I would think this game would work better on a Saturday afternoon?
I totally agree but one thing that the CFL in their infinite wisdom fails to do is recognize the fans interests, other than getting them in the door. By playing the game on Saturday it would be far more convenient for fans travelling to the other city so that the game day is not a travel day.
The same goes for the Grey Cup game.
This year's Banjo Bowl was the most watched game of the regular season.
Big games and playoffs used to be on Saturdays. Was changed to Sunday due to attendance and TV viewership (in other words - FAN interest).
I guess we are talking about two different forms of fan interest. Live as opposed to TV. In saying that the CFL does not reconize the fans perspective, I was of course refering only to the live audience fans. Yes TV reaches a wider audience but I still believe that the people sitting in the stadium deserve some consideration as well and the Saturday games does make travel far more realistic for the people who like to watch live.
Better question, why is the Battle of Alberta rematch played on Friday.
Edmonton has been lobbying for years to have the game moved to Saturday, as not only do they have a very short week but they also can't market as much to Calgary fans to make the drive up north, yes fans still do but no way they can make that drive if they need to work a normal day on Friday so they can only make it if they don't work that day or take it off.
Ideally IMO next years LDC/rematch should look like:
LDC week(the 1 5 game weekend of '14)
BC @ OTT Thursday of LDC
WPG @ SSK Sunday of LDC(4 PM EST)
EDM @ CGY Sunday of LDC(7:30 PM EST)
TO @ Hammy LDC Monday(Sept 1st)(2 PM EST) fricken Jays play Labour Day Sunday, so Rogers Center is out
MTL @ OTT LDC Monday(5:30 PM EST)
Re-match week:
BC @ MTL Friday
CGY @ EDM Saturday (6:30 PM EST)
Hammy @ TO Saturday (3 PM EST)
SSK @ WPG Monday
Ottawa Bye (Ottawa would also have a bye the week before the LDC, and MTL a bye the week after the re-match)
All 9 teams get a home game during the 2 weeks of the LDC/rematch and travel is minimalized for the two teams having short turnarounds(MTL and Ottawa)
The only catch is can the Argos get access to the Rogers Center for that Saturday. The Jays apparently play on the Monday the 8th(that Saturday is the 6th) but their last game is Aug 31st, so if need be Ham vs. TO can be Re-match Friday and BC@MTL can be moved to Saturday giving MTL an extra day off between games.
The only thing the CFL/TSN may not like is no Friday game on Labour Day weekend, but they do get a 5 game labour day weekend, a pretty good trade-off IMO.
haha, Magic? I agree it didn’t make sense to have Hammy @ TO games on Friday’s.
How much of the EDM LDC rematch attendance though is Calgary fans, they normally do well but imo if they had the rematch on Saturday so more Calgary fans could attend, they’d do that much better.
Haha, while it’s safe to say the commute from BC to MTL won’t be a factor in them playing on the Friday, although they might consider making the game later so BC fans could get home in time to watch, like an 8 PM EST Friday Kickoff or at least 7:30, so 5 PM on the west coast.
A 6:00 start Pacific time at BC would be a 9:00 start eastern time. Still leaves the game in a prime time hour on friday night for the east. West Coast teams are used to having 6:00 starts do to having the game shown at a 9:00 eastern prime time.
Starting in 2014 the Montreal vs Ottawa rivalry will be back for Labor Day weekend.
So WIN at Sask on sunday. TOR at HAM Monday. EDM at Calgary Mon. Will this leave Montreal at Ottawa for friday night? or will they do away with the Friday game on Labot Day weekend and have a special sunday night edition of Friday Night football with Montreal at Ottawa on a sunday Night or even a saturday night 8:00 eastern time prime time game?
I know playoff games work better on Sunday, but this is a regular season game. I don't think tv ratings for this game would suffer one bit if moved from Sunday to Saturday, while better accommodating the Rider fans. I mean, the Bomber fans get the luxury of a travel day for Labour Day, and wish the Riders fans would too.
Except by doing that it removes the ability to turn it into a double header weekend as was done in 2013. The Bisons played Sask(Huskies) on Saturday(got ~5K fans) and the Bombers played the Riders on Sunday, + can’t have Saturday as “fan appreciation day” with BB autograph signings and other events if the game is on Saturday.
Another difference between SSK to WPG(LDC) vs. WPG to SSK(Banjo), is that in September Sask is still in the mountain time zone, so going from Sask to Winnipeg means you lose an hour.
If you meant for the re-match week in BC, then yes a 6 PM start local time @BC does make sense.
I wrote it down wrong, I meant:
BC @ OTT Thursday of LDC
WPG @ SSK Sunday of LDC(4 PM EST)
EDM @ CGY Sunday of LDC(7:30 PM EST)
TO @ Hammy LDC Monday(Sept 1st)(2 PM EST) fricken Jays play Labour Day Sunday, so Rogers Center is out
OTT @ MTL LDC Monday(5:30 PM EST)
Re-match week:
MTL @ BCL FridayAlthough would be better on Sunday for MTL’s sake/travel, although they are going with time and get a bye for the next week
CGY @ EDM Saturday
Hammy @ TO Saturday
SSK @ WPG Sunday
Ott Bye
It works better with the re-match week being a double header on Sunday, but then TSN is left with back to back weeks without Friday night football.
But all 9 teams get a home game during Labour day/rematch.
I doubt travelling Rider fans would mind if that double header game didn’t exist for the sake a of a 5,000 crowd CIS game. The one hour reasoning seems flimsy too.
Big travel dollars flowing between SK and MB during those two weekends as well.
Hotels/Restaurants/Bars etc love it.
Why not make it a primetime night start, A day (Bisons) night (Bombers) double header could get some Rider and Bomber fans out for a game Bisons game vs the Rams or Huskies in the day game
Except the Bisons are split owners of the stadium with the Bombers, I’m pretty sure they care about having high attendance and I’m also pretty sure the Bombers want the Bisons to succeed/thrive… not to mention be good neighbours/have good relations.
1 hour time difference is just an additional factor, not sure how much if at all it plays in.
Steve, issue with a double header was seen in the Guelph/Ti-cats double header this year, no doubt it can be done but with the change-over needed + clean-up caused the Gryphons to play at 8 PM because the Cats played at 1 PM. Add in the Bisons were highly successful with evening games this year and I’d expect they’ll push hard for a more evening heavy home sched in '14, so with that three hour post game buffer needed that either makes that first game pretty early or that second game kind of late.
Maybe the Buffer can be narrowed, but there needs to be allowance for the first game to go to OT, clearing fans out from the first game and getting the doors open for the second game 90+ minutes before kickoff, so not allowing much time for clean-up and all.
If indeed it would be better to switch and make the Banjo a 1:00 local start and the Bisons an 8:00 local start would not be a bad idea. Since the CanWest games are shown on ShawTV a mostly Western Network an 8:00 Winnipeg local time would fit nicely for Shaw through the Prairie regions vs either Regina (promoted by a top High flying QB battle) or the Huskies of the U of S also with a top QB prospect.
I just don't get it really.
So TSN1290 had a caller phone in this morning asking this question, and all the radio hosts thought Saturday seemed much better.
-More money spent in city from Riders' fans staying another night, spending more money due to extra day of travel without making them take a day off work.
-You avoid the NFL games starting on Sunday
-Also allow Winnipeggers to more freely spend money on entertainment without worrying about work the next day
They mentioned it has to come from the team first, than allowed by the league. One of the hosts though said it was brought up to Cohon on another interview and said he was defensive about it without a real reason.
I have been saying since the start of the Banjo bowl it should be played on the Sat. Rider fans would come in Fri eve or sat morning and it be a even better wknd. It needs to move to Sat.