with the currentschedule .
Wrong - I’ve been to three Grey Cups in the minus 30 range (‘75, ‘95, ‘97) and loved every glorious frigid second. Speak for yourself. And Grey Cup ‘13 in Regina was balmy. Changing the schedule will be a massive mistake imo
I know that last October the actual TV announcers in mid month were saying some of the games had an exhibition game feel to it as the games had no ramifications by then .
Is this not maybe the real reason for attendance drop off .
As far as Friday night football goes get rid of it in October it’s too cool out and nasty at night . You could be sitting in daylight on a weekend with a 10 to sometimes 15 degree temperature swing from high to low . As an Ottawa fan I see we took one for the team (league ) this year .
If the commissioner is serious about cool weather being a factor just tell TSN Friday night football ends when October starts especially with the NHL start of the season .
Well I’m originally from Regina as well, though the last 20 years in Calgary, and Edmonton in 2010 wasn’t that cold at all…
That’s the spirit BCRiderFan! There is nothing like experiencing first hand what the players are experiencing on the field be it torrents of rain, sleet, snow, large wind gusts or freezing temps. This can get one right into the game. Sitting up the stands and warming your innards and hands with a large steaming hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate while trying to brave the elements adds to the experience for me.
We froze 2010 in Edmonton. Was about -20c after halftime and had some windchill to boot
all one has to do is dress right for the temperature
should not be a big deal.
How man Grey Cups in late November outdoors have you attended?
It’s a no brainer that an earlier season will put more fans into seats. This is about making more money, not comparing what ski suit you might need to wear to a game.
I have attended playoffs games in wpg.
I also drove cabless tractors during winters to clear snow. Often spending the whole day at it. I know how to dress for the cold. I was dressed well for the coldest game I went to. It was no problem. My wife was also dressed warm enough. We had fun.
Look at the attendence stats. If you look at October of this past season, the average attendence is bang on the season average. Consider that 3 teams were basically out of the playoff race early. Playoffs and Grey Cup were well attended, if my math is correct playoffs were 97% of capacity and Grey Cup 100%. Weather has something to do with attendence. I didn’t look at the stats, but I would bet that cold weather attendence is better than rainy weather games.
This topic has nothing to do with attendence, but all to do with the NFL network wanting programming. The last time the CFL tried to cater to the US market, it didn’t work out very well.
I must admit that I didn’t really enjoy paying premium prices to wear arctic survival gear at a championship game. I probably won’t be back to a Grey Cup in late November in an outdoor stadium. If it was a month earlier I would probably pay the price and go since I won’t have to borrow all those clothes.
I like the argument that the CFL “owns” November, but I think the “butts in the seats” argument really should prevail. Maybe the season start could vary depending on whether or not it is an outdoor final or and indoor final. I dunno.
I get it. Cold temps are fun when dressed for it. Done that lots. But the problem is - it doesn’t create the best situation to sell the most tickets to a CFL game, nor is it necessarily fair to reduce the league’s best players and teams to being pawns of the weather. I’d rather see the best football vs the best players sliding around in the snow. Especially when it’s possible to do schedule-wise.
If the Riders are favouring the shift as Edmonton has been wanting for a while, there's 2 of the more influential teams right there.
it's pretty much a when and with the league going to 21 weeks and the earliest start time (perhaps ever?), the slow shift is happening.