CPL 2023 Season Attendance

[BigBadBorto]

Thanks for compiling the data Kent!  Overall positive news, even when excluding Vancouver/Edmonton, it shows a solid increased from last year.  Hopefully with new upcoming ownership in York, they can turn things around there.  I'm not sure what the magic formula is for having success in GTA - perhaps rebrand as Vaughan/Mississauga or Brampton and focus promotion in those areas specifically rather than the full GTA?..  The new owners will hopefully have some good ideas.  

[Kent]

This isn't strictly about 2023, but I don't think there is a general attendance thread. I was curious so I looked up the attendance figures in CPL stadiums for all inter-league competitive games so far. If you have info on any of the games with question marks please let me know and send me a link with the info.

Year	CPL Team	Opponent	Opponent League	Competition	Attendance
2019	HFX	Vaughan	L1O	VC	5532
2019	York	Blainville	PLSQ	VC	1723
2019	HFX	Fury	USL	VC	6213
2019	York	Impact	MLS	VC	5252
2019	Cavalry	Whitecaps	MLS	VC	5129
2019	Cavalry	Impact	MLS	VC	5633
2019	Forge	Antigua	Guatemala	CL	4644
2019	Forge	Olimpia	Honduras	CL	4876?
2021	HFX	Blainville	PLSQ	VC	3780
2021	York	Master's	L1O	VC	1102
2021	Pacific	Whitecaps	MLS	VC	4997
2021	HFX	CF Montreal	MLS	VC	6413
2021	Forge	CF Montreal	MLS	VC	5388
2021	Forge	Independiente	Panama	CL	???
2021	Forge	Santos de Guapiles	Costa Rica	CL	???
2021	Forge	Motagua	Honduras	CL	???
2022	Forge	Cruz Azul	Mexico	CCL	4600
2022	Forge	Mont-Royal Outremont	PLSQ	VC	2213
2022	HFX	TFC	MLS	VC	6507
2022	Cavalry	Whitecaps	MLS	VC	3197
2022	Forge	TFC	MLS	VC (2020)	13715
2022	Pacific	Waterhouse	Jamaica	CL	4487
2022	Pacific	Herediano	Costa Rica	CL	4687
2023	Forge	Laval	PLSQ	VC	2117
2023	Pacific	TSS Rovers	L1BC	VC	2593
2023	York	Whitecaps	MLS	VC	1827
2023	Pacific	Whitecaps	MLS	VC	5221

[Kent]

I didn't bother checking before, but looking over the table above, I guess Atletico Ottawa, Valour, FC Edmonton (CPL version), and Vancouver haven't hosted a team from another league yet.

[Kingston]

Comparing the numbers in the table above to regular season games, there's definitely an appetite for these special games against teams from other leagues.  Unfortunately not a sell-out-Tim-Hortons-Field type revenue bonanza but still pretty good. 

[Mihairokov]

The main issue with the current format of Champions Cup is that it runs from February-June, meaning that CPL teams are realistically only going to be playing home matches in February or March. We've been given a great benefit with two slots in the tournament but the trade-off is that it's likely the worst time of year to host matches. There's a huge difference between Forge hosting Cruz Azul in February versus hosting Cruz Azul in July, both from a sporting perspective as well as a crowd perspective.

It's too bad because these matches, as has been pointed out above, could be very big draws, especially for CPL sides. I think most of us remember the matches Montreal hosted in their 2015 run, played primarily in March and April but benefitted by Olympique's roof. Say what you will about Concacaf League but the schedule for that tournament was perfect for CPL sides (July-November).

Edited December 8, 2023 by Mihairokov

[Aird25]

Even the match against Waterhouse had a different energy in Langford, and I imagine most fans didn't know much about the club

[Kingston]

1 hour ago, Mihairokov said:

Say what you will about Concacaf League but the schedule for that tournament was perfect for CPL sides (July-November).

Actually, I think almost everything about the CONCACAF League was perfect for the CPL sides.

[narduch]

2 hours ago, Mihairokov said:

The main issue with the current format of Champions Cup is that it runs from February-June, meaning that CPL teams are realistically only going to be playing home matches in February or March. We've been given a great benefit with two slots in the tournament but the trade-off is that it's likely the worst time of year to host matches. There's a huge difference between Forge hosting Cruz Azul in February versus hosting Cruz Azul in July, both from a sporting perspective as well as a crowd perspective.

It's too bad because these matches, as has been pointed out above, could be very big draws, especially for CPL sides. I think most of us remember the matches Montreal hosted in their 2015 run, played primarily in March and April but benefitted by Olympique's roof. Say what you will about Concacaf League but the schedule for that tournament was perfect for CPL sides (July-November).

I wish they would go back to the previous format. Group Stage in the late summer/fall and then knock outs in the spring

Edited December 8, 2023 by narduch

[Mihairokov]

1 hour ago, Kingston said:

Actually, I think almost everything about the CONCACAF League was perfect for the CPL sides.

Except for the travel, right? 🙂

I think it would be a more compelling competition if USL Championship sides could take part but IIRC there's some weird hazy thing b/w MLS/USL and Concacaf eligibility.

 

1 hour ago, narduch said:

I wish they would go back to the previous format. Group Stage in the late summer/fall and then knock outs in the spring

Wouldn't be against this, it just gets a bit convoluted when teams are playing in a tournament they qualified for 1.5 years before it's completed, or whatever the math would be. I think the single year format currently is cleaner but makes for tough scheduling.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Mihairokov

[narduch]

23 minutes ago, Mihairokov said:

Except for the travel, right? 🙂

I think it would be a more compelling competition if USL Championship sides could take part but IIRC there's some weird hazy thing b/w MLS/USL and Concacaf eligibility.

 

Wouldn't be against this, it just gets a bit convoluted when teams are playing in a tournament they qualified for 1.5 years before it's completed, or whatever the math would be. I think the single year format currently is cleaner but makes for tough scheduling.

Even now the Mexican teams are decided over 1 year before the tournament.

If we can't have the old format I would also be in favour of keeping the current format but spreading it out from April to November. 

[Watchmen]

4 hours ago, narduch said:

Even now the Mexican teams are decided over 1 year before the tournament.

2 of them qualified Fall of 2022.  The other 4 didn't qualify until this year.

[Kent]

6 hours ago, narduch said:

I wish they would go back to the previous format. Group Stage in the late summer/fall and then knock outs in the spring

Ideally the 4 team groups! Let the fans get some mileage out of qualifying. Half the teams getting eliminated after one home and one away match is pretty anti-climactic, or even the 3 team groups they had is quite short.