2023 Argos and CFL Attendance

[AngeloV]

Interesting. I always thought those seats were folded up for Argos games.

It's a different set of bleacher seats. Not the ones TFC uses. They've been up in the north end zone all year, but not used. A few years ago, they were up as well, and I believe they placed the Burlington Teen tour band there.

[jerrym]

CFL attendance in 2023 is now up 5.68% and Argo attendance up 12.26% over 2022.

https://stats.cfldb.ca/league/cfl/attendance/2023/

[Argo57]

CFL attendance in 2023 is now up 5.68% and Argo attendance up 12.26% over 2022.

https://stats.cfldb.ca/league/cfl/attendance/2023/

Great news, MLSE’s marketing efforts are starting to show results.

[Mocha]

https://twitter.com/FenderGuy69/status/1693588912545939612?s=20

[jerrym]

Good to see that, in addition to attendance improving, game day revenue is up 26% in Toronto, Montreal and BC as long-term survival of these teams in the three largest markets and the CFL depends on team revenue. In addition viewership in the CFL is up 29% in the 25-54 age group, the one advertisers pursue hardest because of their purchasing power. It is of course also vital to the long-term attendance to grow the number of younger fans.
https://globalnews.ca/news/9914779/c...attendance-up/

[jerrym]

Last night's attendance of 17,906 at the Toronto-Calgary game increased the season average Argo attendance up 19.1% above 2022.

https://stats.cfldb.ca/league/cfl/attendance/2023/

[jerrym]

BC Lions have also showed a massive increase in attendance of 20.1% over 2022 as new owner Amar Doman has revitalized the team on and off the field. Quite a change from the David Braley era in both Toronto and BC, although both franchises would not have survived without him.

https://www.cfl.ca/2023/08/26/amar-d...rgy-and-ideas/

[Mocha]

Last night's crowd looked excellent. If the team could get to the point at which every game was 17,000+, it'd likely be much easier to get even more to show up.

And I'm thinking Week 12 has a good chance at a decent increase with the crowds at Winnipeg and even BMO.

[ArgoRavi]

BC Lions have also showed a massive increase in attendance of 20.1% over 2022 as new owner Amar Doman has revitalized the team on and off the field. Quite a change from the David Braley era in both Toronto and BC, although both franchises would not have survived without him.

https://www.cfl.ca/2023/08/26/amar-d...rgy-and-ideas/

The Lions drew over 22k for their disappointing loss to the Ticats.

[Mocha]

Last night's attendance of 17,906 at the Toronto-Calgary game increased the season average Argo attendance up 19.1% above 2022.

https://stats.cfldb.ca/league/cfl/attendance/2023/

I believe last night's game was the last of the 3 promo games, for which the Argos offered heavily discounted tickets (for good seats). Those 3 were the home opener vs Ticats, the next home game vs BC, and the CNE game vs Calgary.

The Ottawa game was not part of that promo, and did OK relative to last year.

Here's hoping the rest of the season can keep some momentum going without those discounted tickets.

[AngeloV]

Well, I took my gift from the team as additional tickets, and have given the 4 additional tickets I received to the parents of my Goddaughter, who is now 6 and will be attending her first ever game on the 9th against Montreal. It was the perfect choice for them, as it is the only early weekend start game this year. Hopefully a lot of younger families will be out to this one.

[Argo57]

Well, I took my gift from the team as additional tickets, and have given the 4 additional tickets I received to the parents of my Goddaughter, who is now 6 and will be attending her first ever game on the 9th against Montreal. It was the perfect choice for them, as it is the only early weekend start game this year. Hopefully a lot of younger families will be out to this one.

Nice, pay it forward Angelo!

[Mocha]

Nice rebound week for attendance.

Key Takeaway:a. Average Attendance UP 5.22% Season-To-Date 2023 vs 2022.



https://twitter.com/FenderGuy69/status/1696182919537017204?s=20

[jerrym]

The signing of Chad Kelly increases the chances of the Argos having several excellent years on the field after winning the Grey Cup, something that has not happened very often in the recent past. If that happens it could help further increase the nice bump in attendance that has occurred this year.

[ArgoRavi]

The signing of Chad Kelly increases the chances of the Argos having several excellent years on the field after winning the Grey Cup, something that has not happened very often in the recent past. If that happens it could help further increase the nice bump in attendance that has occurred this year.

Dave Naylor from TSN mentioned on TSN 1050 Radio the other day that the Argos have only had 6 seasons since 1998 in which they have won double-digits number of games in a regular season (10 or 11 in each of those seasons). They won 9 or fewer games the other 18 seasons during that time.

I was thinking further about this and can recall only five Argos teams since 1976 (when I would trace my following the team back to) that I would consider to be "dominant". My definition of "dominant" would be winning 12 or more games in a season. Those five seasons were 1983 (a 12-4 regular season record), 1988 (14-4), 1991 (13-5), 1996 (15-3), and 1997 (15-3). They won the Grey Cup in every season but one of those - 1988 (East Final loss).

Naylor's point was that it's tough to build attendance in Toronto when you don't have dominant teams and, of course, the Argos have been incredibly inconsistent during the time period since 1998. Hopefully, this year we will see a dominant team - I suspect that we are seeing just that - which should help further build attendance. With Kelly signed for the next three years after this one, we have a chance to see a truly dominant period for this franchise.

[TrueBlueGuy]

A "truly dominant period" hmmm...other teams have done it why not the Argos?
Montreal in the Calvillo years, Calgary for about 15-straight years this century, the Moon-Edmonton years.
Argos, it CAN be done, let's do it!

[bluto]

It's true. Some people need to see a winning team with an aura of excitement around it before they buy a ticket and come on down. The hope of course, is that they get bit by the Argos/CFL bug and become regular attendees and watchers.
But winning and playing fun football is key to the formula.

[Will]

A "truly dominant period" hmmm...other teams have done it why not the Argos?
Montreal in the Calvillo years, Calgary for about 15-straight years this century, the Moon-Edmonton years.
Argos, it CAN be done, let's do it!

Nobody is saying that it can't be done, but it hasn't happened, and is a part but not the full problem.

[jerrym]

Argo attendance is up 19.1% to 14,139.4 so far while BC is up 17.4% to 23,937.0 and the CFL is up 4.56% overall.

https://stats.cfldb.ca/league/cfl/attendance/2023/

[Scooter McCray]

The Blue Jay's attendance last 3ght Wednesday September 13th was 25,000. They lost 10-0 at home vs. a team they need to climb over to make the playoffs. I'm not going to slam the BJs, but this city should be paying alot more attention to their football team. Not every team in Toronto is mediocre. Ownership needs to do more.