Sports in Canadian culture

[craneSpotter]

Originally Posted by Migs

One can also argue that the NBA in Toronto is a collosal failure with their miniscule tv ratings.

Originally Posted by Nathan

In which case, it's tough to really know how well the Raptors are doing since there is always an artificial floor of support underneath.

Boys, take the blinders off THE point of a professional sports franchise is to generate revenue and make the owners money, right? They aren't for fun or charity So to put success in that context, I'll compare the Raptors to the CFL because you are from Sask an that is the 'pro' league represented there

The CFL, as a league, generates 120-150 million a year in revenues. Profits for the teams vary greatly, but according to TSN in 2012 75% of the teams were in the 'black'. The Riders, one of the more 'successful' CFL teams, made a $1.1 million profit on revenues of $34.4 million for the 2012 season. That would put them in about 72nd place in the NCAA, with similar financials to the Southern Methodist Mustangs

The Raptors on the other hand made a profit of $18.8 million on revenues of $121 million for their last season. In 2011 they had a $25.3 million profit on revenues of $138 million. In fact the Raptors have been very profitable in all but the 2006 season!

So little support? The Raptors, it could be argued, generate as much revenue and are more profitable than the entire CFL. It doesn't matter if 757k people watch the Riders play the Bombers on CBC and only 300k (in Canada) watch the Raptors play the Bobcats Each NBA viewer is much more 'valuable' to advertisers. For the record, the Raptors are currently ranked #7 in the NBA for attendance...

In fact it could also be argued that the Raptors are more 'successful', at least some years, than Canada's small market NHL teams (Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa & Winnipeg). Toronto is THE Canadian pro sports powerhouse - just look at the numbers for the Leafs & Jays as well - no CFL team could ever dream of making this list - but a Toronto NFL one probably would



Click the link for a report by the Conference Board of Canada - on big league sports in Canada.

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/report...riefing-1.aspx

[esquire]

Originally Posted by craneSpotter

Toronto is THE Canadian pro sports powerhouse - just look at the numbers for the Leafs & Jays as well - no CFL team could ever dream of making this list -

That's because it's a list of NHL, MLB and NBA team operating revenues.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by craneSpotter

The Riders, one of the more 'successful' CFL teams, made a $1.1 million profit on revenues of $34.4 million for the 2012 season.

The Raptors on the other hand made a profit of $18.8 million on revenues of $121 million for their last season.

The Raptors' revenue per fan was only $13.

The Raptors had gate receipts of $31 M with 41 home games in a metro population of 6 M.

The Roughriders, by contrast, had gate receipts of $13.1 M with only 9 home games in a metro population of only 210,000.

Thus, the Roughriders generate twice as much in gate receipts per game than the Raptors ($1.5 M for the Roughrider vs. $756,000 for the Raptors).

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

The Roughriders, by contrast, had gate receipts of $13.1 M with only 9 home games in a metro population of 210,000.

Thus, the Roughriders generated twice as much in gate receipts per game than the Raptors ($1.5 M for the Roughrider vs. $756,000 for the Raptors).

Let's be honest here, those 9 home games are barely ever weekday games, and fewer home games mostly on weekends allows out-of-towners to make the trip to see the game.

Everyone knows the Riders' market is the entire province, and even neighbouring provinces. Very different situations.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by The_Architect

Everyone knows the Riders' market is the entire province, and even neighbouring provinces. Very different situations.

This is truly hilarious. The metro population of Toronto is six times the population of the entire province of Saskatchewan. And approximately 2.5 million Torontonians (i.e., 2 and 1/2 times the population of Saskatchewan) are a subway ride from the Air Canada Centre. Hell, the amount of people in walking distance from the ACC is probably greater than the entire population of Saskatchewan.

No matter how you slice it, the advantage is overwhelmingly in favour of the Raptors.

Originally Posted by The_Architect

Let's be honest here, those 9 home games are barely ever weekday games, and fewer home games mostly on weekends allows out-of-towners to make the trip to see the game.

Since the number of people who live within subway distance from the ACC is likely 2.5 times the population of the entire province of Saskatchewan, the distinction between weekday and weekend games becomes utterly irrelevant. That said, in 2012/2013, the Raptors played 23 weekend and Friday night home games. That's 14 more games than all of the Roughriders' home games that season.

[Welkin]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

I'm sorry, but what your saying is not reality at all. I am a Chelsea supporter and went and saw Chelsea play against Swansea at Stamford Bridge. No one there was thinking "Oh, we are playing against a smaller Welsh city - this sucks." No, quite the opposite. Swansea as a club has been performing really well and they have some great talent. It was great to see the teams play each other and Swansea won the game. The EPL is not just about who wins the Premiership. Football in the UK is more than who has the highest points. Its about winning the other tournaments as well. Reading your post, I am sure you don't know what it's really like here. I have lots of friends who are Man U supporters and they love to watch any match they can. Yes, playing bigger clubs is clearly the most desirable games to watch, but it's not the way you make it out to be. Whats amazing about the EPL is watching teams like Portsmouth go from a lower league to EPL and playing Europe and then back to lower divisions. There's a lot more drama and supporters are much more into their teams. You don't see a lot of "suits" at EPL matches, just real fans who will travel up and down the country to support their team. Best system in sports.

You Europeans do have amazing concepts about sports leagues. Your whole concept of relegation is totally foreign here. However, "The EPL is not about who wins the Premiership". Are you f#@king kidding me? Winning the title means everything here. Every year you win the Cup or you go home. No team here plays just for the fun of being on the field. I guess if winning is nothing, no wonder the EPL is full of little dink teams playing in Welsh backwaters like Swansea with no chance in hell of ever winning a league title. That would be like having an MLB team in Thunder Bay and expecting them to be competitive with the New York Yankees. Anyway, the tides are changing. Spend a few minutes Googling European Soccer Super League and you will find hundreds of articles talking about how to make the Super League a reality, not if it should be done.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by Welkin

You Europeans do have amazing concepts about sports leagues. Your whole concept of relegation is totally foreign here. However, "The EPL is not about who wins the Premiership". Are you f#@king kidding me? Winning the title means everything here. Every year you win the Cup or you go home. No team here plays just for the fun of being on the field. I guess if winning is nothing, no wonder the EPL is full of little dink teams playing in Welsh backwaters like Swansea with no chance in hell of ever winning a league title. That would be like having an MLB team in Thunder Bay and expecting them to be competitive with the New York Yankees.

I think it comes down to the question: would you rather have 30 clubs any of which can win the league in the next few years or nearly 100 clubs, at least on of which is local, that could play in the top flight in the near future? While a Leafs fan in Thunder Bay would thoroughly enjoy the Leafs winning the cup, having a team from Thunder Bay playing the NHL would also mean a lot.

Additionally, it doesn't have to be exclusive. Some people in Swansea adopt a bigger club like Arsenal or United as their second clubs similar to how people in Thunder Bay adopt the Leafs or any other team.

[The_Architect]

Les Argonautes sont meilleur que les Tigre-Shats.

[Prometheus]

With a metro population of more than 1.2 million, it will be interesting see just how much the introduction of the Ottawa Redblacks will increase the ratings next year. The CFL is already the most-watched weekly sports broadcast in the country, with the exception of Hockey Night In Canada.

CFL SEASON ON TSN WRAPS UP AS SECOND MOST-WATCHED ON RECORD

TSN.CA STAFF, 11/6/2013

Regular season ratings for the CFL ON TSN attracted an average audience of 703,000 viewers per game, making it the second most-watched season ever. Overall, audiences for the CFL regular season were up more than four per cent on TSN this season.

CFL audiences on TSN and RDS combined for an average of 758,000 viewers per game - an increase of 3.6 per cent compared to last year.

This season, three CFL games scored audiences surpassing one million viewers. The most-watched CFL games of the 2013 season include:

Saskatchewan @ Winnipeg on Sept. 8 - 1.073 million
Winnipeg @ Saskatchewan on Sept. 1 (Labour Day Weekend) - 1.059 million
Toronto @ Saskatchewan on Sept. 14 - 1.041 million
Toronto @ Hamilton on Oct. 14 (Thanksgiving Day Game) - 956,000
Saskatchewan @ Calgary on Aug. 9 - 929,000 million
B.C. @ Saskatchewan on Sept. 22 - 924,000 million

"The CFL is the cornerstone of our summer broadcast schedule delivering a dedicated audience of engaged Canadian football fans," said Stewart Johnston, President, TSN. "As the league continues to grow, we are thrilled that our long-term partnership continues to raise the profile of the league and ensures that the CFL remains as a must-see property for Canadian sports fans."

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=435976

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

With a metro population of more than 1.2 million, it will be interesting see just how much the introduction of the Ottawa Redblacks will increase the ratings next year. The CFL is already the most-watched weekly sports broadcast in the country, with the exception of Hockey Night In Canada.

I love the fact that the most watched regular season game this season was one in which the Bombers recorded their only home win

[The_Architect]

Considering how many NCAA players are in the CFL I highly doubt it's below the developmental league they came from.

Unless you're talking about hype in which case yeah, the US and their 10x population is a hype machine (for certain sports).

[brentwood]

Originally Posted by The_Architect

Considering how many NCAA players are in the CFL I highly doubt it's below the developmental league they came from.

Unless you're talking about hype in which case yeah, the US and their 10x population is a hype machine (for certain sports).

No kidding...how many NCAA players play even one game of professional football in any league in the world. And there are thousands playing every year. There are only about 2,000 players on active NFL/CFL rosters at any given time. But I do not think that was really the point. It is about the hype and how much the suckers are willing to shell out to be a part of something big.

[suburbanite]

Regarding a culture change of a different sport, I'm really hoping this kid can bring Canadian basketball to a whole new level.

bleacherreport.com/articles/1833615-andrew-wiggins-admits-he-plans-on-entering-next-years-nba-draft

I can't even imagine what would happen if he ended up on the raptors. Although with the number of teams who have appeared to build a roster around tanking that's probably not likely. If Steve Nash was ten years younger Canada could truly be a contender on the world stage.

[brentwood]

Another point about franchise values...these values are basically the value of the cash flows that the "brand" can generate. There is very little if any value put on tangible value. If the brand deteriorates, the value goes down. That deterioration can come in many forms and if football continues on the path of reducing contact to limit the severity of injuries the game may soon have no appeal to growing numbers of fans. The brand will become worthless. Of course they will do anything and I mean anything to avoid this but if fans turn sour on it then they will be SOL.

[esquire]

I'm surprised by the following things:

-That the Leafs aren't first
-That the Raps are so high up
-That the Impact is at the top of the MLS teams
-That the Alberta CFL teams are at the bottom of the list

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by esquire

I'm surprised by the following things:

-That the Leafs aren't first
-That the Raps are so high up
-That the Impact is at the top of the MLS teams
-That the Alberta CFL teams are at the bottom of the list

Edm/Cal fans would rather go to a game than like it on facebook.

[Mikemike]

CFL outside of sask has a slightly older fan base who are less likely to be on Facebook at all.

Also, Redblacks continues to be a really awful name. I have decided that I will henceforth refer to them alternately as Redriders, with Tom Cochran theme music, and as BlackRiders, and imagine a one ring helmet logo.

[esquire]

^ The 2001 Grey Cup in Montreal broadcast on CBC only had 2.7 million viewers (I'm sure the RDS numbers would have pushed it higher, but only to a certain point).

Now the divisional finals get that many viewers.

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ The 2001 Grey Cup in Montreal broadcast on CBC only had 2.7 million viewers (I'm sure the RDS numbers would have pushed it higher, but only to a certain point).

Now the divisional finals get that many viewers.

Getting CFL off the CBC was perhaps the most important step in the CFL's recent success.

In a perfect world Sportsnet would also get a piece of the CFL pie. Sportsnet spends very little time with CFL highlights and discussion and if they had a financial interest in it i would imagine they would do a much better job promoting it.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ The 2001 Grey Cup in Montreal broadcast on CBC only had 2.7 million viewers (I'm sure the RDS numbers would have pushed it higher, but only to a certain point).

.

Probably a bit, but not that much. Ratings for even the Stanley Cup playoffs in Quebec plummet like a stone if the Habs aren't there, so imagine a Grey Cup with two teams from the Prairies. Even if it was taking place in Montreal.

Although total attendance in the stadium itself for some reason was awesome: over 65,000 fans, the third biggest Grey Cup crowd ever.