Can the Argos Grey Cup win help build fan support or is it another blown opportunity

["Issues"Mcgee]

The CFL has a whole is in trouble. Even Regina has scores of empty seats.
This market simply will not buy into a minor league team. The NFL is a far bigger beast than it was 40 years ago when the Argos were getting huge crowds at the Ex.
No minor league teams do well in this market. TFC has a number of different things going for them, and MLSE just assumed wrongly that a move to BMO would put the Argos on par.
Now that said, there are solutions.
1. Free parking and tailgating - US style
2. Value menu entire game. Make it an affordable day out for families.
3. Free admission to the CNE game. Huge opportunity to grow a fan base. Even if you just allow free admission to the upper deck of the east stand (where there are no Season seats), you have thousands of people that peer through the fence that game. Why not invite them in?
Can also just hand out tickets at the gate for assigned seats. Give season seat holders a credit or some other incentive to make up for it.
The Grey Cup “parade” was downgraded from city hall to maple leafs square. There’s a long way to go to bring the fans back.

No one called the Grey Cup rally a parade. It was referred to officially as a rally. In terms of production, it was huge improvement over the 2017 rally at City Hall and the crowd was bigger. It was not a downgrade at all.

[Topshelf]

I watch most of the games on tv and attend 1 a year, Toronto has a huge issue when it comes to people saying you can only be a fan of one team. And yes, TFC fans are guilty of that too. All fanbases are, leafs vs Raptors, Blue Jays, etc.
At least TFC fans have experience with BMO field, the challenges of it, etc.
And if TFC was in the CPL, they’d have thousands less fans. Toronto just doesn’t buy in. Marlies, Raptors 905, OHL teams. MLSE paid huge money to bring in big names to sell tickets.
That approach also worked for the Argos for Ismail, and to some extent Ricky Williams (created a buzz at least).
Bringing back the current roster won’t grow the profile of the team.

["Issues"Mcgee]

I watch most of the games on tv and attend 1 a year, Toronto has a huge issue when it comes to people saying you can only be a fan of one team. And yes, TFC fans are guilty of that too. All fanbases are, leafs vs Raptors, Blue Jays, etc.
At least TFC fans have experience with BMO field, the challenges of it, etc.
And if TFC was in the CPL, they’d have thousands less fans. Toronto just doesn’t buy in. Marlies, Raptors 905, OHL teams. MLSE paid huge money to bring in big names to sell tickets.
That approach also worked for the Argos for Ismail, and to some extent Ricky Williams (created a buzz at least).
Bringing back the current roster won’t grow the profile of the team.

Replacing a championship winning roster for the purpose of amusing people who already consider the CFL to be a minor league is a terrible idea.

It would be a much better long term strategy to just hang on to a championship winning roster.

[Shatto]

The CFL has a whole is in trouble. Even Regina has scores of empty seats.
This market simply will not buy into a minor league team. The NFL is a far bigger beast than it was 40 years ago when the Argos were getting huge crowds at the Ex.
No minor league teams do well in this market. TFC has a number of different things going for them, and MLSE just assumed wrongly that a move to BMO would put the Argos on par.
Now that said, there are solutions.
1. Free parking and tailgating - US style
2. Value menu entire game. Make it an affordable day out for families.
3. Free admission to the CNE game. Huge opportunity to grow a fan base. Even if you just allow free admission to the upper deck of the east stand (where there are no Season seats), you have thousands of people that peer through the fence that game. Why not invite them in?
Can also just hand out tickets at the gate for assigned seats. Give season seat holders a credit or some other incentive to make up for it.
The Grey Cup “parade” was downgraded from city hall to maple leafs square. There’s a long way to go to bring the fans back.

It is an interesting argument that the CFL can't thrive in Toronto because it is supposedly minor league. It is however, beyond debate that the CFL is the 2nd best football in the world. Whereas the MSL is lucky to be counted in the top dozen of the world's soccer leagues. Not being in the world's top 12 soccer leagues definitely categorizes MSL as true minor league. However, that does not preclude TFC being able to draw reasonable crowds, even if the past couple of years the crowds have been disappointing. If MLSE were to spent as much money on publicizing the Argos as they spend on signing one over the hill overseas soccer player, we could well see 22,000 fans at all the games. The attendance at the Eastern final proves the interest is there, it just has to be promoted better.

I grew up attending top level soccer games in the UK. The play of TFC is miles below the play of the top teams across the world but doesn't mean I don't encourage people attending a TFC game. TFC can still be enjoyed even if it is minor league. We should attend and enjoy watching both the Argos and TFC. Let's enjoy and embrace what we have because they are both well worth watching.

[bannedforlife]

^Amen

[AngeloV]

It is an interesting argument that the CFL can't thrive in Toronto because it is supposedly minor league. It is however, beyond debate that the CFL is the 2nd best football in the world. Whereas the MSL is lucky to be counted in the top dozen of the world's soccer leagues. Not being in the world's top 12 soccer leagues definitely categorizes MSL as true minor league. However, that does not preclude TFC being able to draw reasonable crowds, even if the past couple of years the crowds have been disappointing. If MLSE were to spent as much money on publicizing the Argos as they spend on signing one over the hill overseas soccer player, we could well see 22,000 fans at all the games. The attendance at the Eastern final proves the interest is there, it just has to be promoted better.

I grew up attending top level soccer games in the UK. The play of TFC is miles below the play of the top teams across the world but doesn't mean I don't encourage people attending a TFC game. TFC can still be enjoyed even if it is minor league. We should attend and enjoy watching both the Argos and TFC. Let's enjoy and embrace what we have because they are both well worth watching.

I couldn't agree more. The only thing I will say though is the perception is different between MLS and CFL among the casuals due to the fact that TFC has payers being paid multi million dollars annually. I've said this many times before, but to me, the CFL took a beating perception wise after the NFL strike in '82 and the formation of the original version of the USFL which drove NFL salaries up much higher than CFL salaries. People that don't really know the quality of a player will look a the salary discrepancy and just automatically think of the CFL as a minor league.

[OV Argo]

^Amen

Amen again - very well put by Shatto; I've got one small nit-picking point: the CFL is not the 2nd best football in the world, it is THE BEST or highest level of CANADIAN football in the world; the NFL is the best American football in the world. Ignoramuses and wannabes who look down on the CFL might be educated on this point or fact, but it's probably not worth the effort; not even sure some of the clowns running the CFL for decades can grasp this concept, as they have failed miserably to promote the fact.

Soccer, is the exact same game (rules, playing surface) played in countries all over the world, so some comparisons between the different leagues and countries playing can be made with that fact in mind.

[ArgoRavi]

Amen again - very well put by Shatto; I've got one small nit-picking point: the CFL is not the 2nd best football in the world, it is THE BEST or highest level of CANADIAN football in the world; the NFL is the best American football in the world. Ignoramuses and wannabes who look down on the CFL might be educated on this point or fact, but it's probably not worth the effort; not even sure some of the clowns running the CFL for decades can grasp this concept, as they have failed miserably to promote the fact.

Soccer, is the exact same game (rules, playing surface) played in countries all over the world, so some comparisons between the different leagues and countries playing can be made with that fact in mind.

It may seem like a little thing but I liked how the CBC would promote the CFL back in the 1970s as "Canadian Professional Football." Words do matter and I think that helped to consolidate in Canadians' minds the high level of football - and distinctive, unique football at that - that was being played in this country.

[SkalbaniasGhost]

Amen again - very well put by Shatto; I've got one small nit-picking point: the CFL is not the 2nd best football in the world, it is THE BEST or highest level of CANADIAN football in the world; the NFL is the best American football in the world. Ignoramuses and wannabes who look down on the CFL might be educated on this point or fact, but it's probably not worth the effort; not even sure some of the clowns running the CFL for decades can grasp this concept, as they have failed miserably to promote the fact.

Truth.

[Argo57]

Amen again - very well put by Shatto; I've got one small nit-picking point: the CFL is not the 2nd best football in the world, it is THE BEST or highest level of CANADIAN football in the world; the NFL is the best American football in the world. Ignoramuses and wannabes who look down on the CFL might be educated on this point or fact, but it's probably not worth the effort; not even sure some of the clowns running the CFL for decades can grasp this concept, as they have failed miserably to promote the fact.

Soccer, is the exact same game (rules, playing surface) played in countries all over the world, so some comparisons between the different leagues and countries playing can be made with that fact in mind.

Well said OV, boggles my mind that someone would refer to the CFL as “minor league”.

[paulwoods13]

It might be laughable that someone posting here would use that phrase, but it is a sad reality that a lot of Canadians, especially in the league's three biggest cities, view it as such. It's one of the biggest challenges the league faces. Perception often becomes reality -- if people look down on it as minor league, the fact it is the best brand of Cdn football, or the second-best brand of gridiron football, in the world doesn't really help change that perception.

[OV Argo]

It might be laughable that someone posting here would use that phrase, but it is a sad reality that a lot of Canadians, especially in the league's three biggest cities, view it as such. It's one of the biggest challenges the league faces. Perception often becomes reality -- if people look down on it as minor league, the fact it is the best brand of Cdn football, or the second-best brand of gridiron football, in the world doesn't really help change that perception.

It also might be possible to recognize and understand the main reason that the "minor league" bull$hite perception came about for the CFL in it's own country, and perhaps make some efforts to remedy the situation. I don't expect the CFL to be able to buy and control CTV and Global or a bunch of major newspapers in Canada, but still, some work could be attempted to influence the sheep & lemming leaders and herders and their bean-counters.

[bannedforlife]

It may seem like a little thing but I liked how the CBC would promote the CFL back in the 1970s as "Canadian Professional Football." Words do matter and I think that helped to consolidate in Canadians' minds the high level of football - and distinctive, unique football at that - that was being played in this country.

Is there an echo in here?