The Great Canadian Sports Attendance, Marketing and TV Ratings Thread

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by JHikka

A cursory glance at the NBLCanada annual report from last season shows that the Edge only drew near 5,000 for a regular season game on a handful of occasions and only drew over 5,000 once - in a playoff game. I haven't done any of the math but it looks like they drew equal crowds last year to what the Growlers have been drawing so far this year (the Growlers are averaging 3,880 so far this season).

Ooh, that's not what they're claiming on radio. They said nearly 5,000 every game, over on weekends. Verbatim. Is there a way to see the Growlers attendance? Because if they're comparable, then that's probably an intentional exaggeration to make that point.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Ooh, that's not what they're claiming on radio. They said nearly 5,000 every game, over on weekends. Verbatim. Is there a way to see the Growlers attendance? Because if they're comparable, then that's probably an intentional exaggeration to make that point.

Last season the Edge averaged 3638 attendees per game. Likely there were more during the weekend, and less during the weekday. That average though is 2nd highest in the league, behind only the London Lightning.

I would suspect Growler attendance is around that, possibly a little more. Average attendance numbers probably aren't available yet since it's their first season and the season is still young. Their first home game was a sellout though, at around 6200 people, and night two has 5325 attendees. I would guess it'll even out around 4000-4200 a game, which is around what the Ice Caps averaged in their lame duck (ie. last) year in St. John's, when everyone knew they were leaving so they decided to try and not get any more emotionally invested.

EDIT: I found the ECHL's reports on attendance, I'll get you a number.

EDIT 2: Good guess on my part, their current average attendance is 3929 a game.

[esquire]

^ I wonder if there is some hockey fatigue in St. John's with the carousel of teams that have been coming and going over the last 20 years? It's probably tough to build up much of a clientele when every few years it's a new team and a new league starting from scratch again... that type of disruption probably doesn't create the most enticing proposition for local hockey fans. If I was faced with that I'd probably opt to stay home and watch the NHL on TV instead.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I wonder if there is some hockey fatigue in St. John's with the carousel of teams that have been coming and going over the last 20 years? It's probably tough to build up much of a clientele when every few years it's a new team and a new league starting from scratch again... that type of disruption probably doesn't create the most enticing proposition for local hockey fans. If I was faced with that I'd probably opt to stay home and watch the NHL on TV instead.

It showed in the last IceCaps season. People just didn't want to care anymore knowing the fate of the team. It shouldn't be a problem with the ECHL Growlers, though there is definitely less interest in watching the ECHL over the AHL.

I'm more surprised that the NBL has done so well in the city. There was never any indication that people cared about basketball.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Quite a leap but isn't this a Canadian Sports thread? It doesn't belong here any more than news about Germany's Bundesliga or India's IPL

As long as it's ratings in Canada I don't see the harm.

We have a thread for sports in Canadian culture which is more aimed at general conversation around sport in Canada as a whole.

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I wonder if there is some hockey fatigue in St. John's with the carousel of teams that have been coming and going over the last 20 years? It's probably tough to build up much of a clientele when every few years it's a new team and a new league starting from scratch again... that type of disruption probably doesn't create the most enticing proposition for local hockey fans. If I was faced with that I'd probably opt to stay home and watch the NHL on TV instead.

I think it's less hockey fatigue and more the ECHL just being...not very great hockey, with limited local flavour. Teams that work well in NFLD are either local (QMJHL) or a decent quality (AHL). The ECHL fails at both, at least IMO. The carousel of teams doesn't exactly help either, as Marty pointed out.

[blueandgoldguy]

I remember the St. John's Ice Caps thread on the Winnipeg Jets forum at the HFBoards years ago. I seem to recall some of the members there stating that the AHL was more popular in St. John's then the CHL.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

As long as it's ratings in Canada I don't see the harm.

We have a thread for sports in Canadian culture which is more aimed at general conversation around sport in Canada as a whole.



I think it's less hockey fatigue and more the ECHL just being...not very great hockey, with limited local flavour. Teams that work well in NFLD are either local (QMJHL) or a decent quality (AHL). The ECHL fails at both, at least IMO. The carousel of teams doesn't exactly help either, as Marty pointed out.

How is the calibre of the ECHL compared to the CHL (LHJMQ)?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

How is the calibre of the ECHL compared to the CHL (LHJMQ)?

The Q is the weakest of the three CHL leagues but they still have a lot of players go on to play NHL as well as AHL, ECHL, CIS, and in Europe. The ECHL is mostly a deadend for most players before they go to Europe, CIS, or elsewhere. Not many make it to the NHL from there. I'd say the CHL is a higher quality and better product overall.

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

I remember the St. John's Ice Caps thread on the Winnipeg Jets forum at the HFBoards years ago. I seem to recall some of the members there stating that the AHL was more popular in St. John's then the CHL.

This would make sense given that St. John's has had decades of AHL hockey and only three years of CHL hockey to compare, especially given the fact that the Fog Devils were all kinds of bad.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

The Q is the weakest of the three CHL leagues but they still have a lot of players go on to play NHL as well as AHL, ECHL, CIS, and in Europe. The ECHL is mostly a deadend for most players before they go to Europe, CIS, or elsewhere. Not many make it to the NHL from there. I'd say the CHL is a higher quality and better product overall.

.

I thought so.

And the AHL would be above the CHL. Though obviously some CHL matchups likely give some AHL games a run for their money.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I thought so.

And the AHL would be above the CHL. Though obviously some CHL matchups likely give some AHL games a run for their money.

Indeed. There are have teams in the CHL and have-not teams in the CHL. I would take a top CHL game over a top AHL game but I would take a bottom AHL game over a bottom CHL game, if that makes sense.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Indeed. There are have teams in the CHL and have-not teams in the CHL. I would take a top CHL game over a top AHL game but I would take a bottom AHL game over a bottom CHL game, if that makes sense.

I think you meant a bottom AHL game, but I know what you mean.

Even though it's anathema to some (), you get some CFL games that are more entertaining and better executed than some NFL games.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I think you meant a bottom AHL game, but I know what you mean.

No, I meant the CHL has a higher ceiling for entertainment than the AHL, although the AHL has done better lately at having lineups that are more relevant and less comprised of goony 30-somethings. The closer the AHL gets to being a U25 league the better it'll be, IMO.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

No, I meant the CHL has a higher ceiling for entertainment than the AHL, although the AHL has done better lately at having lineups that are more relevant and less comprised of goony 30-somethings. The closer the AHL gets to being a U25 league the better it'll be, IMO.

AHL players are at a more mature level of development than CHLers, but the teams are often a mix of guys wanting to break into the NHL and older ones just playing out the string.

CHL rosters aren't as seasoned but no one is there to simply play out the string.

[blueandgoldguy]

CFL ratings were up five percent this year, with an average of 730,000 per game. They were up 15 percent in the 18-49 demo. This includes the RDS numbers.

That increase from the 18-49 age bracket is pretty good news.

[elly63]

This could come under marketing, I met Marcus "the Stro" Stroman today and he related the story below. Nice fella. That's not me in the story.

Searching for Stroman: Fan has special encounter with Jays pitcher on Signal Hill

[JHikka]

Vanier Cup averaged 293K viewers on TVA Sports according to their Twitter.

The Province are a bit bearish:

Originally Posted by The Province

As charted by Vancouver varsity football broadcaster Jim Mullin, English TV ratings for the Vanier Cup have fallen to less than one-quarter of what they were in 2011 and 2012 when the game was packaged as part of the Grey Cup Festival. TSN drew an average national audience of 665,000 for the 2011 game at B.C. Place Stadium and 502,000 for 2012 at the Rogers Centre.

It’s since sunk to a low of 168,000 last year on Sportsnet for what is now a stand-alone game.

https://theprovince.com/sports/footb...e-6ef01307b972

Physical attendance at Telus Stadium was up this year to 12,380 (from 10,754 in Hamilton last year). The Vanier Cup returns to Quebec City again next year.

--------

Richard Therrien outlines that the Canadiens garnered 458K on RDS on Friday Afternoon and 726K on TVA Sports on Saturday night, the highest on the season for the latter.

[Acajack]

I was actually surprised to see empty seats at Laval.

[EpicPonyTime]

TV ratings for the Grey Cup are in, and they're not good for the League.

Viewership was 3.1 million, down 23 per cent from last year.

This also means that season ratings over last year actually decreased 0.3%.

http://3downnation.com/2018/11/26/gr...g-23-per-cent/

[elly63]

I was going to post this earlier in the week but I didn't want to give our resident CFL hater any ammunition.

Just to put the above headline into context if people don't read the article it had

Ottawa Redblacks/Hamilton Tiger-Cats 729,000
Calgary Stampeders/Winnipeg Blue Bombers 1.2 million

I have yet to see a reason why Ottawa constantly rates so low, they have a good fanbase and are an interesting, fairly exciting team to watch. The Redblacks TV ratings have been near the lowest since the get go, something is not right there.

This sets up a Grey Cup that will not likely be a great number, Ottawa and the ever present Calgary.

The problem with the CFL is that it is competing with it's own history. Other sports get those numbers and they trumpet how great it is and the double digit increases but the CFL gets it and it's a failure. I don't get it.

As I've said many times, in the NFL 6-3 is a titanic defensive struggle, in the CFL it's two crappy offenses.

[elly63]

But the news is not all bad