WEEK 19 OVERALL LEAGUE AVERAGE @28,581 (28,484 in 05)

CFL Talk
1

Well the league average is back on top compared to 05, thanks by en large to a huge crowd in Montreal. This, plus the other three crowds all over 30,000 has brought this weeks average alone for the four game at an impressive 34,329 being the best week of the year.
This week we have also surpassed the 2M fan mark and we do have a chance to hit the average of 29,000 with the three games remaining. But, it will mean we will have to average 38,769 in the remaining games at Edmonton, Toronto and BC.. A total of 116,306 fans are required.
Montreal has finished its regular season and is down slightly from last year as even though the Saturday huge crowd was down by 5,662 from last years 51,269. The big winner is Winnipeg as the average is up from last year by 2,671.
Of the three remaining home games, both BC and Toronto have a chance to surpass last years average but will need in excess 45,000 for the Argos and 40,000 for the Lions.

WEEK 19

current game(year ave. to date)--- 05 game (year ave after same time)

8/9 HOME DATES, FROM HIGHEST TO LOWEST

  1. Edmonton 39,533 8HD Ave.(38,631) ---
    2005: 53,216 (42,482) Difference: -3,851
  2. Calgary 33,546 9HD Ave.(30,772) ---
    2005: 31,017 (31,269) Difference: - 497
  3. BC 31,294 8HD Ave.(30,640) ---
    2005: 29,780 (31,835) Difference: -1,195
  4. Toronto 30,323 8HD Ave.(28,622) ---
    2005: 34,116 (28,960) Difference: -338
  5. Winnipeg 30,092 9HD Ave.(26,988) ---
    2005: 23,455 (24,317) Difference: +2671
  6. Hamilton 24,955 9HD Ave.(26,782) ---
    2005: 27,114 (28,002) Difference: -1220
  7. Sask 25,329 9HD Ave.(25,293) ---
    2005: 28,800 (25,454) Difference: - 161
  8. Montreal 45,607 9HD Ave.(23,025) ---
    2005: 51,269 (23,654) Difference: -629

LEAGUE AVE. 06/ 70 games: 28,581 Difference: +97
05/ 73 games 28,484

TOP 5 CROWDS:
Edmonton (Cal) 47,965
Montreal (Edm) 45,607
Edmonton (Cal) 40,491
Edmonton (Sas) 39,599
Edmonton (Tor) 39,533

WORST 5 CROWDS:
Note, excluding Montreal due to continuous sellout and small stadium.

Sask (BC) 21,082
Sask (Ham) 22,820
Sask (Cal) 23,107
Winn (Edm) 23,521
Sask (Cal) 23,942

2

great week ... 4 crowds over 30,000!! Awesome!

3

I'm surprised to see all the teams except Winnipeg had lower attendance this year than last year. Hopefully all the playoff games sellout.

4

Yeah, so was I actually. And I was/am pretty disappointed too ... could it be because the NHL's back? That would be a fairly pathetic reason (if you ask me), but it may have something to do with it ... Last year at this time, the NHL had just come off a one-year break ....

5

What's with the Riders crowds? I do not understand why they get fewer than 24,000 fans but are supposedly the leagues most popular team. You'd think 'Rider Pride' would bring in at least 25,000 fans to the stadium once in a while.

6

Yes the most passionate fans, except early in the season and the end?

7

RLR - in my opinion, it’s years of being “promised” something and getting nothing…fans are starting to show their displeasure by not putting their bums in the seats…

8

I was a bit disappointed to see the Cats' attendance slip a bit. But when you consider that just a few years ago an average of 26,782 would have been unheard of in Hamilton, it's not that bad. The fact that they've dropped to 6th has more to do with improvements in B.C., Toronto and Winnipeg these last two years than with any slip of their own. After the season the Ticats had, added to the season they had last year, losing just 1200 fans is damn impressive.

9

Attendance in Ottawa is up! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I keep showing up but nothing happens!

Still bitter in Ottawa!

GO GADES GO IN 08!

10

I believe last season had the 3rd highest average attendance in league history. Despite all the doom and gloom (Ottawa folding, tv ratings off slightly from last year’s record numbers, low scoring games lacking excitment, etc) it is good news that CFL attendance is at near record levels…

11

Can i ask you somehting ArgoTom? WHat do you find so interestign about the attendances? Like its kinda interesting but you always have ti ready to go. What do you get out of it?

12

this topic comes out every week and it just about has the same numbers from week to week :roll: IMO thare a vey boring topic and if you notice each week, less than 10 people respond to it :lol: but if it makes him feel like something in here, let him :stuck_out_tongue:

13

BigGreen and jman, some of us like to deal with numbers and to chart the progress of the league in the attendance figures.
I for one also likes to compare from previous years.
Sure, not everyone will like each and every posting but that is like life, isn't it.

14

Fair enough i suppose...

15

RLR - My take on the "most popular team" claim that is often attributed to the Riders is that we keep shipping our fans to other locations in the country. I am an example of that trend. Seeing as the population in the province has been effectively stagnant since the 20's or so, there's a lot of ex-Saskatchewaners out there, and a lot of them still cheer for the Riders.

16

I would agree with that. It seems like the Riders are more popular in every other province except Saskatchewan.

17

Man like 70% of the low rider crowds is the Game Times!!!! See my post in some other thread that like half, well ok 2, of the BC fans on these forums just give me a bunch of Sh*t

18

What was the deal with the huge attendance mark for the Al's game anyway?

How is this franchise dead last in average if they can draw 45K+ for a game?

19

The Als play most of their home games at Percival Molson Stadium, which has a maximum capacity of just over 20,000. Thus, all of their games are sellouts, but they are limited by a very small stadium. They usually play their last game of the year at Olympic Stadium, which has a capacity of 54,000, and can therefore draw one big crowd a year.

As for why they no longer play all of their games at Olympic Stadium to generate more revenue, I believe it is due to the building being old and in disrepair, and perhaps the rental fees are too high. Someone from Montreal might know a more accurate answer.

20

Playing at the Olympic Stadium would provide too much in the way of supply thus squashing demand. Not to mention the enormity of a CFL field still manages to look pewny in the hallow ginormity of the Big-Owe... Just look at the distance in the corner of the endzones to the nearest seat 2 stories in the air...

Moving to Molson Stadium provided the Als with the intimacy & atmosphere of a full stadium. Ironically this happened by accident when a U2 concert forced the Als to Molson for a playoff game against the cross-over BC Lions years ago. The low capacity made Alouette tickets hard to come by thus more of a novelty. This is why when they play their home finale at the Big O, 45,000 - 50,000 people attend. Many of these are fans who were unable to attend throughout the rest of the season. The additional 25,000 at this game spread out over the other 9 home games represents about 3000 or so extra per game. I'd say if the Als had a 25,000 seat sadium they would still sell every game out.