Attendance (cc: SectionQ)

[glenvb]

An interesting article form Gerry Modegonge at the Edmonton Journal regarding the wisdom of the decision to open the upper bowl of CW for the Riders game.

My first thought was that's it a no brainer - If there's a demand for tickets you make more seats available. Gerry made the point though that by limiting the number of tickets available that they could possibly create more stir and excitement which does make some sense.

Still, when you need ticket sales to pay the bills I think you make as many seats available as possible.

Thoughts?

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/f...th-stadium-cfl

I think two points were missed, on opposite sides of the issue.

Opening the upper bowl may have cost the team money rather than added to their coffers. By moving up there, they had to maintain working facilities, dust things off so to speak, get a concession stand working, etc. For so few fans, I doubt it was a money maker.

On the other hand, in Edmonton's market, right now in this moment, it's a signal: we're back. It's been so long, and this was an opportunity to tell the community that the team they remember is back in town and ready to roll. Even the fact that this article was published, questioning the decision, is one of a number of signs that Edmonton noticed, and they'll be more inclined to keep an eye on the team.

Overall, I'm glad they did it. Maybe on the post-Labour Day Calgary game, they'll have to do it again. And, of course, the western final.

[bone]

An interesting article form Gerry Modegonge at the Edmonton Journal regarding the wisdom of the decision to open the upper bowl of CW for the Riders game.

My first thought was that's it a no brainer - If there's a demand for tickets you make more seats available. Gerry made the point though that by limiting the number of tickets available that they could possibly create more stir and excitement which does make some sense.

Still, when you need ticket sales to pay the bills I think you make as many seats available as possible.

Thoughts?

https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/f...th-stadium-cfl

My counter argument to this is that the single largest single season drop in attendance for the Esks/Elks was the year they closed the upper bowl, which implies to me that the seats themselves are at least part of the appeal to attend a game when they are available, especially if the alternative is the endzone on bench seats.

Closing the upper deck didn't serve to increase demand but rather increased apathy and dropped overall ticket sales. I get the logic in doing it and I've slowly grown to like my new seats to the point I'm not sure I'll go back up again if they do re-open (especially after checking out the upper deck again last week), but it didn't accomplish what it originally aimed to do.

[glenvb]

I see they opened part of section U2. T2, S2 from rows 46 to 64.

Commonwealth isn't a great place to watch a game because it's just soooo big. That track really pulls you way back from the game action. So I would never open the top deck fully because it just spreads people out way too much. Keep the capacity at low 30's.

All this is true... but most of the games I'll remember forever were when the stadium was full, or close to it. Back in those days I could only afford upper deck tickets, and the buzz... electric doesn't begin to describe it. Sure it was far away, but wow, what an event.

[nafnikufesin]

I know that times have changed and inflation and all, but back in Hugh's day, he recognized the value of getting young bums in the seats to hook 'em young and build fans that will eventually be the next generation of season ticket buyers. Give deals to high schools to sell blocks of tickets where their football and cheerleading teams form the honor guard at the beginning of the game. Half price tickets anywhere in the stadium with student ID. Packages for families. And then deals for season tickets in the upper deck that make going accessible (remember $99 season tickets?). Get the bums in the seats and it feels like an event, and gets more people coming back again. Maybe you don't make as much on the the ticket itself, but then there are more people lining up to buy souvenirs, jerseys, concessions, etc.

[Hammer24]

I think two points were missed, on opposite sides of the issue.

Opening the upper bowl may have cost the team money rather than added to their coffers. By moving up there, they had to maintain working facilities, dust things off so to speak, get a concession stand working, etc. For so few fans, I doubt it was a money maker.

On the other hand, in Edmonton's market, right now in this moment, it's a signal: we're back. It's been so long, and this was an opportunity to tell the community that the team they remember is back in town and ready to roll. Even the fact that this article was published, questioning the decision, is one of a number of signs that Edmonton noticed, and they'll be more inclined to keep an eye on the team.

Overall, I'm glad they did it. Maybe on the post-Labour Day Calgary game, they'll have to do it again. And, of course, the western final.

There's an advantage at CW. Upper and lower bowls share the same concessions and washrooms meaning they can do so without the huge increase in overhead if the upper bowl.had separate concessions and washrooms. Maybe they need to add some extra concession staff for the lower bowl and call in extra ushers, security and cleaning staff for the upper bowl. When the Lions open up the upper bowl it's like opening a 2nd stadium. They have to open up a bunch of concessions and washrooms that are otherwise closed when only the lower bowl is open as well as bring in ushers, security and cleaning staff.

Lions play if by ear. They don't wait until the lower bowl is approaching capacity. They use a measured approach. If early sales start trending towards 80%-90% lower bowl capacity they will start the process of opening the upper bowl. They will start with say first 10 rows between the 25s then will slowly open up more rows and sections as demand warrants. That way they can offer pricing deals that don't undermine the lower bowl structure where the season ticket holders sit.

[Looner]

Did some research this morning and the EE have the 3rd highest attendance in the league with an average of 20,984. #1 is winnipeg at 31,997, followed by Sask at 27,798. With 22,583 at the last game we are inching closer to the Saskatchewan average of 27k