2019 Canadian Premier League Attendance

[Ansem]

26 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

From what I saw on Reddit during the game there was a suggestion that a lot of free tickets had been distributed amongst York students.

The Impact gave tickets away too to reach 10 000 last night 

 

[CanadaFan123]

Ouch for the Impact and Fury - while HFX continues to shine.

I think it’s inevitable that Montreal will join CPL as that just isn’t sustainable... and in a cup final against your rival really pathetic. 

As for Ottawa, I’m told by those in the know that the entire issue is the affiliations with TFC and Montreal.  The team wants to hang onto those else they will certainly make a tough loss.  Likewise, OSEG doesn’t want to put effort into recruiting/scouting/academies.

[dyslexic nam]

20 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Ouch for the Impact and Fury - while HFX continues to shine.

I think it’s inevitable that Montreal will join CPL as that just isn’t sustainable... and in a cup final against your rival really pathetic. 

As for Ottawa, I’m told by those in the know that the entire issue is the affiliations with TFC and Montreal.  The team wants to hang onto those else they will certainly make a tough loss.  Likewise, OSEG doesn’t want to put effort into recruiting/scouting/academies.

 

I was pretty surprised at how sparse the attendance was at the V Cup game last night.  I haven't been following MLS so am not sure what kind of support Montreal is getting in general, but this is the final of our national championship against your biggest rival.  If you can't generate some interest for that, it seems like you must be in trouble.

 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

It's always been quite low key even for finals at BMO Field. There were around 15,000 announced last year, for example, which puts it in Argos and CMNT sort of territory on fan interest in a Toronto context rather than an MLS home game. What probably doesn't help is the perception that weakened teams are likely to be fielded because of the CanCon angle and MLS playoffs being the main priority, and beyond that anything linked to the CSA tends to be viewed with derision by a lot of soccer people especially if they still have strong allegiances elsewhere on national team loyalties.

The priorities of most people on this board such as CMNT comes first on national team loyalties regardles of where your ancestors were from originally, or most interest should be on Canadian domestic pro teams rather than overseas ones, are not necessarily the mainstream ones in Canadian soccer at the grassroots level. A decade or two back it very much placed you in weirdo territory. I think that's slowly changing and hopefully after another generation it will definitely no longer be the case.

[Macksam]

These voyageur cup games are not apart of season ticket packages so I think that's the main reason for their low turnouts when compared to MLS games. 

Edited September 19, 2019 by Macksam

[Ivan]

9 minutes ago, Macksam said:

These voyageur cup games are not apart of season ticket packages so I think that's the main reason for their low turnouts when compared to MLS games. 

They are part of the TFC season ticket package.

[narduch]

Just now, Ivan said:

They are part of the TFC season ticket package.

For the first series

I think the final is as well only because they crashed out of the CCL early

[Ivan]

Just now, narduch said:

For the first series

I think the final is as well only because they crashed out of the CCL early

The VC games were always part of the season ticket package.  The first series of CCL is usually part of the package, subsequent rounds you need to buy tickets.

[SpursFlu]

I think the structure is now there in the nik of time. Now we just need CPL teams to grow in to the competition to spice it up because it's a bit predictable atvtgis point. Takes time and I thought the energy in the game was great but only watched the first half 

[narduch]

18 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

I think the structure is now there in the nik of time. Now we just need CPL teams to grow in to the competition to spice it up because it's a bit predictable atvtgis point. Takes time and I thought the energy in the game was great but only watched the first half 

We also need all MLS to enter at the Quarter finals. Allows for higher chances of upsets

Fury should have to start in the first round

Edited September 19, 2019 by narduch

[to70]

55 minutes ago, narduch said:

For the first series

I think the final is as well only because they crashed out of the CCL early

TFC usually gives 2 V cup games in the ST package and since they only entered this year's competion in the semis the finals are included. Last year you had to buy the tickets for the finals

[to70]

Bigger issue for York 9 attendance would be Saturday afternoon games. In Ontario the kids under 12 participate in what they call festivals. These events take place Saturday mornings and early afternoon. A friend od mine's son's team was asked to participate in the game opening ceremonies at a York 9 game and only 4 kids(parents) opted to participate. Also, he is given comp tickets on a regular basis.

Now that the 'summer' is over we'll see if it makes a difference.

Edited September 19, 2019 by to70

[Ansem]

Sundays looks like a better day for CPL in my opinion.

Saturdays are good too.

Wednesdays are bad ideas in my opinion. The league should be avoiding playing midweek

[Ansem]

1 minute ago, Lofty said:

When your season is limited to 27 weekends, some of which are unavailable for a variety of reasons, and you have 28 league matches, some midweek matches are unavoidable -- a situation exacerbated this season by the odd number of teams, meaning that each weekend, one team doesn't play.

Season should be less compressed. Start the season beginning of April instead of end of april

[RS]

11 hours ago, Gopherbashi said:

Just so we can all agree that it's not just CPL using distributed ticket numbers, this was an attendance of 3200 last night for the Fury against the Rowdies.

Who disagreed with this?

[RS]

8 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

It's always been quite low key even for finals at BMO Field.

Yes, two years ago was a very low-key affair at BMO.

 

[grasshopper1917]

1 hour ago, Ansem said:

Season should be less compressed. Start the season beginning of April instead of end of april

Maybe less games. Still snow storms and frozen fields at the beginning of April. 

Winnipeg still has feet of snow don't they???   

If you think crowds are small on a Wednesday in June? Try a snowstorm April 10....

[Ansem]

2 minutes ago, grasshopper1917 said:

Maybe less games. Still snow storms and frozen fields at the beginning of April. 

Winnipeg still has feet of snow don't they???   

If you think crowds are small on a Wednesday in June? Try a snowstorm April 10....

Montreal winters are just as brutal.

TFC played twice in March and Montreal just got told not to expect away games preventing them from hosting in March.

Perhaps have the games in BC & Southern Ontario hosting, which will be easier when another BC team joins and perhaps Laval.

I read an article where a player was saying that the season should be played over more months. The quality is obviously affected by this compressed schedule and the traveling.

Can't ignore that either

[Ansem]

48 minutes ago, Lofty said:

Beginning of April does not work in Winnipeg. Attendance would be terrible.

Most of Valour's matches this season were midweek and the attendance numbers were decent.

That's why I said to have as many home games as possible in BC and Southern Ontario at the beginning of April

[Watchmen]

I realize rain is better than cold, but outdoor in the rain is a tough draw as well.  You'd be putting a team in Pacific that relies more on a walk up crowd to be reliant on the weather.

People don't want to admit it, but midweek is going to have to be a fact of life.  Even numbers of teams will reduce it, but they can't be eliminated.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

 

 

[ted]

On 9/18/2019 at 6:24 PM, An Observer said:

In many ways, I am more worried about FC Edmonton ...

This is the real problem. As an existing club with years of experience marketing to the local community they should be knocking it out of the park (to mix my sports metaphors).
 

On 9/19/2019 at 4:11 AM, grasshopper1917 said:

In Halifax generally our Saturday games draw a little better but I have talked to many who also enjoy the weekday matches as the evening out Wednesday breaks up the week.

I've said it before but it bears repeating, downtown stadiums should have an easier time selling midweek games than suburban ones. It is easier to stay downtown after work or even get downtown than it is to get to a suburban stadium in rush-hour traffic. It also increases revenue as more people will come out and eat and drink at or around the stadium before the game as they will have the time and the need. 

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, ted said:

This is the real problem. As an existing club with years of experience marketing to the local community they should be knocking it out of the park (to mix my sports metaphors).

Maybe they need a new stadium and new location?

Stadium experience is not a negligeable explanation for low turnover. Edmonton have "world class venues" for it's major sports (NHL & CFL). Clarke Stadium in comparison could be a major obstacle in attracting casuals to the games.

FC Edmonton, in my opinion, needs SSS starting with 6k seats but expandable to 10k like the ones we post on the Stadium thread.

[Winnipeg Fury]

I thought EFC had done a solid job on Clarke.  Not the same level as Pacific's, but I would have no problem watching games there.  The concessions were far better than IG Field.

 

[Big_M]

They have a nice little stadium in the city and fath is done pumping money in the team..now if a new owner with big money wants to come in and make significant changes why not..anyway at some point it will be time for fath to sell