toronto.ctv.ca
Look for talk back TO poll. We need to boost the Argo rankings to give them something to talk about. Poll will run all day.
toronto.ctv.ca
Look for talk back TO poll. We need to boost the Argo rankings to give them something to talk about. Poll will run all day.
toronto.ctv.ca
RT @michelledubeCTV: What is your favourite Toronto sports team? Join us on #TalkbackTO! 416-872-9000 or tweet @CTVToronto
— CTV Toronto (@CTVToronto) April 4, 2014
Yep, vote early and vote often!
This poll is part of a Blue Jays opening day story, so predictably the Jays will get lots of votes. I'm sure if they held this poll on EDF Sunday last Nov, the Argos would be much higher than the 18% currently...which is more than double the TFC and Raptors votes combined.
Here is the poll link, which is at the bottom of the story:
http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/behind-the...ener-1.1761004
It's us vs the rest of the country
Well it's certainly not scientific. But that doesn't mean it can't be close to being accurate. This is how it stood just after midnight:
What is your favourite Toronto sports team?
Toronto Maple Leafs 240 (28 %) Toronto Blue Jays 239 (28 %) Toronto FC 79 (9 %) Toronto Argonauts 157 (18 %) Toronto Raptors 141 (16 %)
I would argue this seems pretty close to being accurate, and I think it speaks volumes about sports fans in this city. It's the day of the Jays home opener, and the poll comes at the end of a feature story about the Jays. So the Jays number is a bit inflated.
But where do you think that number comes from? How many so-called "Leaf fans" have jumped off the Leafs bandwagon, now that things look so grim, and called themselves No. 1 Jays fans today?
I would say a lot. And that's just so damn typical of a lot of people in this city. Whichever team the media shoves down our throats, that's the team most people cheer for. I would say at least 8% of the Blue Jay number consists of fairweather Leaf fans abandoning ship.
I see the Leafs being favoured by 35-40%, Jays around 20%, And I think the Argonaut, Raptor and FC numbers are just about spot on. The local TV audience numbers support that kind of breakdown too. But if TFC ever went on a winning streak this year with Defoe knocking them in all over the place, I'd bet their numbers would rise big, maybe even double to 18%, thanks to those fairweather Toronto fans.
There's been a big upswing in Raptors coverage, deservedly so it's an exciting team, and I bet if they win a playoff round, their popularity number would go up to 30%, because it will be Raptormania in the media. I heard Sid Sixiero say yesterday fans should fill Maple Leaf Square when the Raptors are in the playoffs because "this team deserves it".
When's the last time you heard anyone in the media passionately tell people they should get out there and support the Argonauts? I don't think I've ever heard it. The Argos are the only team that doesn't get season opener/playoff season saturation coverage, so we'll never get that media bump which wins over the fairweather fans.
This poll is dead on in my opinion (at this time) do the same poll in a couple of months when the Argos are in camp and in the Blue Jays have sh*t the bed (which they will) and the numbers would be a lot closer.
Leafs hand-downs obviously; and look for the wannabe media types to spin Jays or Craptors next in line - inspite of Argos/CFL TV numbers blowing away baseball or basketball, hands down, no contest.
That poll doesn't mean squat. Just because the Argos come in 3rd doesn't reflect the real picture. Chances are if the other voters choose a different team doesn't assume that they dismiss the Argos.
The fact that the Blue Jays and Leafs are equal as of Rich's timing proves how useless this poll is. In all honesty, the Leafs are far and away the most popular team not only in the city but also rival the Habs as the most popular sports team in the country. The fact that the poll was attached to a Blue Jays article obviously gives them a bit of an advantage voting wise.
It's us vs the rest of the country
Yes it is all about the timing of the poll. The Maple Leafs would scientifically win such a poll 99 times out of 100, but with them teetering at the brink and the Blue Jays home opener having taken place (even if the Jays have no shot this year) means that the Blue Jays would get that extra boost. The Raptors success this year probably gives them a boost and rightly so. The Argos did quite respectable considering they are the only one of the four options listed who currently aren't playing.
TORONTO ARGONAUTS FOOTBALL CLUB
GREY CUP CHAMPIONS: 1914, 1921, 1933, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1983, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2012, 2017, 2022
Let's remember this poll was buried at the bottom of a Blue Jays story about their soldout home opener vs the Yankees, with the Jays at their season-high zenith of interest.
If you held this same poll, buried at the bottom of the Argos story last EDF Sunday, the Argos would likely draw over 30% fan support with the Jays long forgotten. The Raptors are currently getting added media attention with their playoff push, while TFC just kicked off their season with an exciting win and home opener. Those teams are in the news, while the Argos haven't played a game for 5 months. But the Argos are still favoured by more fans than the Raptors or TFC, according to this poll.
There is absolutely no way the Jays are equal to the Leafs as the fan's favourite team.
For reference, here are the Canadian TV ratings from last week (Note: the CFL averaged over 700,000 last season.):
1. NHL, Wings-Leafs/Habs-Panthers, Saturday, CBC: 1,946,000
5. MLB, Jays at Rays, Monday, Sportsnet: 391,000 (season opener)
15. NHL, Flames at Senators, Sunday, Sportsnet East-West: 234,000
16. MLB, Mets vs. Jays, Friday, Sportsnet360: 228,000
24. Basketball, NCAA Elite Eight, Saturday, TSN: 154,000
25. Soccer, Chelsea at Crystal Palace, Saturday, Sportsnet: 145,000
26. NBA: Raptors at Magic, Sunday, Sportsnet One: 140,000
xx. MLS: TFC at Salt Lake, Saturday, TSN2: 74,000
Yeah the Jays were down a lot from last years season opener:
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh...210515088.html
Here are some numbers from last season.
CFL ratings up due to Southern Ontario:
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-...183017606.html
At an average of 703,000 viewers a game, the CFL stands second only to hockey as this country's most-watched sport. They're ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays' 540,000, a comparable number since the Jays generally play six games a week while the CFL offers up four.
Combined ratings on TSN and French-language RDS averaged 758,000 viewers per game, an increase of 3.6 per cent over 2012. The RDS numbers are down a tad, but considering how far the Montreal Alouettes have fallen there's no real surprise there.
But while overall ratings increases give the league something to crow about, that's not the real big news. The big news is that they're being driven by the most unlikely source of all: Southern Ontario. Ratings for games involving the Toronto Argonauts were up 26 per cent from last year while audiences for Hamilton (Guelph) Tiger-Cats games rose 14 per cent.
Ratings for all CFL games were up 18 per cent from last year in Southern Ontario and the Hamilton-Toronto clash on Thanksgiving Day drew the league's fourth-largest TV audience of the season with 956,000 viewers.
As I've pointed out before, mere percentages do not paint a full or necessarily accurate picture. I happen to believe that the CFL gets good ratings in the GTA, but the CFL's news release (or wherever this passage came from) is incomplete. Ratings would be up 18% if 118 people watched instead of 100.
Some don't seem to grasp the signifigance of this. It doesn't matter if the poll is correct or even scientifically accurate (although it is a fairly larger sample), it's about perception. Rational thinking people see that and wonder why the Argos get little coverage or are derided by other so-called sports fans. It's a positive that can be used. When people are spilling things like this in your lap, you don't dismiss them, you use them.
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