Argos keeping prices reasonable as they try to draw fans to the CFL’s East final
Double Blue learned from Grey Cup experience "that there's still work to be done in this market."
Drew Edwards Hamilton Spectator Nov. 6, 2017
The Toronto Argonauts have been presented with an incredible opportunity by earning the right to host the East final at BMO Field. They can also advance to the Grey Cup.
The Argos’ struggles for relevancy in the packed Toronto entertainment market are well documented but team president Michael Copeland is hoping a home playoff date — not to mention two weeks to sell it — could be an important step in the club’s long march back to prominence.
“I think this has the opportunity to boost what we’re trying to do here more than anything else we’ve done before,” Copeland said.
Toronto will host its first post-season game since moving from the cavernous and perpetually empty Rogers Centre two seasons ago. The Argos will have just under two weeks to fill 26,000 seats for the Nov. 19 final. The team has adopted an aggressive marketing strategy that adds a large dose of traditional media to its already extensive digital footprint, including billboards, print, radio and television ads.
They are also leveraging the extensive media properties under the control of part-owner Bell Media. Running back James Wilder Jr. was on the TV show The Social on Monday morning.
“We’re not assuming that everybody has had the greatest relationship with the Argos, we’re trying to cast a way net to bring those people in,” Copeland said.
As they have been all season, the Argos have also been aggressive in their pricing, with tickets for the East final ranging from $19 to around $150. With a season-ticket base of just 4,000 or so, that means they have a lot of ground to make up, one ticket at a time.
“It’s absolutely a focus of ours that this is an affordable game and we understand who our fan base are,” Copeland said. “This is about getting people in and making sure they have a great experience and being thoughtful about pricing helps.”
They appear to have to learned a lesson from last year. The team was heavily criticized when it announced sky-high ticket prices for the Grey Cup, which was also held at BMO Field. Sales were sluggish and the team was forced to slash prices and give away scores of tickets to sponsors and partners in order to fill the stadium.
“If we’re going take anything away from Grey Cup, it’s that there’s still work to be done in this market,” Copeland said.
That’s a change as well. The move to BMO Field was touted as a magic elixir for a languishing franchise and Copeland now acknowledges the return to relevancy will be a long, slow process.
“At the very beginning it might have been frustrating not to have the results right off the bat but what it did was shed a light on the challenges and opportunities we have in the market,” Copeland said. “It’s really important for us to continue to show people what the experience is like and being in the playoffs and being in a game of this stature certainly helps.”