2018 season ticket sales

[mchesher03]

I renewed for 2018 today, no price increase and spread it out a bit on the payment plan which is nice. Spoke to Tyler and didn’t press for specifics but he seemed pleased with the SSH renewals and activity to-date (although they always are).

Anyhow, all aboard the love boat for 2018, no?

[Will]

I renewed on Monday.

Certainly nothing on-field in 2017 would be keeping people from renewing. Obviously the key is the people beyond that.

[1971GreyCup]

We renewed Grey Gup week. Obviously, the good karma resulted in Grey Cup victory. Haha

[bluto]

Enjoy the "no price increase" aspect while you can.

I just felt a disturbance in The Force... like thousands of season ticket holders screaming out at once...

[R.J]

Most likely a lot more corporate sales for next season. Could still lead to a bunch of empty seats though.

[R.J]

Enjoy the "no price increase" aspect while you can.

I just felt a disturbance in The Force... like thousands of season ticket holders screaming out at once...

You can only do this when the team is selling well. When TFC's ticket sales started to go downhill, MLSE dropped ticket prices back down to year one. And in 2012 Raps tickets were dropped 15-30%.

[Joe Barnes]

I don't see prices rising right away but if they draw well in the next year or two and become even remotely trendy, tickets will go up. That would have happened no matter who owned the team, but MLSE is not going to unite behind the Argos unless they see this kind of success happening. It will be the price of success, I guess...still a good thing for the future of the franchise IMO.

[AngeloV]

I'm heading to the offices tomorrow to renew my group's 4 seats. Due to the line-up during the playoff game, I didn't pick up our ST holders gifts, so I will be killing 2 Blue Jays...er birds with 1 stone.

[Scooter McCray]

I'm heading to the offices tomorrow to renew my group's 4 seats. Due to the line-up during the playoff game, I didn't pick up our ST holders gifts, so I will be killing 2 Blue Jays...er birds with 1 stone.

Keep them flying Angelo. I will change my signature once the deal is done. It may be a trap. You were saying in an earlier post the advantage here is not so much more Argo coverage but less Argo bashing which doesn't help the team's marketing effort. I hope you're right. Some of the Rogers personalities have had a real mean on for the CFL. They will never admit it but they were trying to kill the team so the football void would be filled by their NFL saviour. This season particularly seemed far more compelling from an entertainment perspective in the CFL.

[rdavies]

You were saying in an earlier post the advantage here is not so much more Argo coverage but less Argo bashing which doesn't help the team's marketing effort. I hope you're right. Some of the Rogers personalities have had a real mean on for the CFL. They will never admit it but they were trying to kill the team so the football void would be filled by their NFL saviour.

Join the club: Sports giant MLSE announces deal to buy Argonauts
Frank Zicarelli Toronto Sun December 13, 2017

It has always seemed to this observer that the unofficial policy at Rogers, and all of is media outlets and personalities, is to disparage the CFL at all costs, disregard all things Argos related unless it hurts the team’s brand.

[argos1873]

I don't see prices rising right away but if they draw well in the next year or two and become even remotely trendy, tickets will go up. That would have happened no matter who owned the team, but MLSE is not going to unite behind the Argos unless they see this kind of success happening. It will be the price of success, I guess...still a good thing for the future of the franchise IMO.

And this is how it should have been to begin with anyhow. When MLSE*.66 bought the Argos, they should have went with reasonable ticket prices, and saw how it went from there. I'm really not sure why they assumed it would be a premium buy. I've never been to marketing school, but I've heard there's a school of thought. That is, that people don't know what a good product looks like, but they know what a popular product looks like. So popular becomes the proxy for a premium product. So if your product isn't popular, you don't charge premium prices for it, doesn't matter how good it is. So therefore if a product is not popular, its proxy for a subpar product, and you charge accordingly. Again, doesn't matter how good it is. Well MLSE*.66 totally disregarded that, and went for premium prices. They paid dearly for that, not just in lost ticket sales, but mostly in perception. It would have been better to offer low prices, then slowly raise prices gauged upon demand. But then again, I never went to marketing school, so what do I know....

[Argos1983]

It's amazing the difference a year makes in off-season discussions --- stability, foresight, players wanting to come/stay here --- to think how far we have come with this franchise both on and off the field in the last 12 months is staggering....

.....On the other hand, if we can just get some more people in the stands for more than 2-3 games year (Hamilton/CNE/Playoffs), that would be awesome because as we all know, results aren't enough with this franchise (as 96-97 taught us).....and yes, keeping the ridiculous pricing structure of the stadium is still a thorn in my side after all the promises of a flatter more reasonable distribution of price points to entice new fans and families back into the stadium -- having 5 different price points is 220 is silly, and 221 and 225 are overpriced as evidenced by the lack of sales in the bottom part of those sections - in fact in most sections on the upper west side (in my opinion the best view point in the stadium) - the lower 10-15 rows have much more availability (look up the availability on the map for STs) than in the upper 10-15 rows - and that is simply a product of improper pricing - if row 18 is vastly cheaper than row 17 I'm buying row 18, same with row 7 versus row 8; if seat 15 is vastly less than seat 16 I'm buying seat 15; this is silly stuff for a team that does not have the sales to justify these price increases at multiple arbitrary points within the same section or even the same row?!). It seems silly to have 2/3 of the upper west side filled from rows 15 and up and then a ton of red seats in the first 10-15 rows that remain empty (that eventually people just move down into - why would someone pay more when they can move down every game? I don't blame them) --- it happened in the playoff game too, where people moved down in the upper west side quite easily (it happened near me).......

Sorry for the off-topic rant --- team good, off-season good, stability good, pricing bad, lack of new family pricing bad, still waiting for reasons/price points to bring new fans into the stadium -- remember this isn't about most of us - we are the die-hards, it's about getting someone who hasn't thought of the Argos to now think of them beyond a week or two in November.....be honest, how many people here since the move to BMO have either downgraded seats since 2016 (ie. got cheaper seats after the debacle that was the 2016 Regular Season and the Grey Cup Pricing fiasco), or bought less seats overall since then, I would bet that number is much higher than people who have done the opposite....it takes a lot less time to destroy a brand and goodwill among the paying customers, as was done in 2016 than to build it up again in 2017, and now 2018 --- I know that at $199-$299 a lot of us are in that stadium (and maybe at the high "club" level end of things) but that middle ground of pricing is a wasteland for sales (lower east side is awfully priced for the view/sunlight in ones face -- most people moved away from that location after 2016 - why do we insist on pricing it the same for 2018, when it is 70-80% unsold), beyond us die-hards, is anyone hearing of new initiatives to bring people in to BMO......heck even the Jays are finally doing a "Winterfest" thing in the Dome (in January) to try to drum up some goodwill after last-season's debacle.....again, I'm not saying we all can hang out and freeze at BMO in January, but I'm sure some creative minds could come up with something to generate more off-season interest before May/June (Argo Day) rolls around....what is keeping the Argos a part of the discussion in these intervening months....I get emails from TFC almost weekly about stuff going on with the club as a STH in the off-season; with the Argos as a STH, I get almost nothing.......oh, and the 10% online discount thing is silly (it needs to be at least 15% in stadium and/or free shipping online (within "Ontario")) given that it costs more to ship most smaller orders in the first place so frankly buying at the stadium is the only way it makes sense to purchase anything (ie. it costs less), and our STH discount doesn't work there anyways as we all know, so really what's the point.....I know it's little stuff, but its annoying and the STH benefits should be better constructed as a result -- these issues are known issues for 2 full years now; "we are working on it" doesn't quite cut it with me anymore....

Finally --- a discount for long-time STHs on a sliding scale (ie. for every 3-5 years that you are a STH you get a greater discount/perks - see Montreal Als for an example below - there are others as well in the league) as is done in other CFL cities should have been a given for us too, who are desperate to retain the few STHs that we still have; and TFC does it too (sorry to the TFC haters) - I pay less as a long-time TFC STH than others do in the same section/row (sometimes 30-40% less!), and as such, I feel that I have been rewarded for sticking it out over the long term (and the crappy soccer that was foisted upon us), the corollary of this is that I am much more likely to stay when the team sucks again, so as not to lose that favourable pricing for the "loyal" customer that I have built up over the years.....treat people properly when you are successful (ie. don't gouge/sit on your laurels), and people will stay with you when you are not......if you don't believe me watch Jays attendance go down exponentially in 2018 after a crappy season and a subsequent price increase.....2017 Jays seats in the offseason sold based on the promise/hope after a successful 2016 (I bought over $1200 of Jays tickets before 2017 (and did so for many years when the dome was empty between 2005-2014 too as the pricing structure made sense for a family of 4 to see a game reasonably - the flex-packs then got more restrictive (let's gouge people!) and the pricing got out of whack with their value and now I'm gone from their sales and buy as needed for much less than for what they sell them to me for which is ludicrous); this year I have pre-bought $0; many I know who buy large amounts of Jays seats are doing the same), the Jays in 2018 don't have that luxury of goodwill and huge off-season sales anymore.....this stuff isn't an accident; I don't get why teams insist on making the same mistakes over and over again and are "shocked" at the results.....if it isn't working, try something different for heaven's sake.....


https://en.montrealalouettes.com/memberships-2018/

https://en.montrealalouettes.com/new-in-2018/

[paulwoods13]

Great note, Argos1983 --a lot of really valid points in there.

[ArgoZ]

It's amazing how fans around here can foresee or recognize troubles before others, even team management, can. Since the move to BMO, I could not believe there was Gold pricing to sit last row in the East stand. Now it's all group pricing, so problem taken care of. I even took some criticism when I remarked that they will alienate fans, if their not careful.

The turn around has been great, almost a miracle, helped by winning the cup of course. If they just treaded carefully in the start, think how much more stronger the franchise would be. Oh well, a bright future for 2018 onward!

[Hook16]

Good afternoon,

As always I appreciate reading the feedback from our passionate group of fans. Some of the issues pointed out Argo1983 are valid and continue to be considered. I know when we launched our renewal campaign I addressed some of the issues around pricing and stadium scaling on this form and via email. I can assure everyone that the decisions the organization makes are made with much consideration and deliberation. From a pricing stand point to remain flat for a 3rd straight season is not the norm in professional sports and although I can appreciate wanting to see a price reductions YOY it is not something that makes sense from a business perspective. It can actually hurt your business long term.

We have seen a tremendous response from our season tickets holders and are in position to see growth in our season ticket base. We are in a much better situation then a year ago and winning the grey cup is not the only reason. We will continue to ensure that you the ticket buyers are treated well, shown respect and given value above just the purchase of your season tickets. This is a process and even winning the grey cup isn't going to automatically make BMO full. What will do this is creative ticketing programs, great marketing and continuing to ensure we get our brand into the eyes and ears of this market.

The merchandise benefits does remain a challenge but I am confident now with our new ownership group (MLSE) that we will more flexibility in-stadium with our merchandise and the ability to give STH their discounts. I am also hopeful the same will apply to concessions giving us the opportunity to provide value here. At this point nothing is confirmed but we are working on both opportunities.

As always I am happy to discuss over the phone (416 341 2726) or through email (mhook@argonauts.ca) any issues, concerns or hopefully positive idea's for us to move forward.

We are heading in the right direction but have much work left to do and we will keep at it.

I hope to see all of you this coming season, including at town hall and fan day.

Thank you and Happy New Year

Michael Hook

[Argos1983]

Good afternoon,

As always I appreciate reading the feedback from our passionate group of fans. Some of the issues pointed out Argo1983 are valid and continue to be considered. I know when we launched our renewal campaign I addressed some of the issues around pricing and stadium scaling on this form and via email. I can assure everyone that the decisions the organization makes are made with much consideration and deliberation. From a pricing stand point to remain flat for a 3rd straight season is not the norm in professional sports and although I can appreciate wanting to see a price reductions YOY it is not something that makes sense from a business perspective. It can actually hurt your business long term.

We have seen a tremendous response from our season tickets holders and are in position to see growth in our season ticket base. We are in a much better situation then a year ago and winning the grey cup is not the only reason. We will continue to ensure that you the ticket buyers are treated well, shown respect and given value above just the purchase of your season tickets. This is a process and even winning the grey cup isn't going to automatically make BMO full. What will do this is creative ticketing programs, great marketing and continuing to ensure we get our brand into the eyes and ears of this market.

The merchandise benefits does remain a challenge but I am confident now with our new ownership group (MLSE) that we will more flexibility in-stadium with our merchandise and the ability to give STH their discounts. I am also hopeful the same will apply to concessions giving us the opportunity to provide value here. At this point nothing is confirmed but we are working on both opportunities.

As always I am happy to discuss over the phone (416 341 2726) or through email (mhook@argonauts.ca) any issues, concerns or hopefully positive idea's for us to move forward.

We are heading in the right direction but have much work left to do and we will keep at it.

I hope to see all of you this coming season, including at town hall and fan day.

Thank you and Happy New Year

Michael Hook

Thank You Mike -

As always you have been responsive to me (personally and online) and respectful of input from the fans in general which I know many on the boards here appreciate....

I am happy that there is the possibility of the STH discounts now being able to work on concessions/merch in stadium, just like the other MLSE teams (and CFL teams) do with their STH....

Any thoughts on the loyalty program idea? --- the franchise needs to start rewarding people for sticking around as STH over the long term --- I really think this is an important concept given the tenuous nature of Argos STH in this market as has been evidenced over the last 20-30 years.....how about a STH fan of the game? dinner with the front office staff? (ha ha ha) -- spoil someone who has been a STH for 10 consecutive years or more (not me, but I'm sure others might fit the bill), put them in a "luxury" box (pressbox tour?!), meet and greet with key players (maybe Pinball?! - who doesn't love Pinball!; TFC does this with alumni like DeRosario/Dichio), a jersey with their name on it - just be creative, show a genuine appreciation for the people who have stuck it out over the long haul ---I've had TFC send my daughter a birthday gift (shirt/hat) when I mentioned to them about putting her name on the scoreboard (also free), its stuff like that which impresses people (now that's a sales rep who understands their job, and I bought two additional STs as a result!!)....the little things matter, for many of us (of a certain age - ha ha ha), it's not the cost of the $200 or $300 for a ST that would keep us from buying them; (although overpricing does matter obviously), its how we feel about the purchase as a customer - do we feel appreciated or not - I think everyone out there knows that tickets are available on a game by game basis which would likely better suit their needs and flexibility in most cases - there has to be some other reason for people to buy in to your product as STHs as it's not scarcity, and there are still enough of the cheap tickets available then it can't be price alone either (When there are still many $199/$299 ST left then this is more than just a price issue for people) .....it's the intangibles too.....just my 2 (maybe 3) cents.....

Thanks for being responsive - it is appreciated.....

[jerrym]

What a difference a year makes!

[Flutie]

Now that the Argos are part of the MLSE group, will they be able to use the marketing and ticketing that seems to be successful for TFC?
What about using the TFC ticketing manager? do the Argos need their own ticketing manager and staff?

[gilthethrill]

Was originally going to order a flex pack, but decided on a season ticket...section 227, row 18 seat 1.....just got off the phone.....let the season begin!

[Hook16]

Thank you for the support Gilthethrill