2019 Canadian Premier League Attendance

[hamiltonfan]

There are fundamental issues with a few club (York, Edmonton) and serious learnings from Pacific. 

the number of clubs in “yellow” or “red” concerns me in a 7 club league. 

I hope we keep the cap at 850K, stabilize a  diverse set revenue streams, and sharp our value player recruitment.

Edited October 4, 2019 by hamiltonfan

[ted]

On 10/2/2019 at 3:34 PM, Bison44 said:

I dont get all the meaningless game talk.  We have all whined, pleaded, demanded that we get our own league and have a pro team in our back yard.  Now its here!!  I've never been able to go to TO, VAN or MTL to see a game...meaningless or not. 

To the average casual fan, a game played in a league whose title has been decided is meaningless. For us Supporters it was a great game in the battle for "best of the rest" (third place behind the finalists) but pretending it is an easy game to "sell" to casuals is delusional.

If Pacific had been playing for a "playoff" spot, we would have got a larger crowd. That's the reality.

 

[ted]

Just now, Lofty said:

If casual fans think regular season matches are meaningless...

I think you are misunderstanding the three types of fans (broad generalizations, lots of overlap):

Supporters: us. The people on this forum and our ilk who buy season tickets and cheer through thick and thin attending virtually every game and buy jerseys and hoodies and tons of crap. They watch away games and maybe even travel.

Regulars: Season ticket holders who enjoy the game but miss a few games, may buy a jersey and might watch an away game if it's on.

Casuals: General sports fans who buy the occasional ticket. 

Yes, we need to get people to games so they can experience it and move from Casual -> Regular -> Supporter but come on, you sell Season Tickets for the "beautiful game" aspect, you sell game-day tickets to people who may never have been to a live game in their life. Selling the CASUAL fan on a game that decides nothing is hard in fucking London, England . There is no need to shit on the efforts of clubs in Canada trying to sell a whole new league in a sport that hasn't been professional in many of these towns for decades.

[BFBF]

If matches were "meaningless" I would have no reason to watch soccer. I am an FC Edmonton fan and a west ham fan. Neither team has really been anywhere close to winning things in years.

[Shortdutchcanuck]

24 minutes ago, Lofty said:

If casual fans think regular season matches are meaningless then the messaging needs to change. They need to be encouraged to enjoy the sport for its own sake, for the atmosphere, for the passion, for the match day occasion and camraderie; not the idea that you might "make the play offs".

This is North America brother.  Playoffs are woven into our DNA.  

Agreed people need to come for the beauty of soccer, but any league that wants to grow needs to reel in a broader fanbase.

We're not arguing about whether or not the games are actually meaningless.  We're arguing about whether enough casual fans don't see enough meaning to attend to the point where it hurts the league.

[Shortdutchcanuck]

1 hour ago, Lofty said:

Sell! I think North American fans are perfectly capable of enjoying the beauty of a football match day experience without thinking about play offs!

I didn't even read most of your statement because my eyes were drawn with such excitement and anticipation to that word at the end 😁😉

Seriously though I love your passion and you could very well be right.

I can only say that for myself as a more than casual fan, I am far more on the edge of my seat for this Forge-Cavalry finals than I could ever be for sitting at the top of the table at the end of a season.

 

[Aird25]

The majority of soccer fans in this country don’t follow teams from this continent. MLS’s inability to attract those fans has been their biggest failure, and evidence suggests that league format is a part of it. We shouldn’t ignore that demographic 

[SoccMan]

13 hours ago, Aird25 said:

The majority of soccer fans in this country don’t follow teams from this continent. MLS’s inability to attract those fans has been their biggest failure, and evidence suggests that league format is a part of it. We shouldn’t ignore that demographic 

The MLS in terms of let’s say TV ratings and even general interest is competing against how many leagues ? EPL, Seria A, German League, La Liga and on and on and on just in soccer. What leagues in their own sport does the NHL, NBA , MLB and NFL compete with within their respective sports? The CPL will face the same competition from within its own sport that these other sports don’t have to compete with. So the MLS and CPL both face unique challenges for interest that an NFL or NHL don’t have to compete with. Does say the NHL have to compete with the Swedish Elite hockey league for interest here in North America ? Soccer will always face these challenges for interest no matter if it’s the CPL or MLS . In terms of league structure you need to do something to keep the casuals interested longer whatever that may be . I’m a huge soccer fan nothing compares for me the only sport that matters to me but even I find it hard to go to a TFC game or now a York 9 game when there is nothing left to play for and spend my hard earned money when I could  just stay home and watch games that still matter in the comfort of my own home in leagues far superior than the MLS or CPL in the EPL or Serie A for example.

Edited October 5, 2019 by SoccMan

[vancanman]

For this season at least, we have the winners of the Spring and Autumn seasons playing off against each other.   For those who need more than that, that would have to include at least four teams.  Barring some miracle and another team joins by next season without a stadium to play in, that would mean that all you have to do to make the play offs is be mediocre.  That's right, finish mid-table and voilà, here's a playoff.  

So now we're in 1980's NHL 'everyone's a winner!' territory, rewarding all but the last place team in three divisions and all but the last two teams in the other division with a play off series.  If you want meaningless games, that's the way to do it.  

Edited October 5, 2019 by vancanman

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

From another thread and as posted there by Blackjack:

 

[SoccMan]

42 minutes ago, vancanman said:

For this season at least, we have the winners of the Spring and Autumn seasons playing off against each other.   For those who need more than that, that would have to include at least four teams.  Barring some miracle and another team joins by next season without a stadium to play in, that would mean that all you have to do to make the play offs is be mediocre.  That's right, finish mid-table and voilà, here's a playoff.  

So now we're in 1980's NHL 'everyone's a winner!' territory, rewarding all but the last place team in three divisions and all but the last two teams in the other division with a play off series.  If you want meaningless games, that's the way to do it.  

That’s the thing how about we use a bit of creativity then? I’m sure there are many on these boards that have jobs where they need to use the creativity side of the brain everyday in their everyday jobs. The problem is that when we hear playoffs we automatically just think of the conventional way that teams qualify for playoffs. You know the top 4 teams after the regular season type of deal qualify for the playoffs. Let’s get creative then we have the opportunity with a brand new spanking new league to create something different. So the goal is to try and keep more teams in the mix until further into the season without taking away from the importance of the regular season when it comes to crowning a champion. Meaning that yes we don’t want say 5 teams making the playoffs sort of thing but we do want more teams playing meaningful games longer into the season than most teams being out of it in late July sort of thing. Moreover, with a Spring and Summer split season it actually offers a lot more ways of being creative than a usual one conventional one season format. So let’s get at it people I know there are a lot of people on these boards that can come up with some good suggestions.

[Bison44]

^^^  If the seasons are not split naturally..why split them at all.  One table, champ gets a bye to the final, 2 vs 3 to get to the final.  If 4/7 is too many and 2/7 is too little, 3 would be the only logical choice eh??  Should keep 4-5 teams in the hunt until the end of the season, and let a few teams have home playoff games for an extra cash boost.  If and when we get to 10 teams go with 4 team playoff.  

[Kent]

Random idea I just had, haven’t tried to figure out logistics of which there are a lot.

What about something like how in golf they cut down the field of players after 2 days of a tournament. There are two criteria they use. The first is similar to a traditional playoff idea, the top half of the players advance. The second criteria is that they have to be within a certain number of strokes as the leader.

Something like that could be done. Say you need to be within 15 points or something to make it into the playoffs. The tricky stuff to figure out would be

1. Is there any reason this would be better than existing playoff systems. The thing that made me think of it was the mediocrity comment about the top half of teams getting in. If it’s based on points back you could tune it to something that seems reasonably close.

2. How many points would the cut off be?

3. Would have to figure out playoff systems with varying number of teams. Could have 2 teams, 5 teams, or no playoffs at all.

[Big_M]

No need to complicate..single table..1st gets league championship which forge and cavalry would still be fighting for..1-4 get in playoffs..if that would be the format today all 7 teams would still be playing for something

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Valour announce 4776:

https://ca.soccerway.com/matches/2019/10/05/canada/canadian-premier-league/valour/fc-edmonton/2991908/

You can all see how accurate that is in actual terms without any screen shots from me.

[CDNFootballer]

2 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Valour announce 4776:

https://ca.soccerway.com/matches/2019/10/05/canada/canadian-premier-league/valour/fc-edmonton/2991908/

You can all see how accurate that is in actual terms without any screen shots from me.

Screen shots won't show accuracy one way or another because we are talking announced attendance which is tickets distributed(what pro sports teams announce), not turnstile.

Revenue comes from the 4776 so that's the relevant figure in that regard and is 100% accurate.

Poor weather in Winnipeg no doubt contributed to no shows, it was mentioned on the broadcast how hard it was to remove water from the soaked turf.

You continue to talk apples and oranges oxzzie, and seemingly confuse announced attendance and turnstile numbers. If you want to discuss turnstile vs announced, look at pro sports teams in N.A. and you will see similar situations with no shows for many teams, for different reasons.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

No number so far from Calgary:

https://ca.soccerway.com/matches/2019/10/06/canada/canadian-premier-league/cavalry/hfx-wanderers/2991909

Edit: 3295

Edited October 6, 2019 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, CDNFootballer said:

Screen shots won't show accuracy one way or another because we are talking announced attendance which is tickets distributed(what pro sports teams announce), not turnstile.

Revenue comes from the 4776 so that's the relevant figure in that regard and is 100% accurate.

Well, no.  If the 4776 includes tickets "distributed", there's no revenue from tickets given away for free.  I'm not saying the number of free tickets is that high (I honestly have no clue), just that you probably can't say that all 4776 tickets resulted in revenue.

[Bison44]

2 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

Well, no.  If the 4776 includes tickets "distributed", there's no revenue from tickets given away for free.  I'm not saying the number of free tickets is that high (I honestly have no clue), just that you probably can't say that all 4776 tickets resulted in revenue.

No you cant....but some people seem to infer that point after almost every god damn game.  I was 2 of that tickets in that total and couldnt get to WPG due to a family emergency.  Pissed I missed the game and even more pissed to see the parrot droppings all over the threads.  I cant believe we are at the end of the season and this is still something to be brought up over and over.  

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

9 hours ago, Watchmen said:

Well, no.  If the 4776 includes tickets "distributed", there's no revenue from tickets given away for free.  I'm not saying the number of free tickets is that high (I honestly have no clue), just that you probably can't say that all 4776 tickets resulted in revenue.

...and it's important to bear in mind that actual attendance is what drives many important gameday revenue streams. It will make a big difference financially if only 1500 people actually show up rather than 4776.

Edited October 6, 2019 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[Winnipeg Fury]

12 hours ago, Watchmen said:

Well, no.  If the 4776 includes tickets "distributed", there's no revenue from tickets given away for free.  I'm not saying the number of free tickets is that high (I honestly have no clue), just that you probably can't say that all 4776 tickets resulted in revenue.

Valour don''t give tickets away.  Valour don't give jerseys away.

It was Portugal day at IGF,  to celebrate some of the local boys. They sold almost an additional 1000 tickets for this, but with it pouring rain, most people stayed home.

We figured it would be around 4500 for this match, but no way everyone was showing up.

Edited October 6, 2019 by Winnipeg Fury

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

5616 announced in Hamilton:

https://ca.soccerway.com/matches/2019/10/06/canada/canadian-premier-league/forge/york-9/2991910/

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

5616 announced in Hamilton:

https://ca.soccerway.com/matches/2019/10/06/canada/canadian-premier-league/forge/york-9/2991910/

The Canpl website said around 4800

[CDNFootballer]

22 hours ago, Watchmen said:

Well, no.  If the 4776 includes tickets "distributed", there's no revenue from tickets given away for free.  I'm not saying the number of free tickets is that high (I honestly have no clue), just that you probably can't say that all 4776 tickets resulted in revenue.

True, there's always a small amount of freebie tickets with most sports teams, so should have said revenue from the majority of the announced 4776.

[CDNFootballer]

1 hour ago, canta15 said:

The Canpl website said around 4800

Your right, attendance was 4864 in Hamilton

Edited October 6, 2019 by CDNFootballer