The Great Canadian Sports Attendance, Marketing and TV Ratings Thread

[Acajack]

Can't believe I used to watch NHL games on so many weeknights in my younger days.

I still do on occasion, but almost never if it isn't Montreal playing. (And sometimes Ottawa.)

And even so I only watch a fraction of Montreal's games in given season. (Though I do watch the vast majority of playoff games if they make it there.)

Agree with you guys that I find it about as interesting to watch a football game with two teams I don't really care about, than watching most any weeknight non-hyped up NHL game involving my own favourite team.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

And if you want to pony up for the streaming services, there's AHL, junior and college to fill the gaps on those odd nights when the NHL isn't playing I'm sure some people do it, though!

My buddy Rod Pedersen watches hockey every bloody night. No idea how he does it.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

My buddy Rod Pedersen watches hockey every bloody night. No idea how he does it.

If I had to do it for a living like he does, then I could do it with ease. But I think the enjoyment factor would go down.

I think the only time I ever came close to watching every Jets game was during the COVID season of 2020-21, when frankly, there wasn't a whole ton of other things to do for entertainment. I probably watched 3/4 of the season on TV that year.

This season, by contrast, I've been to 3 games in person so far and watched maybe around 10 full games on TV (as well as a bunch of partial games, e.g. a period or two). I do watch a fair bit of junior hockey on top of that, though.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

If I had to do it for a living like he does, then I could do it with ease. But I think the enjoyment factor would go down.

I think the only time I ever came close to watching every Jets game was during the COVID season of 2020-21, when frankly, there wasn't a whole ton of other things to do for entertainment. I probably watched 3/4 of the season on TV that year.

This season, by contrast, I've been to 3 games in person so far and watched maybe around 10 full games on TV (as well as a bunch of partial games, e.g. a period or two). I do watch a fair bit of junior hockey on top of that, though.

I've hardly watched a full game, but that is mainly because I think I jinx them. Every time I've watched they let in a bunch of goals. When I leave the game they always seem to score a bunch of goals.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

I've hardly watched a full game, but that is mainly because I think I jinx them. Every time I've watched they let in a bunch of goals. When I leave the game they always seem to score a bunch of goals.

It's funny, the Jets are rolling and have played a few dandies this season, but the three games I've been to (all in the last 6 weeks) have been absolute, stone-cold DUDS.

The game vs. Minnesota on Dec. 27, the game vs. Arizona and the most recent dud vs. Buffalo. All 3 games sucked from an entertainment standpoint... I mean, at least they beat Arizona, but that's not saying much. Zero fan atmosphere at all 3 games. The game vs. Buffalo was the worst, it was a library in the arena, tons of people leaving early. I can't say I'm dying to go back to any more games... I think I'll just watch on TV.

[Berklon]

Awesome Super Bowl numbers for Bell Media (CTV/TSN/RDS)

8.6M viewers for the game and over 17.3 million Canadians tuned into some part of the broadcast

Up 6% from 2022

https://twitter.com/AHBSeaborn/status/1625269899244216322

Yowza.

[jonny24]

TORONTO ARROWS EXTEND CANADIAN MEDIA PARTNERSHIP WITH TSN

The Toronto Arrows kick off their 5th Major League Rugby campaign this Friday night. TSN will once again be broadcasting with a mix of online and TV channels.

[Acajack]

Interesting poll about interest in pro sports in Canada's provinces.

Quebec is basically at the bottom in terms of interest for all sports.

Quite surprised that only 8% of people here follow the NHL closely. Another 20% follow it a bit. 72% follow the NHL very little or not at all.

The other pro sports barely register a trickle.

Note that while the first part of the article talks about past interest in sports like F1 and boxing, there are no stats for these.

My guess is that if you polled people on those two (plus tennis) you'd get some signs of life, and it's possible that a greater interest in individual sports makes up at least a bit of the difference between Quebec and the other provinces.

https://www.985fm.ca/nouvelles/541043/le...ns-interessee-par-le-sport-professionnel

[thurmas]

https://www.oursportscentral.com/service...ebl-history-in-first-ever-game/n-5964487

Winnipeg Sea Bears to See Largest Attendance in CEBL History in First-Ever Game

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Sea Bears are set make history during an already-historic home opener on May 27th. The club announced Monday that the original configuration for Canada Life Centre has sold out, which will make fans part of the largest-ever CEBL crowd.

Due to public demand, the Sea Bears and Canada Life Centre are expanding capacity on a limited basis and have added new tickets effective immediately.

"This is going to be a great night of pro basketball and we encourage fans to get tickets and be part of what is already set to be the largest crowd in CEBL history," said Jason Smith, president of the Sea Bears.

The team's home opener is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 27th at Canada Life Centre against the Vancouver Bandits. Tickets are available online or at seabears.ca. The team is next scheduled to play at home June 12th when they take on the Edmonton Stingers at 7:00 p.m. That game falls on Philippine Independence Day and will feature additional programming to celebrate.

[MonctonRad]

Prices for Blue Jays season tickets are going up by about 10 times. No, fans are not happy
Some Jays fans say the team is 'renovicting' longtime season-ticket holders
Natalie Stechyson · CBC News · Posted: May 24, 2023 10:33 PM ADT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/blue-jays-season-tickets-changes-1.6853575

After an April email was sent out to season ticket holders on the next phase of the $300-million renovation of Rogers Centre, some longtime Jays fans were dismayed to realize their coveted seats in the lower bowl will no longer exist, and that they face a steep price increase if they want to continue to be season ticket holders and select new seats.

Some fans relayed to media outlets that they were told new seats would cost 10 times as much as their current spots. One family noted in the Toronto Star that they'd paid about $15,000 for two tickets, but would likely now have to spend more than $137,000 for two new seats.

The changes to the ballpark include three new "premium clubs" that will open in the 2024 season, according to a news release. The clubs promise an "extraordinary and elevated sports experience."

The Home Plate Club, for instance, not only offers seats directly behind home plate, but membership "includes dedicated staff to attend your every need, optimum ease of arrival and departure from a designated Home Plate Club location, first access to a private dining space, a private bar with members-only service and the intimate champagne room."

Jesus Christ, it's a baseball game!!! Whatever happened to a beer and a hot dog???

I like Toronto. I like the Blue Jays. I may have been to about a dozen Jays games in my life. I will often try to go to a game anytime I'm in Toronto.

Even though I like Toronto, I have access to all the amenities I need in my life in Moncton but I have long said the only reason why I might consider a move to the big smoke would be a chance to get Blue Jays season tickets.

I guess that reason doesn't exist any more..............

[thurmas]

Thats gotta be a typo don't believe 1700 bucks per game for one seat of regular season baseball

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Thats gotta be a typo don't believe 1700 bucks per game for one seat of regular season baseball

Not a typo. Reported on multiple news outlets, and there was an item about this on Canada AM this morning.

[thurmas]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Not a typo. Reported on multiple news outlets, and there was an item about this on Canada AM this morning.

WOW oh well I will stick with the good old CFL please and thank you

[esquire]

Rogers just can't help itself from being Rogers.

The good news is that no one has to pay that kind of money to follow the team. You can watch the games on TV and see everything you need to see. And if someone wants the live sports experience, then there are certainly plenty of alternatives to shelling out the Rogers price to watch the Blue Jays. In the past couple of years I have, in addition to NHL and MLB games, been to CFL football, WHL hockey, AHL hockey, MJHL hockey, USports football, hockey and basketball, and American Association baseball. This weekend I'll be at CEBL basketball. Prices are more than reasonable for all of those events, and they were, to my tastes, solidly entertaining.

Some of the most memorable and exciting games I've attended over that two year stretch included USports basketball, the Canada West playoffs last season in front of raucous packed houses at the University of Manitoba were something I'll never forget. Total cost of my alumni tickets: $0.00. You don't always have to spend big to have a good time.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

Rogers just can't help itself from being Rogers.

The good news is that no one has to pay that kind of money to follow the team. You can watch the games on TV and see everything you need to see. And if someone wants the live sports experience, then there are certainly plenty of alternatives to shelling out the Rogers price to watch the Blue Jays. In the past couple of years I have, in addition to NHL and MLB games, been to CFL football, WHL hockey, AHL hockey, MJHL hockey, USports football, hockey and basketball, and American Association baseball. This weekend I'll be at CEBL basketball. Prices are more than reasonable for all of those events, and they were, to my tastes, solidly entertaining.

Some of the most memorable and exciting games I've attended over that two year stretch included USports basketball, the Canada West playoffs last season in front of raucous packed houses at the University of Manitoba were something I'll never forget. Total cost of my alumni tickets: $0.00. You don't always have to spend big to have a good time.

Way to go Esquire. It's too bad that too many Canadians are only validated by spending big bucks on the big leagues.

Yesterday was the MLS Whitecaps playing the CPL Victoria team for the Voyagers Cup semi final. I watched a bit of it on the internet but the stadium was packed and the action fast paced. What more can you ask for as a fan?

I still remember our old barn in Killarney MB where the Shamrocks were playing the Boissivain Border Kings in the playoffs. The Arena was packed, the teams were evenly matched and the atmosphere was electric. That was over 40 years ago but I still get shivers thinking of that game.

[Berklon]

Rogers can charge 500k for a single ticket if they want, it's up to the consumer to determine if they want to pay it. Simple supply and demand.

I often hear people crying about the price of concert tickets for acts like Taylor Swift, and they'll blame Ticketmaster... yet they still purchase the tickets at these ridiculous prices.
Don't like the price? Don't buy the tickets. People seem to have no willpower nowadays. They're suckers for impulse buying and they seem to have constant FOMO for anything they like.

[MonctonRad]

Indeed Vanriderfan. The three best sporting experiences I ever had were all QMJHL games:

- Moncton Wildcats vs. Quebec Remparts in the 2006 Memorial Cup final in Moncton (we lost).
- Moncton Wildcats vs. Saint John Sea Dogs in game 7 of the 2010 Quebec League final series in Moncton. We won by one goal, for our second trip to the Memorial Cup. The barn was absolutely electric (we were after all playing our biggest provincial rival).
- Moncton Wildcats vs Baie Comeau Drakkar in game 7 of the second round of the Quebec League playoffs this year in Moncton. Five of the seven games went to overtime, with game 7 going to double overtime. We won on a breakaway goal by Maxim Barbashev. Pure heaven.

I've been to multiple CFL, MLB and NHL games. None has beaten the atmosphere like in games like these.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Rogers can charge 500k for a single ticket if they want, it's up to the consumer to determine if they want to pay it. Simple supply and demand.

I often hear people crying about the price of concert tickets for acts like Taylor Swift, and they'll blame Ticketmaster... yet they still purchase the tickets at these ridiculous prices.
Don't like the price? Don't buy the tickets. People seem to have no willpower nowadays. They're suckers for impulse buying and they seem to have constant FOMO for anything they like.

I agree, there is nothing morally wrong with Rogers jacking up the prices to see what the market will bear. Pro baseball is not a necessity. But it's still demonstrating the ugly side of capitalism to take a working-class pastime like baseball and charge prices for it that only plutocrats can afford.

The only way I would even consider spending $1700 on a pair of regular season Blue Jays tickets is if my kid was playing in the game. And even then I'd think twice before clicking 'buy'. It blows my mind that someone would spend that kind of cash on some random, totally forgettable Wednesday night game between the Jays and White Sox or whoever.

The Taylor Swift thing is on a whole other level of hysteria IMO. I'm not a huge concert-goer, whenever I've been to big arena shows I've always had the sneaking suspicion that I would have been just as happy buying the album and spending an hour or two listening to it at home. But apparently a lot of people out there derive satisfaction from spending $1000+ to sit in a huge stadium and listen to Ms Swift belt out her hits.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by esquire

The Taylor Swift thing is on a whole other level of hysteria IMO. I'm not a huge concert-goer, whenever I've been to big arena shows I've always had the sneaking suspicion that I would have been just as happy buying the album and spending an hour or two listening to it at home. But apparently a lot of people out there derive satisfaction from spending $1000+ to sit in a huge stadium and listen to Ms Swift belt out her hits.

Yeah, and it's not a knock on Swift. I'm not a fan of her music at all, but I'd have the same opinion for artists that I actually like. If they were charging big bucks for a concert, I wouldn't go. I think I'd set my budget at $100 max... and I'd have to think really hard about that too. Luckily the artists I like aren't huge at all and play small venues (which I prefer) and their ticket prices are within my small budget (less than $100).

Now for a sporting event, IMO the enjoyment is so much less than a concert - so it's even a bigger ripoff. Especially for a usually meaningless regular season game of hockey, basketball or baseball (a single game out of 82 or 162 games). Plus nothing beats the convenience of watching in the comfort of your own home - especially with the advent of HDTV and amazing television coverage.

[theman23]

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