Why has Argonauts Home Game Attendance declined so much in 1 year? (2013-2014)

[ArgoGabe22]

Perhaps it is time that the Rogers Centre becomes a venue for TIFF or Nuit Blanche if that is what the people of Toronto prefer.

[doubleblue]

Attended my first game of the year today. Maybe I am getting old, but I must admit I really am bothered by the blaring dance music that get played excessively between plays. I really don't enjoy that atmosphere for football. I remember going to games when I could carry on a conversation with the person next to me.

X2. I complained about that in a ST survey a few years ago but it falls on "Deaf Ears". lol

[Argos23]

If you remove the Hamilton games which generally draw significantly more than other games, as well as the regular season finale which historically has also been a better draw, attendance is down by about 10%.

2013: 19,355
2014: 17,305

[AngeloV]

If you remove the Hamilton games which generally draw significantly more than other games, as well as the regular season finale which historically has also been a better draw, attendance is down by about 10%.

2013: 19,355
2014: 17,305

Actual bums in seats is down more than than IMO. There's no way in the world that there were more than 12,000 people there yesterday. It seemed to fill up a little in the 2nd quarter, but I think that was more an illusion than anything else, as people likely moved and spread out over a bigger area of empty seats. I guess the Argos were out of town for so long, most of Toronto thought the season had already ended.

[paulwoods13]

Actual bums in seats is down more than than IMO. There's no way in the world that there were more than 12,000 people there yesterday. It seemed to fill up a little in the 2nd quarter, but I think that was more an illusion than anything else, as people likely moved and spread out over a bigger area of empty seats. I guess the Argos were out of town for so long, most of Toronto thought the season had already ended.

And now the team has to sell three more games in a row, four in five weeks and possibly five in six weeks. Tough task even if they had a marketing department.

[AngeloV]

And now the team has to sell three more games in a row, four in five weeks and possibly five in six weeks. Tough task even if they had a marketing department.

True. The only good news is that Hamilton and Montreal are usually good draws, and they take up the next 3 weeks.

[Will]

To me the crowd didn't seem as low as the Calgary game in July that got everyone in a panic, but it didn't look as high as the games against Winnipeg or British Columbia.

[Argos23]

To me the crowd didn't seem as low as the Calgary game in July that got everyone in a panic, but it didn't look as high as the games against Winnipeg or British Columbia.

I agree with that. Also i found the crowd was much louder and lively than other games, the closed dome might have also helped with that.

[T-Bone]

I'd say that traffic and the hassle to get to and from a game is a big reason. It seems like every weekend there are road closures either for construction or a festival, marathon...

The Jays averaged a home attendance of 29,327 this season in the same building. In my opinion, people that want to go to a game will over come those things and get there. I would say Argos marketing is a bigger issue. Every home game I've been to this year someone has asked me "The Argos are playing today?" If people don't know they are playing, they can't make arrangements to get there.

[Neely2005]

The Jays averaged a home attendance of 29,327 this season in the same building. In my opinion, people that want to go to a game will over come those things and get there. I would say Argos marketing is a bigger issue. Every home game I've been to this year someone has asked me "The Argos are playing today?" If people don't know they are playing, they can't make arrangements to get there.

Well we already know that the majority of Argonauts fans are from the 905 Area Code. Perhaps the Blue Jays draw more from the 416?

Plus the Blue Jays play 162 games so there's almost always a Jays game.

[T-Bone]

Well we already know that the majority of Argonauts fans are from the 905 Area Code. Perhaps the Blue Jays draw more from the 416?

If so, why?

Plus the Blue Jays play 162 games so there's almost always a Jays game.

Another reason the Argos need to do better at making people aware of when they play.

[AngeloV]

To me the crowd didn't seem as low as the Calgary game in July that got everyone in a panic, but it didn't look as high as the games against Winnipeg or British Columbia.

You're probably right, but I felt the actual people in the stadium for the Calgary game was about 10k, which is why I went on a huge anti Braley rant at the time. I sit on the visitors side in the 200 level, and when I looked down below me in the 100 level, I saw nothing but rows and rows of empty seats.

[Will]

If so, why?


Another reason the Argos need to do better at making people aware of when they play.

Amen. T-Bone and I stopped by the Real Sports store in the ACC before walking over to the Dome on Saturday and the employee asked us whether there was an Argo game that day. This is a problem for the team, they aren't getting the message out there that they're even playing! People cannot go to something they know nothing of.

[ArgoRavi]

It isn't the media's job to market the Argos but the lack of media coverage about the team doesn't help either. The other major pro Toronto sports teams all market themselves well but they also get more media coverage than the Argos do.

[Will]

The treatment the Argos get from certain arms of the media in Toronto can certainly be labeled as atrocious, but sometimes you just can't sit back and whine and complain about the 5th estate. You just got to do it yourself then.

[Argos23]

Once again it all comes down to budget. Toronto has relied heavily on twitter for marketing ticket deals etc.. and hoping that word of mouth spreads the word. Only thing is the casual fan probably does not follow them on Twitter and their message falls on deaf ears.

[Will]

Twitter is a difficult boat because one can potentially be following hundreds or thousands of accounts and it is difficult for one person to monitor all the tweets from his or her follower. Let's say the Argos tweet something at 7:15 PM, it's going to be hard to reach all of the followers because it'll get buried underneath all the tweets from 7:15 to whenever that person checks his or her twitter.

BTW, I like the job the Argos do with their twitter account.

[T-Bone]

It isn't the media's job to market the Argos but the lack of media coverage about the team doesn't help either. The other major pro Toronto sports teams all market themselves well but they also get more media coverage than the Argos do.

I agree it is a factor. Unfortunately as argofan87 pointed out there is not much the Argos can do to make the media report about them so they have to market themselves in other ways. As Argos23 has pointed out it is difficult if you have limited resources. In my opinion, things like road closures and transit closures are extremely minor factors when it comes to attendance because like I said earlier people that want to go will find a way. I feel pointing to those things is more of an excuse than a factor in attendance. Jays attendance shows that despite those things they still get crowds. We have an attendance issue. I've been asked more this year than any other year by people on my way to games "The Argos are playing today?" There seems to be a lack of knowledge in the city about the team and when they play.

[flafson]

There is a Living Social deal going on right now for the Argos, what do people think about it?

[ArgoFan1]

I just ranted against a guy last week. He was wearing an old Argo tee shirt and I asked if he went to the games. He went on about not having been to a game in many years. He said he never knows when they are playing. I started into him for the lame excuse. The schedule comes out in February. There are only 9 dates to think about. Mark them down. It's not that hard. Leafs play all over the calendar, any day of the week, and sometimes are not home for a week, yet people don't seem to complain about that. Mind you, most people can't get into their games anyway.
To me, not knowing when they play is a very lame excuse, for anyone who says they are a fan. Fact is that most people in Toronto don't support anything. If the Leafs didn't have all those corporate seats and boxes sold, how many people do you figure they would actually get? They are the only team that sells well. People here don't support the Marlies, or junior hockey, and soccer only when it is new and fashionable. I was at a Jays game this year and I am sure the crowd was smaller than the Argo game on Saturday against Edmonton. They've had some very small crowds the past two years and more. They only draw big crowds on opening day and then a few Yankees or Red Sox games, which inflates the average.
People did not come out for the NFL games either. Lots of giveaways and people from Buffalo.
I would love to see a packed house for the Argos and a very loud building, only for the health of the franchise, but in the end, I am happy if I am the only one there, as I go to watch my Argos and I love CFL football.
The media here makes me sick in this regard. I hear long phone conversation os sports radio with American correspondents talking endlessly about certain NFL teams and they go into specifics about each position and game details and betting lines. I have never, ever heard anything like that regarding the CFL. Thank god Mike Hogan and Chris Schultz will talk some CFL from time to time. The other radio hosts all suck up to their American counterparts. I am talking TSN Radio, which should be hyping the CFL. I stopped listening to the FAN a couple years ago. It is those guys, radio and TV sportscasters that are really to blame. The fact that the CFL gets more viewers than the NFL does not sway those guys. It ain't cool because they can't talk about it with their American guests.