CPL 2023 Season Attendance

[jonovision]

1 minute ago, Ansem said:

I'd say that the CFL Grey cup still do well under sub-zero temperature. CPL needs to make itself become a "big deal - a must see event" which will take time but this is their 2nd "normal" season out of 5. You're totally right about the weather and this is why I'm surprised that Saskatoon and Langley came forward with stadium plans without roofs - that's crazy in this country and the league needs to make it a prerequisite.

We are one of the nations with the highest immigration rates in the world, demographics is on soccer's side, we just need to get our house in order and stop the toxic infighting and competing against one another.

I don't think CPL can use weather as an excuse. I prefer cool weather, but most don't and most European leagues play through the winter. Not winters as harsh as a Canadian winter, but many games are played in 5-10 degrees Celsius. Perfect footballing weather, not great sitting around outside weather.

And if we have to play in summer, I'd rather sit through a Winnipeg July evening than a South Carolina one. (Stop playing games in the afternoon in mid-summer though!)

[jonovision]

Week 5 attendance:

• Hamilton - 4807
• Calgary - 3546
• Langley - 2800
• Langford - no number provided - edit: 3027 announced on broadcasts

Edited May 16, 2023 by jonovision

[shermanator]

45 minutes ago, jonovision said:

I don't think CPL can use weather as an excuse. I prefer cool weather, but most don't and most European leagues play through the winter. Not winters as harsh as a Canadian winter, but many games are played in 5-10 degrees Celsius. Perfect footballing weather, not great sitting around outside weather.

And if we have to play in summer, I'd rather sit through a Winnipeg July evening than a South Carolina one. (Stop playing games in the afternoon in mid-summer though!)

There's always an excuse for some. It's too cold. It's raining. It's too hot. I don't like the kickoff time. I want to do other things in the summer. The level of play sucks. NHL playoffs are on. Soccer is a sport for pussies. Etc. 

At some point the games need to be played and people either go or don't go. If the game day experience is good and people have fun, they'll come back. Takes a long time to build via word of mouth and I don't think a lot of people have the patience to build a supporter base organically and let it be a part of the sporting fabric of the communities.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

9 hours ago, jonovision said:

Week 5 attendance:

• Langford - no number provided

^^^even allowing for the Mother's Day angle the actual attendance at this one was worryingly low.

[FC_Hali]

The Vancouver crowd looked dreadful on camera. Hoping there were more butts in seats on the grandstand side. Definitely a concern given the weather looked great.

[Tigers]

On 5/14/2023 at 4:51 AM, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

What is achieved in big picture terms by pretending crowds are significantly higher than they really are?

What is achieved in big picture terms by questioning it non stop to strangers on the Internet? 

[Cicero]

2 hours ago, FC_Hali said:

The Vancouver crowd looked dreadful on camera. Hoping there were more butts in seats on the grandstand side. Definitely a concern given the weather looked great.

There were a few camera angles that showed the camera side and there were many more fans there. The other side and the one end didn't look great though.

There are some on this board who may be doing an 'I told you so' about attendance by harping on it, but I think for most people, it's more self-interested concern that the league won't last. Casual fans considering going to the games aren't coming to this board for opinions on whether they should or not. So while the negativity may affect regular's psyches, it's not affecting the overall perception of the league.

Live local sports is an increasingly hard sell. It's a question of how do you build loyalty when the teams are not organic creations like European clubs were. They are some owner's toy from the get-go, and they would like you to support their toy so it gains value. So there is this tenuous, unwritten agreement that they provide us with a stable, entertaining product and we ignore the fact that the team does not, in truth, directly represent us as a community of fans.

Enough people buy into it out of tradition and marketing presence with the big sports in North America that it has continued to work. But MLS is the only modern era league that has been able to break through and establish itself starting from zero, though there still may need to be a few teams dropped and their TV numbers are still not fantastic. 

So all that to say, as a dedicated fan, it does concern me that on a nice weekend in B.C., both teams drew pretty poor numbers. Announced numbers are interesting from an economic perspective, if they represent actual sold tickets, but if the actual number of butts in seats is declining, it is of concern to me as a fan, and I think worthy of note. There's not a lot I can do as a fan except continue buying tickets and inviting people to games. The teams have to get themselves into the consciousness of the population around them. It seems to me that means more traditional marketing on billboards, radio and tv etc. Digital is fine when people are looking for what you're offering, but it's pretty hard to build your brand in a specific locale just with digital.  Also, I don't understand the mentality of gouging people for food and drinks. I guess the teams don't all control their concessions, but if you made the stadium a place where anyone could go for an afternoon or evening of food, drink and a game on the side, it seems to me you'd bring in a lot more new faces who aren't there solely from a love of the game. I mean $7 for a root beer? Come on, no one casual is coming for that, stop shooting yourselves in the foot.

Edited May 16, 2023 by Cicero

[narduch]

Even the Whitecaps and Montreal have attendance struggles.

And TFC probably will too this season if they continue to keep Bradley in place.

We know a certain someone is obsessed with tearing the league down because it didn't kiss TFC or the USSSF's ass.

It is the singular thing he cares about. And basically the only topic he posts about (don't be fooled by the news articles or highlights he posts, that's just a smokescreen)

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

37 minutes ago, Tigers said:

What is achieved in big picture terms by questioning it non stop to strangers on the Internet?

If you don't like the posts, don't read them. I make no apology for being interested in this topic and discussing what happens both good and bad is kind of what a fan messageboard is all about. Beyond that a significant number of the people involved are not complete strangers to me up to and including the likes of Nick Bontis, Paul Beirne and Dino Rossi.

[Aird25]

It seems pretty likely already that Pacific’s semifinal match will sell out, and I imagine set an attendance record for the club even though prices have been bumped up 

[Aird25]

13 hours ago, jonovision said:

Week 5 attendance:

• Hamilton - 4807
• Calgary - 3546
• Langley - 2800
• Langford - no number provided

I couldn’t make the game because of Mothers Day commitments, but I signed in for 10 minutes at the end of the match, and I think they announced ~3200. That seems decent given the circumstances of a Sunday afternoon match on Mother’s Day during a record setting heat wave.

[jonovision]

33 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

I couldn’t make the game because of Mothers Day commitments, but I signed in for 10 minutes at the end of the match, and I think they announced ~3200. That seems decent given the circumstances of a Sunday afternoon match on Mother’s Day during a record setting heat wave.

Thanks. Just checked into the replay on OneSoccer and the attendance was announced (just after the third Pacific goal) as 3027. Makes me wonder if those missing Ottawa attendances from previous weeks were announced in stadium and discernible on the broadcast, but I'm not going to go back and check.

Just curious, what qualifies as a heat wave on the island (or should I say Van Isle?)

Edited May 16, 2023 by jonovision

[narduch]

4 minutes ago, jonovision said:

Thanks. Just checked into the replay on OneSoccer and the attendance was announced (just after the third Pacific goal) as 3027.

Just curious, what qualifies as a heat wave on the island (or should I say Van Isle?)

I'm not sure but the game did have those drinks breaks

[Aird25]

10 minutes ago, jonovision said:

Thanks. Just checked into the replay on OneSoccer and the attendance was announced (just after the third Pacific goal) as 3027.

Just curious, what qualifies as a heat wave on the island (or should I say Van Isle?)

Haha I don’t know actually. It seems to be one of those new weather terms like atmospheric river, but it was uncomfortably warm for me. I think it reached 34 on the peninsula where I was, and humid. I feel for the fans in Vancouver without a roof. We’re used to mild temperatures 

[Kent]

3 hours ago, jonovision said:

Just curious, what qualifies as a heat wave on the island (or should I say Van Isle?)

I think on the broadcast they said it was 28 degrees.

[Kent]

Updated with last week's games.

On 5/14/2023 at 4:51 AM, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Wrong on both counts. Eyeballing can be accurate and some leagues, especially over in Europe, traditionally did announce the turnstile number. What is achieved in big picture terms by pretending crowds are significantly higher than they really are? If actual crowds don't increase markedly this league isn't going to make it in its current format. Being in denial is seldom a healthy situation psychologically.

I agree with the second bold statement above, that it's better to have good data than bad data. I work with the only data I've got, so I'm graphing the announced numbers.

Honest suggestion. If you believe your eyeball estimates are more accurate than what is being announced, it would be interesting if you gave an actual number for each game and plotted it on a graph or gave team averages in a table, either on it's own or against the announced numbers.

[Tigers]

5 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

If you don't like the posts, don't read them. I make no apology for being interested in this topic and discussing what happens both good and bad is kind of what a fan messageboard is all about. Beyond that a significant number of the people involved are not complete strangers to me up to and including the likes of Nick Bontis, Paul Beirne and Dino Rossi.

 

5 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

 

You say you're "discussing", but you never answer my questions.

 

I'm not saying numbers aren't fudged. I'm not saying attendance isn't a concern.

 I'm curious why you feel it needs to be so repetitively questioned.

So I ask you why. I don't tell you not to post, I ask you about your posting. 

Discuss

Edited May 16, 2023 by Tigers

[longlugan]

6 hours ago, Tigers said:

 

You say you're "discussing", but you never answer my questions.

 

I'm not saying numbers aren't fudged. I'm not saying attendance isn't a concern.

 I'm curious why you feel it needs to be so repetitively questioned.

So I ask you why. I don't tell you not to post, I ask you about your posting. 

Discuss

Good luck getting intelligent discourse out of that stunned cunt.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

12 hours ago, Tigers said:

 

You say you're "discussing", but you never answer my questions.

 

I'm not saying numbers aren't fudged. I'm not saying attendance isn't a concern.

 I'm curious why you feel it needs to be so repetitively questioned.

So I ask you why. I don't tell you not to post, I ask you about your posting. 

Discuss

You clearly don't understand how internet forums work. Just as you don't get to dictate what other posters post, you also don't get to demand that other posters respond to your questions as if they are a performing seal at your command. I find your tone to be rude and impertinent and I therefore choose not to engage any further with you. 

[Kingston]

11 hours ago, longlugan said:

Good luck getting intelligent discourse out of that stunned cunt.

Leaving aside whether the two of you agree on things, do you really find this type of post to be making a useful contribution to the forum?

[m-g-williams]

6 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

 I find your tone to be rude and impertinent and I therefore choose not to engage any further with you. 

Subtitle: "I don't like it when people call me out for my BS, so now I'm going to pout/pretend the people calling me out don't exist." 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

...none of this online venom is going to turn CanPL into a success at the box office in terms of a business model that needs 5000+ paid attendance to be viable long term once the initial set of investors get to their version of the Fath brothers at around 7 years in with the NASL stage of their involvement.

[Unnamed Trialist]

28 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

...none of this online venom is going to turn CanPL into a success at the box office in terms of a business model that needs 5000+ paid attendance to be viable long term once the initial set of investors get to their version of the Fath brothers at around 7 years in with the NASL stage of their involvement.

"You clearly don't understand how internet forums work. Just as you don't get to dictate what other posters post, you also don't get to decide what is rude and impertinent, and if you refuse to engage with people who are being reasonable, you probably should go somewhere else."

[Bison44]

Cripes the troll gets what he wants, attention.  Someone calls him a name, someone else white knights and steps in to defend him and he does his best Scarlet Ohara impression.   And he gets to repeat his main points, the CPL is going to fail, its going to fail, it never should have started in the first place.  Longlugan calling him names probably is as intelligent and brings as much to the conversation than his tired schtick.  

[jonovision]

Speaking of CPL 2023 season attendance, looks like great weather across the board for the 4 host cities this coming long weekend. Will the crowds follow? Stay tuned.