Luke Willson goes off on the CFL..

[GOLDMEMBER]

Sounds like he click-baited fans by dumping on the CFL. Maybe one day he'll say something that's worthy of a listen but until then he's lost this reader. Addition by subtraction -- I don't even miss him! ;-)

good choice "Kindly Cal" as Dunnigan would put it, lol.

[dd]

Sounds like he click-baited fans by dumping on the CFL. Maybe one day he'll say something that's worthy of a listen but until then he's lost this reader. Addition by subtraction -- I don't even miss him! ;-)

I don't know who the goof even is, so tough to miss that!!

[TecnoGenius]

Edmonton is odd because they did have a pretty good fanbase - what has turned those fans off?  poor team, low chance of seeing a win is likely it.  Winnipeg is booming for lots of reasons but I think it's a very competitive team and the gameday experience.

It may be like my earlier comment re SSK.  Fans will sniff out when you stop respecting them.  It's not winning or losing, it's when you've clearly lost the locker room, have no professionalism, and aren't even trying anymore.  I never got that impression by The Can Mafia, even when every game I attended was a loss.

Just think back to '13-'15 when we lost way more at home than we won.  Stadium was still pretty full (much more full than EDM!) and atmosphere was still great!  I was hooked on IGF atmosphere on my first couple of games back, even with stinky losses!

So it's not just losing.  There's more to it.  Maybe WM should hold a workshop on proper team attitude and stadium atmosphere, and school all of these other clubs!

[TecnoGenius]

Critiquing the fact that the FG try went through the endzone and they still got a point should actually be a termination offence.

Nay.  A jailable offence!  (After a fair trial of course!)        Banish him to the dungeons beneath ancient Castle McMahon!

[TecnoGenius]

One thing I hope you're wrong about though is your description of 'why' people watch. If they watch because their Dad did or because it's a fun atmosphere, what happens when it's not a fun atmosphere (Edmonton, Toronto) or even worse, Dads don't watch because they prefer the NFL or other alternatives?

Simple, make the atmosphere fun even when you're losing.  IGF did.

As for TOR, was it their losing that did it?  They are such a mercurial team, but that means any bad year may be followed by a great one.  And who's to say the BMO atmosphere isn't fun?  Does anyone have any experience/reports that say otherwise?

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Simple, make the atmosphere fun even when you're losing.  IGF did.

As for TOR, was it their losing that did it?  They are such a mercurial team, but that means any bad year may be followed by a great one.  And who's to say the BMO atmosphere isn't fun?  Does anyone have any experience/reports that say otherwise?

Is it even possible to create a fun atmosphere with 1/5 full buildings? And if it is "fun", and it's still 1/5 full, what does that say about the theory that a fun atmosphere is directly related to overall fan interest?

If your next argument is to say it's because those teams aren't winning, I agree with you to an extent, but Hamilton regularly out draws Toronto and Hamilton hasn't won anything in forever. The lowest in stadium NFL attendance was around 92.2% in Jacksonville. 92.2% would be the best crowd Calgary will get all year, for perspective.

Maybe there are other factors at play here.

[Blueforlife]

Agree with Techno CFL is fun when you are dominate like we are now, when you are average and when you suck.  CFL is very entertaining and there are always two teams on the field and a lot of talent and unexpected fun plays.

Been going to games my entire life, have enjoyed every one of them.  Seen the lean years.  The tough times make the good ones even better.  We have built something so special, enjoy the ride everyone.

The small crowds still make a lot of noise!  And I'm sure they are having fun.

Comparing attendance % between NFL and CFL is not a fair comparison.

[The Zipp]

Is it even possible to create a fun atmosphere with 1/5 full buildings? And if it is "fun", and it's still 1/5 full, what does that say about the theory that a fun atmosphere is directly related to overall fan interest?

If your next argument is to say it's because those teams aren't winning, I agree with you to an extent, but Hamilton regularly out draws Toronto and Hamilton hasn't won anything in forever. The lowest in stadium NFL attendance was around 92.2% in Jacksonville. 92.2% would be the best crowd Calgary will get all year, for perspective.

Maybe there are other factors at play here.

and that is exactly what the CFL should be looking at - I would hope they have but nothing would surprise me at this point given the multi year debacle with they had with statistics and their "partnership" with Genius sports.

Marketing and research companies should be able to identify the challenges in each market and pinpoint what is working  in some areas and build a multi year plan in conjunction with each team.

[wpg#1]

Sask's attendance problems are partly due to home games on a Thursday night.
Sask fans come from all over the province, but they're not driving from Swift Current or Prince Albert, or even Saskatoon on a Thursday night. Then have to drive home after the game. It's so dumb. I know this because I have friends and relatives in Sask. This is the same reason Saskatoon will never get an NHL team. No way the rest of the province is driving to Saskatoon on a Tuesday night in the middle of winter for a game. Regina alone can't support the team, and the same goes with Saskatoon. We have very dedicated fans from all over the province, but I bet it's a real pain to those who do drive here for Thursday games.
I know this doesn't speak for Toronto or Edmonton having attendance issues. That's a whole other discussion .. but I think that Regina's attendance would be better off having games on Friday nights or Saturday nights. Their stadium would be much fuller.

[wpg#1]

I also want to say .. I salute the "out of town" Blue Bomber fans that drive into Winnipeg for those Thursday night games. That's true dedication.

[Jesse]

Sask's attendance problems are partly due to home games on a Thursday night.
Sask fans come from all over the province, but they're not driving from Swift Current or Prince Albert, or even Saskatoon on a Thursday night. Then have to drive home after the game. It's so dumb. I know this because I have friends and relatives in Sask. This is the same reason Saskatoon will never get an NHL team. No way the rest of the province is driving to Saskatoon on a Tuesday night in the middle of winter for a game. Regina alone can't support the team, and the same goes with Saskatoon. We have very dedicated fans from all over the province, but I bet it's a real pain to those who do drive here for Thursday games.
I know this doesn't speak for Toronto or Edmonton having attendance issues. That's a whole other discussion .. but I think that Regina's attendance would be better off having games on Friday nights or Saturday nights. Their stadium would be much fuller.

Doesn't explain why their attendance is the same on weekend nights.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Doesn't explain why their attendance is the same on weekend nights.

True, they have an unbelievably long lists of reasons not to attend games, they should change the name from Mosaic Stadium to "The Field of Endless Excuses".  If I was O'Day I'd start convincing the best Sask. players across the league to come home and promote the Sask. pride angle, like the Bombers have achieved with Wpg. natives. Frankly it's an angle no other CFL team has put any effort into, most teams have no identity, they're little more than a congregation of random players that change frequently in the eyes of most fans.

[theaardvark]

Is it time to start blacking out regional games?  If you want to drive gate...

I know it will never happen in this day and age, especially with the size of the TSN deal, but that worked...

[wpg#1]

Doesn't explain why their attendance is the same on weekend nights.

This is just the rumblings I'm hearing from friends and family.

[TecnoGenius]

Is it even possible to create a fun atmosphere with 1/5 full buildings? And if it is "fun", and it's still 1/5 full, what does that say about the theory that a fun atmosphere is directly related to overall fan interest?

Then you have a catch-22 chicken & egg problem.  Not fun because not full.  Not full because not fun.

There are some ways to solve that: paper the stadium full with free tickets for everyone (including 1 free beer! remember the singing frog skit in bugs bunny), or buy the audience for $1M like Doman in game 1.  But then you can't put on a snoozefest 1st H like BC did...