Guesstimate for attendance at Monday's game

[PullTogether73]

Since we have all been lamenting the dismal turnout for last Wednesday's game against the REDBLACKS, I figure we should have some fun guessing what will be the attendance for Monday's game against the Alouettes.

Factors which may keep people from attending this game:

Monday night game. Football should only be played on weekends.
Weeknight game. People have to work the next day.
Game is at BMO Field. BMO Field is not next door to my residence.
There is road traffic in Toronto.
There is foot traffic in Toronto.
Parking isn't free in or near the stadium.
The GO train only runs every half hour and doesn't stop in front of my house.
There is a Blue Jays game somewhere.
This is not the NFL.
This is only the CFL, a second rate league.
Ticket prices are too high.
Concession prices are too high.
Not enough craft beer selection.
Seats at the stadium are uncomfortable.
They play crappy music at the games.
The video board is too small.
It will be too hot or humid.
The sun will be in my eyes.
It might rain.
The Toronto media will post negative articles about the game, the Argonauts, and the CFL.
Rogers Media will trash the game, the Argonauts, and the CFL.
The Argonauts and the CFL aren't cool or trendy.
The Maple Leafs might sign some unknown, irrelevant player and I can't miss that announcement.
Jupiter is in retrograde with Mercury.
My zodiac sign for that day warns about venturing outside for unnecessary trips.
It is the Chinese year of the ______, not a good omen for going to an Argonauts game.

Factors which will encourage people to go to the game:
Freedom to sit almost anywhere in the east stands.

[Gill The Thrill]

Since we have all been lamenting the dismal turnout for last Wednesday's game against the REDBLACKS, I figure we should have some fun guessing what will be the attendance for Monday's game against the Alouettes.

Factors which may keep people from attending this game:

Monday night game. Football should only be played on weekends.
Weeknight game. People have to work the next day.
Game is at BMO Field. BMO Field is not next door to my residence.
There is road traffic in Toronto.
There is foot traffic in Toronto.
Parking isn't free in or near the stadium.
The GO train only runs every half hour and doesn't stop in front of my house.
There is a Blue Jays game somewhere.
This is not the NFL.
This is only the CFL, a second rate league.
Ticket prices are too high.
Concession prices are too high.
Not enough craft beer selection.
Seats at the stadium are uncomfortable.
They play crappy music at the games.
The video board is too small.
It will be too hot or humid.
The sun will be in my eyes.
It might rain.
The Toronto media will post negative articles about the game, the Argonauts, and the CFL.
Rogers Media will trash the game, the Argonauts, and the CFL.
The Argonauts and the CFL aren't cool or trendy.
The Maple Leafs might sign some unknown, irrelevant player and I can't miss that announcement.
Jupiter is in retrograde with Mercury.
My zodiac sign for that day warns about venturing outside for unnecessary trips.
It is the Chinese year of the ______, not a good omen for going to an Argonauts game.

Factors which will encourage people to go to the game:
Freedom to sit almost anywhere in the east stands.

Do we really need the attendance watch threads?? I guess we do, after last game.
I just checked out the tickets available for the game...and I know the game will be better attended than the Ottawa game as the south end zone is mostly sold, and so are most of the sections behind the Argo bench. The sections behind the Argo bench were the only healthy sections last week.

I'm going to hope 18k. Do the Argos not make upper east side seats available. I honestly think the prices between 206-208 are too high. Do they not allow anyone to buy the upper level seats because they want people to buy the lower seats in those sections. I don't think that's good practice in a 27,000 seat stadium.

[Double Dare]

15 Gs

[Scooter McCray]

I was away this past weekend on a family reunion cottage weekend. I am the only STH in the family but I have brought most family members to games over the years including the last two games this year. The consensus amongst our small group was that the pricing of the tickets is just too high for the regular season games. They might go to a playoff game at these prices, or a one off type of games like the home opener but they would not go regularly at the current price structure. Forget about the Grey Cup game. I'm a superfan and I can't justify paying what they are asking, and I really want to be there. As much as I like what new ownership is doing, they have badly misread the fanbase and are charging sky high prices for an apathetic city. Only after rekindling interest and creating the place to be atmosphere should they begin to charge more for their now in demand product. There is no demand right now. For what its worth I did leave Michael Copeland a very polite voice message about my concerns on Grey Cup last Thursday. No response. I know he is busy and he does not owe me a call back, but I did mention that I have been a STH since the early 80s. Say what you want about Chris Rudge, I called him on 3 occasions about issues and he always returned my calls.

[doubleblue]

Since we have all been lamenting the dismal turnout for last Wednesday's game against the REDBLACKS, I figure we should have some fun guessing what will be the attendance for Monday's game against the Alouettes.

Factors which may keep people from attending this game:

Monday night game. Football should only be played on weekends.
Weeknight game. People have to work the next day.
Game is at BMO Field. BMO Field is not next door to my residence.
There is road traffic in Toronto.
There is foot traffic in Toronto.
Parking isn't free in or near the stadium.
The GO train only runs every half hour and doesn't stop in front of my house.
There is a Blue Jays game somewhere.
This is not the NFL.
This is only the CFL, a second rate league.
Ticket prices are too high.
Concession prices are too high.
Not enough craft beer selection.
Seats at the stadium are uncomfortable.
They play crappy music at the games.
The video board is too small.
It will be too hot or humid.
The sun will be in my eyes.
It might rain.
The Toronto media will post negative articles about the game, the Argonauts, and the CFL.
Rogers Media will trash the game, the Argonauts, and the CFL.
The Argonauts and the CFL aren't cool or trendy.
The Maple Leafs might sign some unknown, irrelevant player and I can't miss that announcement.
Jupiter is in retrograde with Mercury.
My zodiac sign for that day warns about venturing outside for unnecessary trips.
It is the Chinese year of the ______, not a good omen for going to an Argonauts game.

Factors which will encourage people to go to the game:
Freedom to sit almost anywhere in the east stands.

There is a lot of truth to "some" (not all) of those excuses even though you may well be saying it in a sarcastic tone. Easier to stay home and watch on TV, and that is what is happening IMO. Especially on a week night. But we are not going to shame people into going, which seems to be the tone on here most of the time. Too many other things going on in peoples lives and in many cases there is a limit to how much extra money is available from their budget.

[AngeloV]

Not even going to try and guess, but I will be there.

[doubleblue]

15 Gs

That would be my guess. 15,000 for week day games 20,000 for week ends. Maybe more on the week end games if there was a lot of rivalry going on. With reported break even number at 18,000 they are right on track after two games.

[PullTogether73]

There is a lot of truth to "some" (not all) of those excuses even though you may well be saying it in a sarcastic tone. Easier to stay home and watch on TV, and that is what is happening IMO. Especially on a week night. But we are not going to shame people into going, which seems to be the tone on here most of the time. Too many other things going on in peoples lives and in many cases there is a limit to how much extra money is available from their budget.

I was actually just having fun with this, but you're right - there is an underlying sarcasm in my OP.

I do find it laughable that there are so many excuses offered for low turnout at Argo games.
Yet other Toronto teams don't have these issues.
Can't the reason for poor turnout simply be that there aren't that many Argo fans in the GTA anymore?
Ownership has to build the fan base.
There are no "perfect" game conditions that will entice non-fans.

[KCargosfan]

Since we have all been lamenting the dismal turnout for last Wednesday's game against the REDBLACKS, I figure we should have some fun guessing what will be the attendance for Monday's game against the Alouettes.

Factors which may keep people from attending this game:

Monday night game. Football should only be played on weekends.
Weeknight game. People have to work the next day.
Game is at BMO Field. BMO Field is not next door to my residence.
There is road traffic in Toronto.
There is foot traffic in Toronto.
Parking isn't free in or near the stadium.
The GO train only runs every half hour and doesn't stop in front of my house.
There is a Blue Jays game somewhere.
This is not the NFL.
This is only the CFL, a second rate league.
Ticket prices are too high.
Concession prices are too high.
Not enough craft beer selection.
Seats at the stadium are uncomfortable.
They play crappy music at the games.
The video board is too small.
It will be too hot or humid.
The sun will be in my eyes.
It might rain.
The Toronto media will post negative articles about the game, the Argonauts, and the CFL.
Rogers Media will trash the game, the Argonauts, and the CFL.
The Argonauts and the CFL aren't cool or trendy.
The Maple Leafs might sign some unknown, irrelevant player and I can't miss that announcement.
Jupiter is in retrograde with Mercury.
My zodiac sign for that day warns about venturing outside for unnecessary trips.
It is the Chinese year of the ______, not a good omen for going to an Argonauts game.

Factors which will encourage people to go to the game:
Freedom to sit almost anywhere in the east stands.

haha. Good work there. Thumbs up to your sarcasm.

That being said, I will guess 15K since there is no Indy race.

[Neely2005]

At least 15k.

4 of us will be be at the Tailgate and the game.

[Scooter McCray]

10 K. Last week of July Is the second most Cdns on vacation other than Christmas week. We only have 7K STH. Some of them will be away. Coming off second home loss. Currently no buzz about this game by media or team. Argos are retrenching to focus on the 2 CNE games to try and sell those out. This will be their battle of the bulge to try and save the season.

[paulwoods13]

Can't the reason for poor turnout simply be that there aren't that many Argo fans in the GTA anymore?
Ownership has to build the fan base.

I think that is absolutely the reason. The number of people who care enough about the team to go to games has been dwindling for 30 years. The Jays were in a somewhat similar situation 6-8 years ago and have recaptured a large fanbase, so it can be done. But we are dealing with a few strikes against us, including a much longer period of fan bleed, perception that we are not in a "major league" and an erratic schedule. Still, we have what appears to be committed ownership in it for the long haul and I believe that 3-5 years from now we can be consistently drawing 24,000 fans a game.

[R.J]

14k

It'll take 10 years to build the fanbase.

[KCargosfan]

If all of our predictions come true, then we are past the valley. Probably past the peak, too, but at least past the valley as well.

[1argoholic]

Here we go again. I could have been there as my buddy generously offered his two extra seats to my wife and I but it's a weeknight and we live in the mighty 705. haha. She doesn't finish work until five and gets out after that. We'll be in TO one night later to see Rocket From The Crypt at Lees. Too bad we couldn't do Monday and Tuesday but because of her friggin job, it was a no go.

I hope for 15 but better then last game. Who knows.

[Ron]

Here we go again. I could have been there as my buddy generously offered his two extra seats to my wife and I but it's a weeknight and we live in the mighty 705. haha. She doesn't finish work until five and gets out after that. We'll be in TO one night later to see Rocket From The Crypt at Lees. Too bad we couldn't do Monday and Tuesday but because of her friggin job, it was a no go.

I hope for 15 but better then last game. Who knows.

So for all the reasons you always list for not coming to weeknight games in Toronto ... you had no issues with coming on a weeknight to a musical?

[Ron]

I think that is absolutely the reason. The number of people who care enough about the team to go to games has been dwindling for 30 years. The Jays were in a somewhat similar situation 6-8 years ago and have recaptured a large fanbase, so it can be done. But we are dealing with a few strikes against us, including a much longer period of fan bleed, perception that we are not in a "major league" and an erratic schedule. Still, we have what appears to be committed ownership in it for the long haul and I believe that 3-5 years from now we can be consistently drawing 24,000 fans a game.

Fair assessment. A few years back the Jays were drawing 5-8K for weeknight games. Now they created some excitement and we see the results. But once that exciting era ends ... we'll see the drop again.

[Scooter McCray]

I think that is absolutely the reason. The number of people who care enough about the team to go to games has been dwindling for 30 years. The Jays were in a somewhat similar situation 6-8 years ago and have recaptured a large fanbase, so it can be done. But we are dealing with a few strikes against us, including a much longer period of fan bleed, perception that we are not in a "major league" and an erratic schedule. Still, we have what appears to be committed ownership in it for the long haul and I believe that 3-5 years from now we can be consistently drawing 24,000 fans a game.

agree with your comments and I hope that ownership is committed for the long haul and don't get discouraged. But what about Grey Cup for this year. They have priced it as if they are already at that 3-5 year stage with 24,000 fans coming every game. Who are the 38,000 that are going to buy tickets that are multiple times greater than the 100th GC? It's not the 7,000 STH because judging by this forum not many are planning to go (myself included). Who do they want at this game anyhow?

[Argo57]

I think that is absolutely the reason. The number of people who care enough about the team to go to games has been dwindling for 30 years. The Jays were in a somewhat similar situation 6-8 years ago and have recaptured a large fanbase, so it can be done. But we are dealing with a few strikes against us, including a much longer period of fan bleed, perception that we are not in a "major league" and an erratic schedule. Still, we have what appears to be committed ownership in it for the long haul and I believe that 3-5 years from now we can be consistently drawing 24,000 fans a game.

Absolutely Paul, I've been saying this for quite some time.
Every poorly attended game (and there have been many) you hear the rationalizations start (see GreyDragons list).
I'm in section 207 and $799 a seat is kind of rich TBH, they'd better be careful or their 7,000 season ticket total may slide in season 2 and 3.
IMO should have made the seat pricing much more modest to attract fans, start to build atmosphere and perhaps most of all choke off any opportunity for the media to dump on them.

[AngeloV]

Don't know how well they are going, but discounted tickets are available on Groupon for Monday's game.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/gl-toronto-argonauts-1