https://3downnation.com/2024/01/28/j...erm-viability/
Jay McNeil: long-term viability of Calgary Stampeders dependent on new stadium
Jay McNeil, the new president of the Calgary Stampeders, believes that a new stadium is necessary to ensure the long-term viability of the club he’s been tasked with leading after taking over from John Hufnagel this past week.
“When you look at it from a fan experience perspective, expectations continue to grow on what fans want when they come to a game, as they should. I think the long-term viability of this club will depend upon a new stadium,” the 53-year-old told 3DownNation via telephone on Friday.
“When you talk about a stadium that’s as old as ours is, it’s made of concrete and it’s exposed to these harsh winters. The amount of restoration that goes in every year to make sure that the concrete is maintained is significant, and that’s just the structural piece to it.”
McNeil identified filling McMahon Stadium as the club’s top goal aside from winning a Grey Cup. The team’s average attendance dropped from 30,376 in 2015 to 21,698 in 2023, the largest decrease of any team in the CFL. McNeil also revealed that Calgary’s season ticket base has declined by 36 percent over that span, a trend he called “alarming.” The club failed to stop the bleeding in 2023 as attendance fell by 7.5 percent from 2022.
“We’ve been so successful for so long just from the business side of things, it’s always worked. Well, it’s not working anymore, so we need to think of different ways in which we manage our business, and that even applies on the football side of things, too. How do we recruit new players? How do we identify new players? Let’s be innovative and let’s think of new and better ways to do our business,” said McNeil.
“We got some feedback in 2022 from our season ticket holders that did cancel and that was some pretty hard feedback to hear, but it was also really important because we took what we heard and we invested in our season ticket holders and in fan growth and in fan engagement for 2023. Although it didn’t transfer into the results we were expecting or hoping for from the business perspective, I think we really planted a lot of seeds in 2023 that are going to be fundamental for the Stampeders to be able to grow their business in the future.”
McNeil admitted that the outdated nature of McMahon Stadium posed more of a challenge than he’d initially anticipated when it came to winning fans back. He highlighted the concourses and bathrooms as two of the facility’s main shortcomings but praised the venue’s sightlines and atmosphere. He also bemoaned the lack of a viewing area designed to cater to young fans, though the team plans to add one in the near future.
“Not everybody wants to sit in a seat for three hours, so we really do need to create an area where somebody can come and stand and watch the game,” he said. “We will do something, we have to do something, so whether it’s a more permanent solution — a renovation — or it’s something that’s a little more temporary, we need to create something to bring that generation of fan in.”
McNeil credited leadership from other teams across the CFL for their willingness to share successful practices to help engage fans. One strategy the team implemented not long after McNeil joined the club in 2022 as their vice-president of business operations was to invite fans onto the field after games, which came from Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ president and CEO Wade Miller.
The initiative improved the flow of postgame traffic and provided guests the chance to run around, throw footballs, and take photos. It was so popular that Calgary allowed fans onto the field four times in 2023.
“On the field, we are there to win and we are there to beat each other, but off the field, we need each other,” said McNeil. “Everybody has been and is incredibly collaborative in helping each other succeed. Not that I expected anything different, but it really is, ‘We are in this together.'”
McNeil indicated that he’s aiming for 10 to 15 percent growth in ticket sales in 2024, which would put Calgary’s average attendance between 24,000 and 25,000 per game. The goal may seem ambitious, though the B.C. Lions have proven it’s attainable.
B.C. saw attendance increase by 14.5 percent from 2019 to 2022 and another 13.8 percent from 2022 to 2023. The team’s attendance figure from 2021 has been omitted as it was subject to COVID-19 restrictions. Regardless, the right combination of marketing and fan engagement can evidently produce fast results.
Calgary’s attendance didn’t collapse overnight and McNeil realizes it’ll take time to get the Stampeders back to their former status near the top of the league’s rankings.
“We don’t expect we’re going to sell out every game next year, I’d be delusional if I thought that was the case. … Our season ticket base was 13,832 in 2023, we want to build it up to 14,750 in 2024 and we want to see similar-type growth in the different ticket lanes,” he said. “I have higher expectations than that, personally. I think we can do so much.”
McNeil trumpeted his team’s commitment to the community as the primary reason why fans should return to McMahon Stadium and support the club. He indicated the Stampeders did 422 player appearances and 570 hours of community service in 2023, helping assist a number of local causes.
“My ask of any Calgarian is to buy one ticket to one game, that’s all we need,” he said. “If you think about McMahon Stadium, the capacity is 35,000. Not including playoffs, that’s 10 home games, so 350,000 tickets. We need 25 percent of Calgarians to buy one ticket to one game to sell out every game. When you think about it from that perspective, you go, ‘Huh, that’s not so insurmountable.’ It’s about creating awareness, compelling fans to come to the stadium, and figuring out how we do that.”
McNeil declined to comment on a possible timeline for a new stadium, as there are currently no formal plans in the works. He promised to work diligently to ensure the 63-year-old venue is replaced at some point to provide fans with a better game-day experience and ensure the club’s long-term viability.
“We are going to pursue all options in terms of having discussions about a new stadium. That is something that just has to happen, so we will do everything we can to make that happen,” he said. “I think even just the approval process — I think we all can learn from the events that are here in Calgary — it takes time, and it takes time to get all the right people in the room talking and moving this forward. I think it would be premature to pick a timeline but to say that we are going to pursue it as best we can.”
In the meantime, McNeil has full faith in Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC), the group that has been the majority owner of the Stampeders since 2012.
“CSEC has been nothing but supportive and they want us to succeed on and off the field and have given us the resources to do that,” he said. “I love the relationship we have with them. Huf and I are on the CSEC management team and they are integrated in our business and doing everything they can to help us succeed.”
The Calgary Flames are getting a new arena as part of the Calgary Event Centre, which was announced last year. The facility is expected to open in 2027, well over a decade after the team initially sought funding for a new venue.
Hopefully, the Stampeders won’t need to wait that long for a replacement for McMahon Stadium. And, if they do, here’s hoping the club will still be around to play in it.
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