CPL 2023 Season Attendance

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

1 hour ago, Kingston said:

As per the MLS website, the attendance was 13 232.

It was on a league website so it must be a reliable figure that we can base a serious analysis of trends in fan interest on and isn't just some exercise in PR spin as eyeballing the available video evidence would strongly suggest. Please note that is sarcasm.

Will be interesting to see how Vancouver FC do tomorrow night, if playing on a weeknight when people also have to contend with their regular rush hour commute was part of what went wrong with the Whitecaps crowd. Apparently VFC couldn't play in their usual weekend timeslot because of some other event at the Langley Events Centre if reddit users are to be believed.

Unless there is a major uptick over the rest of the season from what happened last weekend it's looking like VFC are settling into the FCE and York United sort of category on attendance and that's pretty much the last thing the league needed from the club that was going to be showcased by SixFive Sports as an example of what can be achieved quickly with a relatively easy to construct modular stadium.

Edited June 1, 2023 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Kingston]

3 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

It was on a league website so it must be a reliable figure that we can base a serious analysis of trends in fan interest on and isn't just some exercise in PR spin as eyeballing the available video evidence would strongly suggest. Please note that is sarcasm.

It's the most reliable number we have so I would use it if I was attempting any sort of analysis of the Whitecaps' attendance.  Please note that is not sarcasm.

3 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Will be interesting to see how Vancouver FC do tomorrow night,

I am interested in their attendance.  Hopefully it will be reasonably strong despite the scheduling.

Their average is about 3700 so far.  Not as good as I was hoping but not York territory.

Edited June 1, 2023 by Kingston

[Big_M]

with two teams far from the required 5-6k to break even better believe sixfive will quickly look for new investors or to sell at least one of the two

[Aird25]

30 minutes ago, Big_M said:

with two teams far from the required 5-6k to break even

Rumours are that they've been looking to sell Pacific for years, but where is this number coming from? Starlight's capacity isn't even 6k, and they've literally just started their second team

[CDNFootballer]

Weekday games usually don't draw well, so shouldn't put as much stock into them and more fans are likely to skip these games as well.

Figures are also tickets distributed not turnstile (this should be a sticky for the little parrot).

 

[Watchmen]

9 hours ago, Kingston said:

Their average is about 3700 so far.  Not as good as I was hoping but not York territory.

But it's 6500, 2800, 2200 over the first 3 games.  So one outlier game has distorted the number (so far).  No idea what tomorrow night will be.  Unfortunate that they picked a Friday night for the Pacific match.  Really discourages travelling fans.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Perhaps worth noting that average announced attendances for FCE and York 9 in their first season in 2019 were 2905 and 2668, respectively.

13 hours ago, Big_M said:

with two teams far from the required 5-6k to break even better believe sixfive will quickly look for new investors or to sell at least one of the two

  It definitely explains why talk of a third BC team in Kelowna has cooled of late.

[Kingston]

6 hours ago, Watchmen said:

But it's 6500, 2800, 2200 over the first 3 games.  So one outlier game has distorted the number (so far).  No idea what tomorrow night will be.  Unfortunate that they picked a Friday night for the Pacific match.  Really discourages travelling fans.

The point about the outlier is a fair one.

As much as I like travelling fans, there probably aren't enough to move the attendance needle.

[Kent]

2 hours ago, Kingston said:

The point about the outlier is a fair one.

As much as I like travelling fans, there probably aren't enough to move the attendance needle.

Yeah. I mean 200 Pacific fans making the trip would be a huge number, and fantastic for the atmosphere especially if all in one section, but if that means there were 2300 at the game instead of 2100, nobody really registers a difference in those numbers. Even between 1900 and 2100. One is "almost 2000" and the other is "just over 2000".

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Ticket sales for the VFC game appear to have picked up quite a bit over the last day or so where the website for that is concerned, for what it's worth, but I think we all have seen enough York United heading for a sellout type posts to know it's not always safe to assume that will translate into people actually showing up for the game.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Kingston]

31 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Ticket sales for the VFC game appear to have picked up quite a bit over the last day or so where the website for that is concerned, for what it's worth, but I think we all have seen enough York United heading for a sellout type posts to know it's not always safe to assume that will translate into people actually showing up for the game.

I'd prefer to see packed stadiums but, honestly, if the tickets are sold I'm less concerned about turnstile counts.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

That isn't necessarily what tickets distributed means.

[Aird25]

Based on my experience, I'd imagine there are far more tickets bought and not used, than distributed and not paid for.

[Tigers]

On 6/1/2023 at 4:20 AM, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

No number on fotmob for Forge vs York but as elsewhere with the Whitecaps game you would need to be visually impaired not to notice that there was no shortage of empty seats in the active sections opposite the camera.

Pure speculation on my part but given Atletico are not as integrated with the CFL franchise in ownership terms as is the case in Hamilton and Winnipeg maybe there is something in the lease terms that winds up costing them money if they report a tickets distributed rather than a paid tickets scanned number, so they are better off keeping that info in house and not reporting it publicly? I seriously doubt it's because their front office staff are too lazy to issue it.

If attendance is part of the calculation of the lease costs, then how that number is shared would also be part of the contract. It would not be reliant on choosing to publically share it. Same for if it was "distributed" or "paid" tickets, that would also be part of the contract terms.

[Kent]

4 hours ago, Kingston said:

I'd prefer to see packed stadiums but, honestly, if the tickets are sold I'm less concerned about turnstile counts.

I think the point about York United isn't that the tickets were sold and not used. I think Ticketmaster is holding back tickets to make them look more scarce. So a lack of blue dots doesn't necessarily mean those tickets have been spoken for.

[Cheeta]

5 hours ago, Aird25 said:

Based on my experience, I'd imagine there are far more tickets bought and not used, than distributed and not paid for.

Worth repeating ancillary sales are an important revenue line in gate driven leagues.  I mean really important.  You need bums in seats to drive those ancillary sales. 

Great you/they/them bought a ticket, God bless you, but better still in you can be separated from $60 per person every time you pass the turnstile.   

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, Cheeta said:

Worth repeating ancillary sales are an important revenue line in gate driven leagues.  I mean really important.  You need bums in seats to drive those ancillary sales. 

Great you/they/them bought a ticket, God bless you, but better still in you can be separated from $60 per person every time you pass the turnstile.   

Depends who gets that $60. Community owned stadiums don't always turn that money over the team. It's the trade off for getting the stadium built/lower rent.

[Kent]

On 5/31/2023 at 12:40 PM, Kingston said:

Pretty sure Atletico just isn't reporting to protect their high (one game) average for the season. 

They are being made an example of on Wikipedia now. Knocked off their perch.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

3438 is the announced number for VFC vs Pacific:

https://www.fotmob.com/match/4113192/matchfacts/vancouver-fc-vs-pacific-fc

[red card]

Ottawa reports!

5056 at Ottawa as shown on match on broadcast.

[Kent]

2 hours ago, red card said:

Ottawa reports!

5056 at Ottawa as shown on match on broadcast.

Thanks for that! Why don't they put it in the game report on the website too!?!?

Back up above 2022 year on year. Week 8 had the lowest average attendance last year, the only week below 2000.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Cavalry vs Forge was announced as 3503:

https://www.fotmob.com/match/4113193/matchfacts/cavalry-fc-vs-forge-fc

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

...but no crowd number for Valour vs York:

https://www.fotmob.com/match/4113205/matchfacts/valour-fc-vs-york-united-fc

[Ansem]

Winnipeg looked good - one can only imagine Valour playing in a venue looking like Starlight Stadium...

[Soccerpro2]

I understand that IG Field in Winnipeg is way too big for the CPL.

However, after having been to Halifax for a Wanderers game a few weeks ago, I really prefer watching games in Winnipeg.

The metal bleachers in Halifax were awful. They were uncomfortable and people's knees were hitting my back. People were squished. Washrooms=outhouses.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Soccerpro2