The GTA is the market!

Printable View

11-18-2014, 12:08 AM
HereComeTheIrish

The GTA is the market!

Hey guys. New poster. I'm not going to lie to you guys and say that I've been a die-hard Argo fan my whole life. The truth is, I have not. I followed the team's run to the Grey Cup, and celebrated like a maniac when we won. Seems like such a long time ago. I actually held a Grey Cup party. For whatever reason, I never picked up following them the next season.

I love sports. When I fall, I fall hard. I support my local teams. I love the Leafs, Raptors, Blue Jays, and TFC. I love the Bills. I love Notre Dame, and because I am a student, I love the Queen's Golden Gaels. I stay loyal, through thin and thinner. I had neglected the Argos for too long, just checking the scores in the paper and reading whatever coverage was available. I finally started watching this season. I have been following the team closely this whole year, and have been browsing the forums all year. Today I finally joined up.

It really irritates me that people think the Argos are dead. The TV numbers clearly state otherwise. There is a dedicated and loyal following. Sadly, the monkeys that are running the zoo haven't tapped into that fanbase. I'm not 100 percent sure, but from what I have gathered, the groundswell of support is from the GTA.

I may be a bit bias because when I am not away at school I am from Markham, but I think that if whoever decides to own the Argos had more than 5 IQ points, they would push very hard for a stadium in the GTA. The two biggest reasons (in my opinion) why the Argos aren't getting the numbers they should be is because A) Ticket prices are way too high, and B) The current stadium is located too far away for most fans.

BMO Field is the almost certain destination, but I dream of a stadium in the GTA. 25-28,000 seats, and open space so there could be some sort of tailgating. Lowering ticket prices would be nice too.

I feel terrible for the players. They are out there busting their asses and when they look they just see the ocean of empty blue seats. Its demoralizing. A new stadium would help spark interest, but it bothers me that not only are they not going to put a stadium where most of the fans are, but they are actually going to put it even MORE out of the way for most fans!

I was a season ticket holder for TFC for a period, and it was a nightmare. Getting to BMO through public transit is awful. Some nights you would come home at 9:00 if the game ended at 7:00, just because the traffic was so bad.

I will be happy no matter where we go just because it will secure the future of my Argos and we will have a new owner on top of that. However, it would have been nice for the Argos to seize an opportunity to make themselves relevant again to people besides the core fan base.

This was partially a post about a stadium, and now reading it again a part introduction post. Yeah, I'm new. I look forward to participating in engaging conversation, and no matter what, we all love the Argos and want the best for them.

Go double blue!!!
11-18-2014, 02:22 AM
Argocister

Welcome to the forum herecometheirish! Good to hear from new fans ..... I agree the Argos are not dead. it may be a symptom of the media marching to their own tune ..... Have fun posting!
11-18-2014, 07:35 AM
T-Bone

Welcome aboard HereComeTheIrish.
11-18-2014, 09:29 AM
paulwoods13

Quote:

Originally Posted by HereComeTheIrish

BMO Field is the almost certain destination, but I dream of a stadium in the GTA. 25-28,000 seats, and open space so there could be some sort of tailgating. Lowering ticket prices would be nice too.

Welcome aboard, and thanks for a thoughtful first post. However, "a stadium in the GTA" could mean anything from Burlington to Milton to Aurora to Pickering to Whitby, and all points between. Any stadium outside the central core would be easily accessible only to those living nearby. Imagine living in Oshawa and trying to get to a weeknight game in Mississauga. Would fans really be prepared to sit on the 401 for that? It's moot anyway since no one is offering the $200M or so needed for a decent new stadium.
11-18-2014, 09:42 AM
HereComeTheIrish

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulwoods13

Welcome aboard, and thanks for a thoughtful first post. However, "a stadium in the GTA" could mean anything from Burlington to Milton to Aurora to Pickering to Whitby, and all points between. Any stadium outside the central core would be easily accessible only to those living nearby. Imagine living in Oshawa and trying to get to a weeknight game in Mississauga. Would fans really be prepared to sit on the 401 for that? It's moot anyway since no one is offering the $200M or so needed for a decent new stadium.

True, but that is why I was more specifically thinking of an area north of Toronto, like Markham, Aurora, or Newmarket, simply because they are all relatively the same distance away, smack in the middle of the Toronto, Aurora, Pickering, and Mississauga areas. I can see how there would be an issue of where in the GTA they would put it, but I'd be willing to drive to games if they made it an experience worth going to.

I was at the Bills game last week, and it took my group from 4:00-9:30 to get home. It took us 2.5 hours just to get out of Buffalo for God's sake, but it was so worth it. The Argos need to make an effort to make a game worth going to. If they make fans want to leave the couch and offer an experience that they cannot have anywhere but the stadium, then people will come and the numbers and recognition will show.
11-18-2014, 10:19 AM
T-Bone

Quote:

Originally Posted by HereComeTheIrish

True, but that is why I was more specifically thinking of an area north of Toronto, like Markham, Aurora, or Newmarket, simply because they are all relatively the same distance away, smack in the middle of the Toronto, Aurora, Pickering, and Mississauga areas. I can see how there would be an issue of where in the GTA they would put it, but I'd be willing to drive to games if they made it an experience worth going to.

I was at the Bills game last week, and it took my group from 4:00-9:30 to get home. It took us 2.5 hours just to get out of Buffalo for God's sake, but it was so worth it. The Argos need to make an effort to make a game worth going to. If they make fans want to leave the couch and offer an experience that they cannot have anywhere but the stadium, then people will come and the numbers and recognition will show.

There have been a few stadium discussions here. I recommend checking out the following threads:

Argos Stadium Update

Argos at BMO Field

New Stadium Locations

Where do ARGOFANS reside????
11-18-2014, 11:25 AM
1argoholic

While living in Port Credit getting to Argo games was a breeze at both CNE and Rogers. Now that we're 30 minutes north east or Peterborough it seems like anywhere is a pain but right now driving to Oshawa and hitting the GO is pretty good even though it becomes a long day. If a stadium is built in the north or west end it would suck to have to drive the whole way. I see it being BMO which adds on to our travel day.
11-18-2014, 12:07 PM
paulwoods13

Quote:

Originally Posted by HereComeTheIrish

True, but that is why I was more specifically thinking of an area north of Toronto, like Markham, Aurora, or Newmarket, simply because they are all relatively the same distance away, smack in the middle of the Toronto, Aurora, Pickering, and Mississauga areas.

Relatively the same distance away -- and accessible only by car from many GTA points outside those cities. That's the one key difference from downtown locations, which are accessible by car AND transit. Longtime posters will have heard (and been bored to death by) me making this point before. If we force all attendees to drive, some current fans wouldn't want to be bothered getting into the traffic nightmare that is the GTA in general, and particularly the 401. Maybe some new fans would start going, but would that number more than offset the number who no longer go? (Again, moot point since there's no money for a new stadium.)
11-24-2014, 12:32 PM
Neely2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by HereComeTheIrish

True, but that is why I was more specifically thinking of an area north of Toronto, like Markham, Aurora, or Newmarket, simply because they are all relatively the same distance away, smack in the middle of the Toronto, Aurora, Pickering, and Mississauga areas. I can see how there would be an issue of where in the GTA they would put it, but I'd be willing to drive to games if they made it an experience worth going to.

I was at the Bills game last week, and it took my group from 4:00-9:30 to get home. It took us 2.5 hours just to get out of Buffalo for God's sake, but it was so worth it. The Argos need to make an effort to make a game worth going to. If they make fans want to leave the couch and offer an experience that they cannot have anywhere but the stadium, then people will come and the numbers and recognition will show.

Welcome HereComeTheIrish!

I'd say that Vaughan, Richmond Hill & Markham are much better choices than Aurora or Newmarket.

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bone

There have been a few stadium discussions here. I recommend checking out the following threads:

Argos Stadium Update

Argos at BMO Field

New Stadium Locations

Where do ARGOFANS reside????

Yes there is definitely a lot of good discussion in those threads. Unfortunately it looks like it's BMO Field or bust for our Argonauts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulwoods13

Relatively the same distance away -- and accessible only by car from many GTA points outside those cities. That's the one key difference from downtown locations, which are accessible by car AND transit. Longtime posters will have heard (and been bored to death by) me making this point before. If we force all attendees to drive, some current fans wouldn't want to be bothered getting into the traffic nightmare that is the GTA in general, and particularly the 401. Maybe some new fans would start going, but would that number more than offset the number who no longer go? (Again, moot point since there's no money for a new stadium.)

With the TTC Subway Extension to Vaughan (400 & 7) almost done there are locations outside of the downtown that have Both good Transit and good Highway Access. And let's face it BMO Field doesn't really have good Transit access if you don't live near a Lakeshore Line GO Station and the Gardiner/QEW is just as congested as the 401 most of the time.