Argo Fan No-Shows?

[Godfather]

Hi all, do the argos have a lot of fan no-shows at games? For last week's ticats game the announced attendance was 14,100 but a Toronto Sun article stated that 18,000 tickets were sold. A look on ticketmaster did show only about 1000 tickets left. I tried to get seats in section 119 at the box office and they were sold out at game time and only one seat was available in sec 120. But I did notice empty seats in these sections when I was at the game.

I have heard that argos only report tickets scanned. So if this is true maybe the argos poor fan support is not as bad as it seems. I recall reading somewhere that argos revenue has gone up at BMO (sorry no source).

Do you guys have any insights?

[paulwoods13]

Last week's crowd looked pretty sparse, especially for a Ticats game. A lot of regulars in my section (which is completely seasons tix, as far as I know) were not there. So 14k in the building and 18k tix sold both sounded plausible to me.

[AngeloV]

Hi all, do the argos have a lot of fan no-shows at games? For last week's ticats game the announced attendance was 14,100 but a Toronto Sun article stated that 18,000 tickets were sold. A look on ticketmaster did show only about 1000 tickets left. I tried to get seats in section 119 at the box office and they were sold out at game time and only one seat was available in sec 120. But I did notice empty seats in these sections when I was at the game.

I have heard that argos only report tickets scanned. So if this is true maybe the argos poor fan support is not as bad as it seems. I recall reading somewhere that argos revenue has gone up at BMO (sorry no source).

Do you guys have any insights?

I'm guessing the 18k was a bad number. Too many rows of empty seats to suggest there were 4,000 no shows IMO.

[Argofan_1000]

I'm guessing the 18k was a bad number. Too many rows of empty seats to suggest there were 4,000 no shows IMO.

Argo office has told me a few times 4 or 5 thousand no shows can happen. I trust the 18K number is probably true. Today Argo ticket office said they expect 14 for the game on Sat.

[Mightygoose]

Yes the Argos do report tickets scanned so it's no surprise that there were lost of no shows.

I believe TFC does the same thing. Manning says they have about 24,500 STHs but last game drew about 22K and change.

Edit: Anyone care to share the link from the Sun mentioning the 18K sold? Haven't found anything yet.

[Shatto]

I don't doubt the veracity of the reported discrepancy between the 18,000 sold tickets to the 14,00 that turned up. Earlier in the season I enquired about buying an extra ticket and was informed our whole area was sold out. However, at the game there were probable 15-20 empty seats immediately around us. My guess is that in our supposedly sold out section (123), about one third of the seats were empty.

Do we know how many season corporate seat have been sold? Could this partially explain the difference in the two numbers?

If the team really has been selling a substantial number of tickets beyond the stated attendance, then perhaps the team has been close to meeting its break even number.

[ArgoRavi]

Yes the Argos do report tickets scanned so it's no surprise that there were lost of no shows.

I believe TFC does the same thing. Manning says they have about 24,500 STHs but last game drew about 22K and change.

Edit: Anyone care to share the link from the Sun mentioning the 18K sold? Haven't found anything yet.

Here is the link: https://torontosun.com/sports/footba...ond-half-surge

[Mightygoose]

Here is the link: https://torontosun.com/sports/footba...ond-half-surge

Thank you for the link.

18K is near the capacity based on the current configuration

[shayman]

I spent a while counting and estimating at the game today. Looked like about 40% capacity to me. Perhaps 8,000. Certainly lots more empty seats than Ticketmaster was telling me last night.

[paulwoods13]

I spent a while counting and estimating at the game today. Looked like about 40% capacity to me. Perhaps 8,000. Certainly lots more empty seats than Ticketmaster was telling me last night.

I thought around 10k, but it's impossible to get a full read from my seats as I can't see any of the west upper deck. Many of the regulars in my section (which is mostly STHs) were again absent, not surprising given there is nothing to play for except dreaming about the future.

[Will]

I spent a while counting and estimating at the game today. Looked like about 40% capacity to me. Perhaps 8,000. Certainly lots more empty seats than Ticketmaster was telling me last night.

My '5 second estimate' guessed below 10,000.

[shayman]

I thought around 10k, but it's impossible to get a full read from my seats as I can't see any of the west upper deck. .

I too was on the west side and took a walk to the south end zone in Q3 to get a look. Upper west was also about 40% full. More full behind the Argo bench, less full at the other end.

Here's the west and east sides part way through Q3 -

west.jpgeast.jpg

[Shatto]

I suspect many of the season ticket didn't bother to turn up for the game. I went to a grandson's hockey game rather than a nothing Argo game. Wont change my decision to buy tickets next year---after all these years and having experienced bad seasons before--once an Argo fan, always an Argos fan

[GregR]

One effect of lower ticket prices is that it is not as painful to "no show" I guess. I always make sure I give my tickets to someone if I am not going. I hate to see them go unused, and it is also good to promote the game by giving them away. Also once eliminated from the playoffs, the no shows will increase in all sports.

[Neely2005]

I think that the scalpers have a lot of season tickets so if they don't sell them that's a no show. I gave away 2 of my tickets for the Hamilton game and then those people didn't show. I gave my tickets for yesterdays game away to a charity, hopefully they were used!

[jerrym]

I suspect many of the season ticket didn't bother to turn up for the game. I went to a grandson's hockey game rather than a nothing Argo game. Wont change my decision to buy tickets next year---after all these years and having experienced bad seasons before--once an Argo fan, always an Argos fan

There is also a greater temptation to watch the game on TV rather than make the effort and cost of going to the stadium when teams, like the Argos, are playing "nothing" games.

[ArgoFan1]

I don't get all this talk of a 'nothing' game. As a fan you should want to be at every game. They only play NINE per calendar year !!! I love watching football live and never miss and cannot imagine staying away because the team is out of the playoffs. The game was still fun to be at and exciting down to the wire. It is real life happening, so any play can turn out to be the greatest ever in history. Always good to be there if that happens. I could see skipping a Leaf game since they play 41 at home, but there are so few games, and now we have to wait until June for the next one. I am going to miss it so much that I am headed to Montreal next weekend to see them play one more time.

[AngeloV]

I don't get all this talk of a 'nothing' game. As a fan you should want to be at every game. They only play NINE per calendar year !!! I love watching football live and never miss and cannot imagine staying away because the team is out of the playoffs. The game was still fun to be at and exciting down to the wire. It is real life happening, so any play can turn out to be the greatest ever in history. Always good to be there if that happens. I could see skipping a Leaf game since they play 41 at home, but there are so few games, and now we have to wait until June for the next one. I am going to miss it so much that I am headed to Montreal next weekend to see them play one more time.

I'm with you. No matter the situation, I love the entertainment value of being live at the game. I go to every home game, and watch every away game on TV regardless of record. Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but I've read so much talk about what a crappy game it was yesterday. I thought it was very entertaining.

[Shatto]

It is all relative. If one has something else on the calendar and it is also of considerable interest, then it is easier to forgo an Argo "nothing" game to attend the other event. Not right or wrong, just an individual decision.

I caught the second half of the Argo game on TV. Exciting finish but it did look like a battle of the incompetents. However, as others have mentioned, there does appear to be some talent on the team and with another year's experience and some needed changes, there is every possibility the team could be competitive next year.

[ArgoFan1]

As I keep saying- it is only nine days out of the year. When the schedule comes out, absolutely nothing else can be scheduled on those days. I have people schedule a golf tournament so as not to be on the same day as an Argo game. Once I know the schedule, it all falls into place. Kills me when guys I know tell me they never know when the games are. Pretty easy to know something like that these days, if you had just the slightest bit of interest.