Tailgating Cancelled

[matthew]

These Naylor follow up posts are interesting.

On the first one, he may be right, maybe it was having a marginal effect on attendance but I still feel it was something to grow.

On the second point, I agree, it was largely the old guard and the fanboy/girls that were were coming so maybe it was not having the desired effect. I am not justifying the cancellation as I loved the experience. In fact, I was not hot on the idea and didn't care about tailgating when it first started by now I find myself lamenting its demise.

Personally I think the tailgate was missing 2 keys things:

1. A real kids area. One was starting to develop towards the end but it wasn't robust enough to really attract families to a cool environment.
2. Strong social media outreach. Why not get a staffer to go around with a celebrity alumni player AND blog them out from the event real time. I know alumni were coming around but don't think they were doing real time twitter or facebook posts.

They could have also come around and had sit down interviews with 4-5 tailgaters a game to let them tell their stories to put that human touch on the team and with every team video that they put out last year which were good, have a team vid / fan vid combo every week. For the casual visitor to the site when they see that stuff and realize that its as much about the fan as it is the team, people might be motivated to come on board.

Seems to me that they had a content goldmine that they could have leveraged but all I ever experienced was staff coming around and checking out what we were cooking versus what the tailgate really meant to the people that came.

[R.J]

Shame the tailgating lost out. But whatever the team owners need to do to keep this club viable for decades to come I am all for. If that means a small number of fans get put out then too bad. Better to put those resources elsewhere.

By all accounts here, around barely 10% of the in stadium attendance went to the tailgates, yet it was a"success", and it was "growing". Boggles my mind.

[R.J]

ARGOS tailgaters... you can still tailgate. All the organization said was they would not be funding and setting up the tailgate anymore due to costs. You can still pull out your bbq, toss a football or play tailgate games. If you drink, strongly suggest to do it in a plastic cup.

— ARRR CiTY ARRR TEAM (@GIVENS38) April 10, 2018

We tailgated for years before the tailgating was set up by Ontario place. Just be respectful and smart. Clean up your mess and be responsible. All common sense factors. Enjoy and see you there.

— ARRR CiTY ARRR TEAM (@GIVENS38) April 10, 2018

Funny thing about common sense is that nowadays it's not too common.

[argolio]

Choice #1: subsidize tailgates where less than 5% of fans participate
Choice #2: don't subsidize tailgates and pay less for season tickets

I'm taking door #2.

[OV Argo]

Choice #1: subsidize tailgates where less than 5% of fans participate
Choice #2: don't subsidize tailgates and pay less for season tickets

I'm taking door #2.

And let's not forget, this is a really financially struggling ownership involved with the Argos, and the huge/astronomical costs of helping run an Argo tailgate just might bankrupt them.

[Neely2005]

Yes at the tail gate area at the far end of Ontario Place there were more people than cars but the lot in front of BMO was always full and plenty of cars on the other end of Ontario Place where we parked.

So what's wrong with Argo fans setting up their own tail gate at the Ontario Place lot??? are they afraid the police will raid it?
It just seems so typically Canadian that we expect the authorities in this case the "team" to organize a tail gate, compare that to the NFL or NCAA where fans set up their own tail gates in the stadium parking lots.

Yes that's the concern, especially since they shutdown the small TFC Tailgates a few years ago.

Same for us. Just not worth the potential headaches of Ontario's antiquated liquor laws.

[ArgofanIan]

100 percent agree with Neely... not a chance in the world this is worth the risk... who knows what the fine would be and how much.

[R.J]

You guys realize that no one is forcing you to bring or drink booze, right ?

[argofan81]

You guys realize that no one is forcing you to bring or drink booze, right ?

You are correct, no one is forcing bringing/drinking booze but the fact remains that what is being taken away is a tailgate where drinking was legal. For those of us who do drink and wish to do so while partaking in other tailgate activities, we no longer have a legal option to do so. We do not live in a city where the cops simply turn a blind eye (even when the behaviour is not disorderly). Judge me all you want, but to me tailgating involves having a beer or two.

[argolio]

And let's not forget, this is a really financially struggling ownership involved with the Argos, and the huge/astronomical costs of helping run an Argo tailgate just might bankrupt them.

We won't forget.

[PullTogether73]

And let's not forget, this is a really financially struggling ownership involved with the Argos, and the huge/astronomical costs of helping run an Argo tailgate just might bankrupt them.

Still spending other peoples' money as you see fit I see.

I'm sure MLSE bought the Argos to suck money from the profitable teams.
Good business plan.

[gilthethrill]

I feel for those loyal fans who enjoyed the now defunct tailgate. I have decided with the ST price reduction to upgrade and purchase another ST.

[DoubleBlue_Red]

Its true - there was tailgating at the Skydome before Argo games, for a while on a construction lot and also another parking lot near the Dome. Nothing on the scale of the last two years tho.

Also, in the early TFC years there was tailgating in the parking lot directly adjacent BMO field.

Where there's a will there's a way.

[Will]

Yep, used to be in a lot at Simcoe/Bremner for a few years (Lake "G"). Keith Pelley showed up a few times when it was there. It then moved to the paved lot pretty well across the street for a few years. Never had any issues there.

[RB957]

I attended every Tailgate except for last seasons preseason game. They were definitely growing by a noticeable amount. Aside from the Grey Cup Tailgate the last one was the biggest one yet.

How many attendees, roughly? And when you say you brought a lot of different people to the tailgates, how many?

My son and I are STH's. Although we could not tailgate for every game, on those dates that we did, we always invited friends to join us and I used our extra free tickets or bought extra tickets to introduce those friends to the CFL experience. Without exception, everyone enjoyed it and had a great time. At the end, two of my friends ended up going in on a pair of season's tickets. So that would count as a success. But all of the others, as much as they said to my face that they would come back, did not. So while I am disappointed in this decision by the team, I can understand it. I always thought it must be costing the team a lot of money to run, and while the tailgating numbers may have been growing, perhaps they weren't growing fast enough. The size of the area allotted to it shrunk from the first year to the second, if I am not mistaken. In the final analysis, I don't think that tailgating itself is the "thing" that is going to resurrect fan interest. I just hope that whatever they are coming up with at the new "Shipyard" generates some pre-game excitement. Also, I wish i hadn't just gone out and bought a new portable grill! Good thing I hadn't ordered our new tent yet, lol.

[OV Argo]

Still spending other peoples' money as you see fit I see.

I'm sure MLSE bought the Argos to suck money from the profitable teams.
Good business plan.

So tell us, why did MLSE buy the Argos ?

[AngeloV]

I feel for those loyal fans who enjoyed the now defunct tailgate. I have decided with the ST price reduction to upgrade and purchase another ST.

That's the spirit. I'm keeping the credit in my account and purchasing additional tickets to games for friends of mine.

[AngeloV]

My son and I are STH's. Although we could not tailgate for every game, on those dates that we did, we always invited friends to join us and I used our extra free tickets or bought extra tickets to introduce those friends to the CFL experience. Without exception, everyone enjoyed it and had a great time. At the end, two of my friends ended up going in on a pair of season's tickets. So that would count as a success. But all of the others, as much as they said to my face that they would come back, did not. So while I am disappointed in this decision by the team, I can understand it. I always thought it must be costing the team a lot of money to run, and while the tailgating numbers may have been growing, perhaps they weren't growing fast enough. The size of the area allotted to it shrunk from the first year to the second, if I am not mistaken. In the final analysis, I don't think that tailgating itself is the "thing" that is going to resurrect fan interest. I just hope that whatever they are coming up with at the new "Shipyard" generates some pre-game excitement. Also, I wish i hadn't just gone out and bought a new portable grill! Good thing I hadn't ordered our new tent yet, lol.

I agree that it isn't going to be the "thing" to generate fan interest. Lower ticket prices and an entertaining team will.

[AngeloV]

So tell us, why did MLSE buy the Argos ?

I'm guessing because they want to own all the pro sports teams in the city. Wouldn't be the least surprised if the Blue Jays are next, but because of the price tag, that may be a little more complicated.

[Flutie]

And let's not forget, this is a really financially struggling ownership involved with the Argos, and the huge/astronomical costs of helping run an Argo tailgate just might bankrupt them.

But WHY do you want MLSE to run a fan tailgate and supply the beer? as other people have pointed out, it is fans that organized and ran their own tailgate parties in the past. Go to Buffalo and any other NFL stadium and people are partying in the parking lots, bringing their own beer and making their own entertainment, they are not complaining that the owners aren't organizing it and supplying cheap beer.