Marketing ideas for Argos

[ArgoZ]

So in a league that has a 5 Million $$ salary cap, how does a team sign a Baker Mayfield and stay under the cap? TFC can dump insane amounts of cash on these guys because MLSE doesn’t mind losing their shirts on the soccer team for whatever reason.

MLSE leverages those losses against the perceived value of the franchise. It’s a house of cards as someone put it, that could fall at anytime, but keeps carrying on for the time being.

[Topshelf]

Thats fair. But then you have to go full community/minor league experience. I dont want to be "that tfc guy", but soccer fans that follow TFC know it isnt EPL or other european leagues. Maybe its TSN trying to market this as top level football. It cant compete with the NFL, so market it as a cheap local option to watch football.
Make it a community experience, cheap tix, real tailgating (ford will green light that, get Tory on board), giveaways, was there even a bobblehead day this year?
My friends talk about a bunch of the jays giveaways even if they dont attentmd theyre aware its bucket hat day.
Otherwise the biggest Argo moves in the last decade were Ricky williams and all you can eat pizza. Oh the kick for the million had a good turnout too.
You cant market the Argos players against Josh Allen, Mahomes, Brady etc. So then its either a cheap night out or endless gimmicks to get the crowd from 11k to 21k

[Topshelf]

I have a friend in Milton. Follows cfl, son plays football, the type of fan mlse should be marketing towards. Well they go to 1 or 2 ticat games a year. Say the drive is easier and they can tailgate.
The Argos wont get the casual crowd theyll go to the Jays or TFC, you need to provide a cheap, genuine football experience for football fans

[Will]

I have a friend in Milton. Follows cfl, son plays football, the type of fan mlse should be marketing towards. Well they go to 1 or 2 ticat games a year. Say the drive is easier and they can tailgate.
The Argos wont get the casual crowd theyll go to the Jays or TFC, you need to provide a cheap, genuine football experience for football fans

I cannot guarantee an easier drive -- but you should tell your friend that tailgating does take place at BMO Field.

[jerrym]

Send a car flag to all STH's either for Labour Day or the playoffs and then give a bunch away to the general public.

Nothing says legit competition in an international city like flags. Cheap. Simple. Effective.

Sounds like a good idea to me or anything else that increases visibility would be good

[Retrogorilla 2]

Main reason: Starts and stops with players (and others tied to the organization) that fans recognize and care about. Years where we had the Rocket, Doug Flutie (along with John Candy and Wayne Gretzky onboard as execs) there was a legitimate interest from the city and better crowds. Pinball was last Argo would say that your average Toronto "normie" might know the name of from his playing days and how long ago was that??

MLSE (and previous owners) have done absolutely ZERO in promoting the players.

A simple ad campaign to get the likes of MBT and Gittens perceived as 'stars' would be an easy enough start but I doubt MLSE wants to spend a dime on it, tbh, as they'd prefer to bitch how the league isn't generating the billions an NFL team could.

[AngeloV]

Main reason: Starts and stops with players (and others tied to the organization) that fans recognize and care about. Years where we had the Rocket, Doug Flutie (along with John Candy and Wayne Gretzky onboard as execs) there was a legitimate interest from the city and better crowds. Pinball was last Argo would say that your average Toronto "normie" might know the name of from his playing days and how long ago was that??

MLSE (and previous owners) have done absolutely ZERO in promoting the players.

A simple ad campaign to get the likes of MBT and Gittens perceived as 'stars' would be an easy enough start but I doubt MLSE wants to spend a dime on it, tbh, as they'd prefer to bitch how the league isn't generating the billions an NFL team could.

Agreed 100% with your last 2 points and the concept of your first point.

I have been vocal about player turnover in the past, but I think it’s not the issue it used to be. It’s hard to sell a player in this market making less than NFL minimum wage, when all we hear about in the media is how every QB extension in the NFL is breaking the previous high record and these players are now on the verge of becoming Billianaires. Sadly this market gravitates to money.

[bannedforlife]

MLSE (and previous owners) have done absolutely ZERO in promoting the players.

A simple ad campaign to get the likes of MBT and Gittens perceived as 'stars' would be an easy enough start but I doubt MLSE wants to spend a dime on it, tbh, as they'd prefer to bitch how the league isn't generating the billions an NFL team could.

Here's what the evil part of our Lord and Master has been up to lately, remind you of anything? ie treatment of CFL by Sportsnet. No time to spend on the Argos while we are screwing with somebody else.

[Mocha]

The Argonauts have several players on the roster who played high school ball in the GTA.

Royce Metchie - St. Edmund Campion in Brampton

Robbie Smith - St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Brampton

Henoc Muamba: Father Michael Goetz Secondary School in Mississauga

Dejon Brissett - Loyola Secondary School in Mississauga

Jack Cassar - Lorne Park Secondary in Mississauga

Philip Blake - Father Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School in Etobicoke

Daniel Adeboboye - Northern Secondary School in Toronto

Braydon Noll - Trinity College School in Port Hope (Maybe a bit east of the GTA, but not much)


Why not have a campaign highlighting this local connection? Each home game, put the spotlight on these high school football programs that helped develop the Argonaut player. Invite players from the current team of those high schools, and invite some of the guys who played with the featured Argo during his high school years. Give them very visible seats in the east stands and have them wear their team jerseys or signs for their school and the Argo player.

And do something similar for other area high schools (who don't happen to have alum on the Argos roster), especially the local high school champs. Maybe opening night or early Sept/late Aug could be designated for celebrating local high school champs.

[Retrogorilla 2]

MLSE managed to screw up Leafs TV to the point it's going off the air in a couple of weeks. A lot of our ideas on this board are solid, but reality is they won't ever spend a dime or lift a finger to try and sincerely change things. I'm quite certain MLSE bought the Argos as an investment (somehow) to an eventual NFL franchise and nothing more...

TFC's success lay squarely on the grass roots fan clubs who initially created a fun atmosphere at the stadium. It was so different than the usual tepid Leafs or jays crowd, it was an event just to go to the games. Save for those supporter groups, the TFC franchise would be exactly in the same boat (pardon the pun) and struggling at the gate as well, IMO.

[Topshelf]

The high school idea is kinda cool.
Mlse doesnt want to own the Argos. It was a favor to TSN and political pressure because literally noone else was going to step up.
Thing is theyve tried all the angles over the years.
Big name nfl player? Ricky Williams didnt work out
"Tailgate gimmick" tried a few times, anyone remember the stormin norman whiskey a go go tailgate?
Big halftime shows? That tony hawk halftime year they had some.
Cheap tix? Remember 2 tshirts and 2 tix for 20 bucks at shoppers?
Giveaways? Championship ring day created some buzz.
TFC works because they got 15k seasons ticket holders. Theres atmosphere there, word spreads.
The crowds werent that great then the Italians showed up and the last 2 games have been sold out.
Toronto has always been an event town. Mlse and the cfl as a whole need to find a way to create that feel and right now that only happens locally for the labour day game or a Grey Cup.

[bannedforlife]

One has to wonder how a large corporate entity is so incompetent that they get outperformed and called out by a rookie (with far less resources aside from caring) and can't even muster up a feeble response. I would like to think they are taking the high road but I suspect they just don't care. Judging by what happened with the ownership situations in Montreal and BC I don't think we know if there were any potential Argos owners or not.

Or maybe they are competent and the end game is to let the Argos wither on the vine and die in the hopes that will kill the entire league to provide the opening for an NFL team.

[OV Argo]

Exactly !!!

[ArgoRavi]

MLSE managed to screw up Leafs TV to the point it's going off the air in a couple of weeks.

I received a weird message on my tivo the other day about this and didn't know what it was about. Leafs TV will be no more?! I used to be as big of a Leafs fan as an Argos fan until 1994-95 when that lockout happened and realized that I could do better things with my evenings. I tried keeping my fandom up for the next couple of years but then had to come to terms with the reality that I just didn't care anymore. I still enjoyed watching the old games on Leafs TV though; one of the gems they showed in the early days was an exhibition game from 1978 between a club team from Kladno, Czechoslovakia and the Leafs and I enjoyed watching that again, as nobody ever seemed to talk about it and I wondered at a point whether I had just imagined that game!

Regarding the Argos, I wonder if MLSE is trying to push for a player that wouldn't count against the cap like I believe they have for TFC.

[bannedforlife]

I still enjoyed watching the old games on Leafs TV though; one of the gems they showed in the early days was an exhibition game from 1978 between a club team from Kladno, Czechoslovakia and the Leafs and I enjoyed watching that again, as nobody ever seemed to talk about it and I wondered at a point whether I had just imagined that game!

[Retrogorilla 2]

I remember watching that and being really bummed out that Palamteer wasn't starting. Great days although Ballard was a cancer upon the team.

[bannedforlife]

I remember watching that and being really bummed out that Palamateer wasn't starting. Great days although Ballard was a cancer upon the team.

It was a fun time to be a Leafs fan, Sittler ten point game, Turnbull five goal game, beating the Islanders, Leafs Fastest 3 Goals in Playoff History, Bill Hewitt's on air meltdown, Ballard wanting Neilson to put a bag on his head and surprise people he was rehired. It was a soap opera for boys.

[ArgoRavi]

I remember watching that and being really bummed out that Palamteer wasn't starting. Great days although Ballard was a cancer upon the team.

Palmateer, Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull, and Lanny McDonald were all sat out of that game. There are a few players on that Kladno team that ended up in the NHL years later.

[ArgoRavi]

It was a fun time to be a Leafs fan, Sittler ten point game, Turnbull five goal game, beating the Islanders, Leafs Fastest 3 Goals in Playoff History, Bill Hewitt, Ballard wanting Neilson to put a bag on his head and surprise people he was rehired. It was a soap opera for boys.

Those were interesting times for sure! The Leafs and Argos were the talk of Toronto back then.

[Retrogorilla 2]

The first CFL game I can remember watching was the Grey cup between the Roughriders vs the Roughriders, haha! Back around the same time period, I think...