David Braley killing another cfl franchise

[Rocket]

Looks like David Braley is up to his old tricks again with killing off another cfl franchise in the b.c lions. Only 23,000 for the home opener against the highest attenended road team in Saskatchewan. Saw the old cheapskate tarp off the upper level with the Vancouver whitecaps tarp that they use for there games, I wonder how much Braley gave the whitecaps for the usage of that? There was no way we would have seen Braley go out of his way and do something on his own to make it cfl friendly stadium. Braley has no clue on how to grow any fan base charging 3 times more for what a ticket should cost to its most loyal fan base and then thinking he could just offset it by not hiring anybody for the off the field stuff nothing for any marketing of the team to grow its younger fan base. Fight to not give any money to its players and then can think he can profit with the t.v. Deal and by cfl giving cheapskate a grey cup to host. Number one thing on cfl commissioner list is to get this cheapskate old fart mom and pop owner out of this league before anymore damage is done to this team and league. There is no question we are going to see crowds going under 15,000 for the lions this year.

[ArgoRavi]

It is sad to see so much of the work of Bob Ackles be undone since his death. They haven't had a crowd that small for a home game against Saskatchewan since 2001 and it is their smallest opening day crowd at B.C. Place in over a decade. Braley is great at saving franchises but not so good at growing them. It would be wonderful to see a new ownership group or individual take over that franchise with some fresh ideas on how to grow it.

[Rocket]

It is sad to see so much of the work of Bob Ackles be undone since his death. They haven't had a crowd that small for a home game against Saskatchewan since 2001 and it is their smallest opening day crowd at B.C. Place in over a decade. Braley is great at saving franchises but not so good at growing them. It would be wonderful to see a new ownership group or individual take over that franchise with some fresh ideas on how to grow it.

It really is amazing how Braley can destroy a cfl fan base. Considering that the city put in over $500million to renos at b.c. Place a few years back. You would think Braley would have a plan to capatalize on that investment by aggressively marketing this team and getting new season ticket holders .Instead we had cheapskate just sitting around waiting for the cfl to grant him another grey cup to host. What we see with the b.c. Lions attendance the last few years is like comparing it to the housing market here. Housing market is getting propped up by the low interest rates as soon as those rates start to rise we will see a crash in the market, with the b.c. Lions we had higher numbers of season ticket holders the last few years because of demand on the grey cup as soon as cfl came out and said that they are going to not grant b.c a grey cup a while you are seeing the crash happen.

[AngeloV]

It's just a matter of time before the Lions will be sold as well. He is only hurting his asking price as he did with the Argos.

[argonaut11xx]

We are going to the game on the 24th at BC Place

22 of us.....

They have closed the upper bowl in BC place, fiscally and in terms of popularity the BC Lions remind me of the mid/late nineties Argonauts.

[Rocket]

If I was commish my number one thing is to look for rich and passionate owners that like to see things grow and succeed. Even if there are no teams for sale at present time or in the future you still should be looking for owners like this for the future and try to do everything possible to get guys like David Braley far and away from the league as possible.

[AngeloV]

If I was commish my number one thing is to look for rich and passionate owners that like to see things grow and succeed. Even if there are no teams for sale at present time or in the future you still should be looking for owners like this for the future and try to do everything possible to get guys like David Braley far and away from the league as possible.

I'm sure the commissioners of the league have never thought of that. You should send a memo.

[Deerkeeper]

I'm sure the commissioners of the league have never thought of that. You should send a memo.

After all, we all know rich and passionate owners are just falling out of the trees and breaking down the CFL's doors wantimg to own teams.

[R.J]

I think we can all agree that David Braley is great at buying franchises when no one else wants to and IMO should be commended for that, however he's also proven that he a terrible owner. Ticats stewardship ended poorly, before and after Ackles in BC have gotten pretty bad, the Argos................... we all know what's happened here.

[jerrym]

He was booed out of Hamilton and ran the Argos into the ground. Let's hope he sells the Lions before they are left in the same state as the Argos at the time of the sale.

[Rocket]

Well so far the start of this cfl season David Braley has contributed to the lowest and most embarrassing crowds in the cfl. His great idea of saving a few dollars for himself by playing at varsity with 5,000 fans for a pre season game, his other great idea of playing the Argos home opener a two day car ride to fort mcmurray got him another great crowd in less then 5,000. And now the b.c.lions with another embarrassing crowd for there pre season game, alongside the home opener which was played at the lowest atteneted game in years.
david Braley needs to go away ASAP from the cfl if it hopes to grow anytime in the future.

[shayman]

Knock the Lions if you like, but this is pretty neat -

Operation Orange
http://www.bclions.com/operation-orange-2015

Fan trips on the team charter to two road games in Hamilton and Edmonton. Fly with, stay with, eat with the team. That sounds like a lot of fun. It'd be great if the Argos did something similar. Maybe our owner can speak to theirs.

[AngeloV]

Well so far the start of this cfl season David Braley has contributed to the lowest and most embarrassing crowds in the cfl. His great idea of saving a few dollars for himself by playing at varsity with 5,000 fans for a pre season game, his other great idea of playing the Argos home opener a two day car ride to fort mcmurray got him another great crowd in less then 5,000. And now the b.c.lions with another embarrassing crowd for there pre season game, alongside the home opener which was played at the lowest atteneted game in years.
david Braley needs to go away ASAP from the cfl if it hopes to grow anytime in the future.

Far be it for me to defend Braley, but the lack of dates available at the dome are not his fault.

[1argoholic]

David Braley is a Butt Plug plain and simple.

[Rocket]

Far be it for me to defend Braley, but the lack of dates available at the dome are not his fault.

Why wouldnt it be? People always want to blame Rogers for everything with the Argos sure they are a bunch of as@&$0les and I do agree they try to bring the cfl and Argos down in the media. But if Braley actually bothered to engage himself with the team in Toronto and tried to make an effort into having discussions with people from Rogers instead of just showing up when the cfl announces that the cheapskate gets a grey cup to host I think there was an opportunity there to cross promote each other into getting better dates at skydome. Some how i find it tough to believe if Keith pelley or someone with a hard work ethic not and idiot like Chris rudge that the Argos would find a way to getting better dates at skydome.

[AngeloV]

Why wouldnt it be? People always want to blame Rogers for everything with the Argos sure they are a bunch of as@&$0les and I do agree they try to bring the cfl and Argos down in the media. But if Braley actually bothered to engage himself with the team in Toronto and tried to make an effort into having discussions with people from Rogers instead of just showing up when the cfl announces that the cheapskate gets a grey cup to host I think there was an opportunity there to cross promote each other into getting better dates at skydome. Some how i find it tough to believe if Keith pelley or someone with a hard work ethic not and idiot like Chris rudge that the Argos would find a way to getting better dates at skydome.

Keith Pelley turned out to be as big a phony as the owners he worked for. You are set in your beliefs, so I will just leave it at that.

[Rocket]

Keith Pelley turned out to be as big a phony as the owners he worked for. You are set in your beliefs, so I will just leave it at that.

Could you explain how Keith pelley is a big phony? was it he was doing to much work for the Argos? To much on t.v and radio promoting the Argos?to much advertisements and promotion he did with the Argos in the city? Sure he went to work for Rogers after and did everything he could do to make them successful as well. Were you one of the people that actually liked the Chris rudge approach of just sitting around doing nothing with the team the last few years and thinking the problem was just to move to bmo field and problem is solved? I for one will be happy if new CEO Michael Copland will be able to do half of the work and accomplishments that Keith pelley did with his time.

[argonaut11xx]

With the Argo's its a mute point.

The Argo's have new owners, new stadium, and Copeland will do a very professional job.

The Lions however seem to be on a downturn, they talk more about the soccer team, than the lions on sports radio out here.

As an aside, the quality of sports radio hosts out here is TERRIBLE. (Bro Jake is the TSN morning man???...this guy sucked 25+ yrs ago when he was at Q107)

The worst Toronto sports radio personality is a million times better than any of these hacks in BC.

[Argo57]

With the Argo's its a mute point.

The Argo's have new owners, new stadium, and Copeland will do a very professional job.

The Lions however seem to be on a downturn, they talk more about the soccer team, than the lions on sports radio out here.

As an aside, the quality of sports radio hosts out here is TERRIBLE. (Bro Jake is the TSN morning man???...this guy sucked 25+ yrs ago when he was at Q107)

The worst Toronto sports radio personality is a million times better than any of these hacks in BC.

The Lions decline reminds me so much of what the Argonauts have experienced in the last 30+ years.
First of all the stadium is beautiful but too big for the current CFL model, and the sporting fans have other options as to where they spend their entertainment dollars.
B.C. certainly needs a fresh ownership approach and hopefully the league assists in helping this happen sooner rather than later before irreparable damage is done and they lose a generation of fans.

[argonaut11xx]

The Lions decline reminds me so much of what the Argonauts have experienced in the last 30+ years.
First of all the stadium is beautiful but too big for the current CFL model, and the sporting fans have other options as to where they spend their entertainment dollars.
B.C. certainly needs a fresh ownership approach and hopefully the league assists in helping this happen sooner rather than later before irreparable damage is done and they lose a generation of fans.

In Toronto there is a big NFL presence in bars, and you see people wearing a lot of different NFL jerseys. In Vancouver, i see BC Lions stuff(hats/shirts/jerseys) on a daily basis, however unlike Toronto, here you see seattle seahawk gear (other nfl team garb is very rare). The Lions are in a spot where they could spiral down, hopefully that doesn't happen. Closing the upper deck at BC place is like reminding me of when the Argo's did that.

The Lions still are up on the hawks, but that could swing easily, and quickly