Winnipeg Blue Bombers

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Crisis

You guys do realize that you're doubtful that your team can beat an 0-7 Riders squad even once? Right now, I think that Rider Nation would be fine with a split.

Remember in 2011 when the Bombers were 7-1 and lost both games to a 1-7 Rider team?

I'd be happy with a split. Make it happen, Crisis!!!

[Cyro]

Originally Posted by Crisis

You guys do realize that you're doubtful that your team can beat an 0-7 Riders squad even once?

Yes, sad isn't it? Human nature often shows that once you've been beaten down for a prolonged period of time even hard to imagine scenarios become more and more plausible and likely to occur....the mind just accepts it.

[Cyro]

Marve is our savior...

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Cyro

Marve is our savior...

Yay Marve! Win one tonight and he will be the Troy Kopp of our time!

[Cyro]

I so hope he pulls it off..We need some positive news on the BB front..

[esquire]

See you at the game... hot weather + cold beer = good times, win or lose!!!

[Cyro]

Let's get to it...sounds like a great way to enjoy the summer..

[roccerfeller]

Marve at least looked a lot better than Brohm!

Gave me some hope that the season is not yet over while Willy is out

[The Unknown Poster]

Marve looked good when he played a bit of "wildcat" running all over. When he was sat down and talked to about playing within the schemes at half time, he came out and tried to stay in the pocket and was not nearly as good in that second half.

[Cyro]

Temporary seating at IGF scrapped as tickets sell at snail’s pace

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/08/2...owd-in-decades


The 103rd Grey Cup game will be the poorest attended CFL championship in at least 17 years.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


Sad...

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Cyro

Temporary seating at IGF scrapped as tickets sell at snail’s pace

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/08/2...owd-in-decades

The 103rd Grey Cup game will be the poorest attended CFL championship in at least 17 years.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Sad...

Disappointing, but I can't say that I'm terribly surprised. I mean, just look at this:



Between the home team being uncompetitive, tickets costing a fortune and the fact that watching at home allows you to avoid the cold and traffic hassles, it's not shocking that tickets have not exactly been flying off the shelf. When I bought my GC ticket a couple months back I was pretty surprised by how many were left, and to look at Ticketmaster now it looks like barely any have been sold since then, despite the advertising everywhere.

I don't get why the organizing committee didn't start with a more palatable price point... say, in the range of $125-$300. Even if the current pricing scheme was set to maximize revenue even if the game didn't sell out, there is still a major cost in terms of the reputational hit that comes with unsold seats. You can bet that the national media will be going nuts with stories during Grey Cup week about slow ticket sales and using that to suggest that the entire league is on shaky ground.

[Cyro]

Originally Posted by esquire

Disappointing, but I can't say that I'm terribly surprised. I mean, just look at this:



Between the home team being uncompetitive, tickets costing a fortune and the fact that watching at home allows you to avoid the cold and traffic hassles, it's not shocking that tickets have not exactly been flying off the shelf. When I bought my GC ticket a couple months back I was pretty surprised by how many were left, and to look at Ticketmaster now it looks like barely any have been sold since then, despite the advertising everywhere.

I don't get why the organizing committee didn't start with a more palatable price point... say, in the range of $125-$300. Even if the current pricing scheme was set to maximize revenue even if the game didn't sell out, there is still a major cost in terms of the reputational hit that comes with unsold seats. You can bet that the national media will be going nuts with stories during Grey Cup week about slow ticket sales and using that to suggest that the entire league is on shaky ground.

Thanks for the pricing points. Seems a tad bit overpriced??
The bolded remark is the troublesome one, lowest attendance since 1970?
As reported:

"With ticket sales at 25,576, Friday, or around 70% of capacity, some 11,000 unsold seats remained.

Even a sellout of 36,634 would be the smallest crowd to attend a Grey Cup since 1998, when Winnipeg, wallowing in the Jeff Reinebold years, hosted the game and drew just 34,157."

It hurts..New stadium, 1st go around, It would be difficult to spin this in any positive way? Maybe the BB will go on a 5 game tear.....

[rkspec]

not only that but both the bombers and the riders will most likely not make it.
2 strong markets rite there

[buzzg]

Yeah I'm a huge CFL fan and was planning on going to the GC, but when I saw that a ticket would be $125 more than I pay for my entire season (or still $75 more if I COMMIT FOR THREE YEARS) it was a no-brainer not to buy them.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by rkspec

not only that but both the bombers and the riders will most likely not make it.
2 strong markets rite there

This all reminds me a lot of 1998, when the Bombers were just in the dumps as a team and there was zero football excitement around town. The Riders sucked that year too which probably put the bite on travel from out west. The host committee ended up blowing out tickets at steep discounts in the week before the Grey Cup which I'm sure they'll do this season too, because there is no way that they are going to sell 10,000 tix at regular prices in the next 3 months unless the Bombers miraculously advance to the big game.

Cyro's right, it is a bit of a disgrace that the first GC at IGF is going to be the least attended and organizationally worst GC since... Winnipeg in 1998. Oh well, at least we did a half decent job of staging the game in 2006.

[CoryB]

Pretty sure TV said some time back that the design of the stadium made it challenging to add the temporary seating. Maybe the team has gotten to the point where the bids have come back on that work and are far higher than they had planned. Add in the poor sales and they just can't justify that added seats. The story about putting the half time entertainment in the north end zone is a complete cover story for something. As recent as this week they were recruiting volunteers to basically roll the stage on and off the field. Further, if the north end zone truly does offer the best view opportunities for people there why was Tom Cochrane in the south end zone for the opening of the facility and why was this not in the plans from day one?

I also doubt the team has the tickets heavily discounted and widely on public sale. There will likely be special deals through sponsors both of the Grey Cup and of the team directly and a healthy dose of promotional write down tickets given to the Bison, Rifles and youth football teams if they need seats filled. The team can't easily turn tail now and mark down tickets below the $100 off they gave they season ticket holders for a three year commitment as it would absolutely have the account reps phones lite on fire why STH calling to complain. It would also further burn what little good will the team has left with their STH base.

[Riverman]

I don't think those prices are unreasonable. I believe I paid $295 each for the 100th cup, 5 rows from the top of the Rogers Centre.

[buzzg]

The whole end zone show thing is FOR SURE to make it seem like that's the reason they've removed some seats... definitely a cover up.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Riverman

I don't think those prices are unreasonable. I believe I paid $295 each for the 100th cup, 5 rows from the top of the Rogers Centre.

The slow ticket sales speak for themselves. If the Bombers did well last season and started the season 6-2 this year, tickets probably would have sold even at the inflated prices. But with the Bombers being sub-par this season and the prospects of a Grey Cup appearance becoming more remote by the week, it's not surprising that people will just sit on their wallets, keep the cash and watch the game at home.

Toronto is really a completely different market altogether... huge city and lots of corporate ticket buyers.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by buzzg

The whole end zone show thing is FOR SURE to make it seem like that's the reason they've removed some seats... definitely a cover up.

Beyond the shadow of a doubt. Zero coincidence. It's just a lame attempt at spin.