CNL: Canada vs Honduras - Tuesday, March 28th, 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific - Toronto

[Kadenge]

I know the attendance count was 13K+  but the Vees in the south section were belting it out all game and kudos to the fans in the east & west stands that took the lead and joined in. Let me assure anyone watching on TV,  BMO was rocking.  Fun part was when the first bus arrived at the stadium everyone thought it was the Canada team so fans started cheering and flares went off. Unfortunately it was the Honduran team, so the cheers quickly changed to jeers and booing.  Our heroes arrived shortly after. From the south end, which was packed, the west and east stands looked pretty full. Very very few Honduran fans

[kacbru]

8 hours ago, Obinna said:

13K is actually not bad considering the ridiculous prices, cold weather, and negative press about the CSA. The USA only drew 18K in tropical Orlando, which at least one person online is questioning whether it was actually 18K. 

I think I might know that person.  Did they include screen grabs of photos of the stands?  Debate about paid vs. actual attendance?

[The Real Marc]

Would help if they opened more gates so people could get in on time

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, kacbru said:

I think I might know that person.  Did they include screen grabs of photos of the stands?  Debate about paid vs. actual attendance?

I was just referring to Fillipo Silva there, host of Tactical Manager TV.

He was doing a vlog at the game and was saying he didn't believe it was actually 18k. Judging from what I saw in his vlog he may have been correct. 

[CanadaFan123]

1 hour ago, The Real Marc said:

Would help if they opened more gates so people could get in on time

That was infuriating. 

[Gian-Luca]

https://www.torontofc.ca/news/tfc-trio-shine-at-bmo-field-secure-spot-in-concacaf-nations-league-finals

A few more post-game quotes here that I hadn't seen elsewhere

[TOcanadafan]

The goal should be to sell out the stadium each time.  Too many CSA suits must talk to USSF ones who have told them it’s somehow good to jack the price of tickets to keep people away.  Someone needs to tell them that Concacrap Nations League is not the NHL/NBA etc.  
Get creative in marketing / promoting the games…
Family ticket packs sold with Canadian soccer swag, for example.
Connect with University and College Student organizations to promote the game on campus, selling tickets at a “student rate” price.  
Love the idea of a previous poster of having a tail gate at the food building or some other location on the CNE grounds.

 

 

[Cblake]

[dyslexic nam]

Not taking a stand on the message but that’s pretty funny.   

[Rocket Robin]

All the audio from the March 28, 2023 post game press conference and mix zone interviews of the CNL game between Canada and Honduras.   Both head coaches plus Cdn Hutchinson, Hiebert, Akinola, Kennedy, Osorio, and Borjan.

http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports23/23cana02.htm

[red card]

2 hours ago, TOcanadafan said:

The goal should be to sell out the stadium each time.  Too many CSA suits must talk to USSF ones who have told them it’s somehow good to jack the price of tickets to keep people away.  Someone needs to tell them that Concacrap Nations League is not the NHL/NBA etc.  
Get creative in marketing / promoting the games…
Family ticket packs sold with Canadian soccer swag, for example.
Connect with University and College Student organizations to promote the game on campus, selling tickets at a “student rate” price.  
Love the idea of a previous poster of having a tail gate at the food building or some other location on the CNE grounds.

 

 

US Soccer increased men's matchday revenues by 7x over 20 years while average attendance fell from 31.1k to 22.6k. Besides higher ticket prices (higher than at BMO last night), they were also selective in who can buy tickets and in which sections and down scaled stadiums selected to match capacity with expected demand.

Back in January, in one of these threads, I expected less than 20k for this match. Lower prices would have gotten the attendance closer to 20k. But revenue wise, Canada Soccer came out ahead with pricing around $75 for 13.6k vs 50% cheaper tickets for 20k.

Concessions not part of the mix for CSA since that typically belongs to the operator/owner of the stadium. 

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by red card

[TOcanadafan]

8 hours ago, red card said:

US Soccer increased men's matchday revenues by 7x over 20 years while average attendance fell from 31.1k to 22.6k. Besides higher ticket prices (higher than at BMO last night), they were also selective in who can buy tickets and in which sections and down scaled stadiums selected to match capacity with expected demand.

Back in January, in one of these threads, I expected less than 20k for this match. Lower prices would have gotten the attendance closer to 20k. But revenue wise, Canada Soccer came out ahead with pricing around $75 for 13.6k vs 50% cheaper tickets for 20k.

Concessions not part of the mix for CSA since that typically belongs to the operator/owner of the stadium. 

 

Good point on the concessions.  
I get the argument to “bleed” the public as there is a certain hard core and financially well-off group that will attend no matter what, but this is a very short cited approach.  The goal should be to grow the fan base which should ultimately benefit them financially (through the increase value of advertising opportunity, tv contracts, merch sales).  
And ultimately, this is a National Team (not a pro team) so the goal should always be to sell out the stadium.
With some effort and more reasonable prices (not necessarily half), they could have had well north of 20K.  
It’d be nice to know the flat cost of the venue, as even 20K may have been enough to bring in the same revenue with ticket prices 50% lower.

[rkomar]

The US has the same problem with fans of the visiting teams flooding the stadiums, and I vaguely recall that raising ticket prices was part of their strategy to combat that.  There were very few Honduras fans at our last game, so the same strategy could be at work here.  The higher ticket prices may not have been simply for maximizing revenue.

Edited March 30, 2023 by rkomar

[Approve My Account Pls]

I'd argue there were a similar number of Hondurans to the WCQ. The main difference this time being that their blue jerseys were covered by winter jackets, so hard to truly judge. 

If people remember correctly, the team in blue that took over BMO was El Salvador not Honduras.

[RS]

4 minutes ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

I'd argue there were a similar number of Hondurans to the WCQ. The main difference this time being that their blue jerseys were covered by winter jackets, so hard to truly judge. 

If people remember correctly, the team in blue that took over BMO was El Salvador not Honduras.

And even they were completely drowned out by the Canada support.

[Ally McCoist]

 

[Treppy2]

Inside Matchday video:

 

[Bison44]

I caught the Homestand recap of the game and sure enough, Sara (who was at the game) claims half the fan there were Honduran and Sharman is quick to shut her down.  

 

[Shway]

There was literally like 20 Honduran fans, and at times were cheering for the Canadian players.

I hate when people talk out of their ass.

[sose]

`1

1 hour ago, Shway said:

There was literally like 20 Honduran fans, and at times were cheering for the Canadian players.

I hate when people talk out of their ass.

Yea.. i was there and was surprised how small the Honduran turnout was.  It was a very pleasant surprise.