blueandgoldguy

They have made the playoffs every year he has been in BC with 3 Grey Cup appearances and 2 wins. 134 - 81 record with BC. He has done this with multiple different Qbs in that span making his record all the more impressive. He will get a few years to turn things around even if the Lions don't make the playoffs this season...unless the new owners don't like him.

Good thing there wasn't a game in Calgary yesterday with the blizzard and all. How embarrassing! Only in Calgary would there be a snowstorm in August.

The pricing models have been very similar more than just the last 3 years. Taking a look at the past 6 or 7 and you will still have similar averages give or take $50.Not true except for the Grey Cup in 2012 and that was the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto, by far the biggest corporate city in all of Canada. Even there, the cheapest tickets were cheaper than this year's Grey Cup and many comparable seats were cheaper.I have heard from many BC Lions fans that attended the 2011 Grey Cup that comparable seats for that game were considerably cheaper than the 2013 which means they are considerably cheaper than this year's game. $100 to $295 with the discount and there were something like 20,000 - 30,000 seats available at less than $200 without the discount. Cheap tickets were much cheaper than here 2010 tickets in Edmonton were a substantially cheaper. Tonnes of $100 tickets and their most expensive ticket was at $250 was cheaper than almost all of the tickets for this year's game. 2009 tickets in Calgary had a sustantially larger number of cheap seats than Winnipeg thanks to the large number of season ticker holders (near 30,000) who bought tickets to the game. I believe all the temp seats were $119 and a substantial portion of corner endzone seats were $200 with or without the discount. 2008 Grey Cup in Montreal had tonnes of cheap and reasonably priced seats like Edmonton - $84 - $274. I realize Winnipeg, being in a smaller stadium, would have to charge higher prices than places like Edmonton and Montreal, but I also realize that the team cannot charge overly high prices given the limited number of hotels here (gouging more prevalent than large cities) and the outdoor stadium which is sure to attract less out-of-towners than anywhere but Regina and Hamilton. Similar averages typically within $50. You have to factor in how many seats are within each price point. Obviously the farther you go back, the average has come down but still within that margin. In some cases 50 in others more than that. For a couple, over $100, for 4 people over $200. That's not an insignificant amount of money and many of the seats are not a good value proposition.

Can;t believe this. So much for a tight defensive battle.

We had about 3-3.5 million in profit this past year, no? 25,500 tickets at say $250 is 6.4 million. Lose $, no. Make less than expected, yes. I think they have to front quite a bit just to get the event here, and then all the operations cost of putting it on. If they grossed $6.5 million on ticket sales they'd likely lose a bunch of money. If the game was the only revenue generator yes. But all those other events generate a substantial amount of revenue. as well. Don't forget ticket sales aren't the only revenues for the game. I'm sure there will be millions from merchandise and concession sales especially once you factor in the stadium doors being opened up 2 hours or so prior to game time. It's not called the grand national drunk for nothing. Still it's too bad the poor pricing structure will prevent the expected profits from Grey Cup week. The extra money would have gone a long way to secure the club's future during seasons in which the club might have experienced a shortfall in revenues. Now, there will be less margin for error. I doubt that they gross much above low 7 figures from the rest of the event, including merchandise and concessions. Unless they are selling beers for $100, which is possible considering my tickets are 12x their value for any other game. They are basically on pace to gross $10 million if they can move most of the tickets. If they have 3000-4000 empty seats that knocks $1 million off that number. Once they pay for the event and kick up to the league they are looking at having $3 million on the good side of the ledger from the Grey Cup game based on the number of tickets they are selling. I think they can gross quite a bit more than that. Club Regent awards show approx. 500 tickets sold * $75 or $165 (use $100 average) = $50,000 3 concerts 10000 tickets sold * $50 = $500,000 TD Manitoba 5000 tickets sold * $25 = $125,000 Alumni Legend Lunch - soldout can't find the price but isn't it $150? 1000 * $150 = $150,000 Grey Cup Gala Dinner 1000 * $350 = $350,000 Monsanto Indoor tailgate party 1000 * $100 = $100,000 Post-game Party 5000 * $30 = $150,000 Plus all the teams parties. What are tickets - $20 each or $60 for a pass to all of them? 10,000 * $60 = $600,000 That doesn't even include all the booze consumed at these events which I'm sure the Bombers take a significant portion of the profits.

One of the few highlights from that season, but boy was it a good one.

Never underestimate the ego of Jim Popp.

Keep in mind, all those other events outside the game itself probably generate (awards, banquets, concert series, tailgate party, team parties, post grey cup party) generate significant revenue. I hear all of them are selling quite well and I wouldn't be surprised if at least 30% of all Grey Cup revenues are derived from these events.So you figure there's $2-3 million in profit on a Loverboy and 54-40 concert? Noooooo. I'm saying there is several millions in profits to be had by those 3 concerts plus Shaw CFL Player awards and players' party the CFL Alumni Lunch Touchdown Manitoba Grey Cup gala dinner Pre-game tailgate party Post-game party various team parties at convention centre and elsewhere Don't buy the Winnipeggers are cheap bit either. If they were, people in this city wouldn't have record levels of household debt.

We had about 3-3.5 million in profit this past year, no? 25,500 tickets at say $250 is 6.4 million. Lose $, no. Make less than expected, yes. I think they have to front quite a bit just to get the event here, and then all the operations cost of putting it on. If they grossed $6.5 million on ticket sales they'd likely lose a bunch of money. If the game was the only revenue generator yes. But all those other events generate a substantial amount of revenue. as well. Don't forget ticket sales aren't the only revenues for the game. I'm sure there will be millions from merchandise and concession sales especially once you factor in the stadium doors being opened up 2 hours or so prior to game time. It's not called the grand national drunk for nothing. Still it's too bad the poor pricing structure will prevent the expected profits from Grey Cup week. The extra money would have gone a long way to secure the club's future during seasons in which the club might have experienced a shortfall in revenues. Now, there will be less margin for error.

Keep in mind, all those other events outside the game itself probably generate (awards, banquets, concert series, tailgate party, team parties, post grey cup party) generate significant revenue. I hear all of them are selling quite well and I wouldn't be surprised if at least 30% of all Grey Cup revenues are derived from these events.

The pricing models have been very similar more than just the last 3 years. Taking a look at the past 6 or 7 and you will still have similar averages give or take $50. Not true except for the Grey Cup in 2012 and that was the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto, by far the biggest corporate city in all of Canada. Even there, the cheapest tickets were cheaper than this year's Grey Cup and many comparable seats were cheaper. I have heard from many BC Lions fans that attended the 2011 Grey Cup that comparable seats for that game were considerably cheaper than the 2013 which means they are considerably cheaper than this year's game. $100 to $295 with the discount and there were something like 20,000 - 30,000 seats available at less than $200 without the discount. Cheap tickets were much cheaper than here 2010 tickets in Edmonton were a substantially cheaper. Tonnes of $100 tickets and their most expensive ticket was at $250 was cheaper than almost all of the tickets for this year's game. 2009 tickets in Calgary had a sustantially larger number of cheap seats than Winnipeg thanks to the large number of season ticker holders (near 30,000) who bought tickets to the game. I believe all the temp seats were $119 and a substantial portion of corner endzone seats were $200 with or without the discount. 2008 Grey Cup in Montreal had tonnes of cheap and reasonably priced seats like Edmonton - $84 - $274. I realize Winnipeg, being in a smaller stadium, would have to charge higher prices than places like Edmonton and Montreal, but I also realize that the team cannot charge overly high prices given the limited number of hotels here (gouging more prevalent than large cities) and the outdoor stadium which is sure to attract less out-of-towners than anywhere but Regina and Hamilton.

What is it with the Grey Cup sales the last couple years?! BC struggled to sell tickets last year (it wasn't until right before the game that they actually got to 50K) and now this one is half full. I remember when the Grey Cup sold almost right away upon beginning of sales to the general public. Strange. Prices were more reasonable a few years ago. I would say the Rider Grey Cup set some sort of new expectations with regards to pricing for Grey Cups. Non-discounted prices of $399 for almost all lower deck sideline seats. $349 and $299 for upper deck seats. $299 for endzone seats. Only thing is Riders had 27, 000 season ticket holders and I'm sure all of them brought tickets to the Grey Cup and received the dicount. I wouldn't be surprised if the Corporations and sponsors also receive some kind of discount as well. These new expectations carried over into BC Place last year where there were reportedly 20,000 or even fewer season ticket holders and thus, a lower portion receiving the discount. The lower ticket base and the ridiculous prices ($379 for upper deck goal line seats and $179 for upper deck endzone seats) resulted in 15,000 - 20,000 seats unsold prior to the season after the previous 5 Grey Cups had sold out at a comparable time. This is what frustrates me about the Bomber organization. You think they would have learned from the poor ticket sales from last year's over-priced game and applied it to their pricing structure for this year's Grey Cup. Instead, they just looked at Sasky's pricing structure, applied it here and hoped for the best ignoring certain factors that would dissuade the public from paying those prices.

Yep, tickets are simply too expensive...especially for families. 2006 Grey Cup in Winnipeg nearly half the tickets were available for $150 or less 4000 north endzone seats sold for $100 each so a family of 4 could be there for $400. 14,000 temporary south endzone seats sold for $130 so a family of 4 could attend for less than $600 2015 Grey Cup 0 seats available for under $150. Cheapest a family of 4 could attend for is nearly $800. I see media-types like Hustler are trying to frame this as a weather issue and the Bombers and Riders sucking. Well, the Bombers sucked in 2005 and were not exactly setting the world on fire in 2006, while the weather would have been an issue back then as well. When ticket prices were brought up as the reason for the slow sales, Hustler said the ticket prices were the same as other cities. Not entirely true, as the ticket prices are more expensive than recent past Grey Cup cities and since there is a much smaller season ticket base here than say Calgary in 2009 (close to 30,000 season ticket holders that year), there are quite a few less folks getting the discount for the big game.

I would say by at least 2,000-3,000. Thanks Regina. I doubt it. They have the best contingent at the Grey Cup when their team is not in the game. The hard cores buy their tickets well in advance, probably prior to the season. 2000 - 3000? Try maybe a few hundred. I was at the last game in Winnipeg and there was approx. 3000 or so in green.

I mostly disagree. If this game was priced correctly most of the tickets would have been sold prior to the season. Rider fans were somewhat optimistic about their team at the beginning of the season and most of those with the income would have bought tickets at that point. At the last Grey Cup in Winnipeg, I would estimate only 3000 or so fans were from Sasky (assuming they all are wearing green). I suspect only a few hundred more would buy tickets if the Riders were playing better. Anyways, the Bombers should not have to rely on the Riders being a good team to sellout the game. Again if they had the proper pricing structure, we would have seen more ticket sold to both Bomber fans and out-of-town fans.

It's not last minute. Last Grey Cup I remember there was only 1500 - 2000 tickets left in the week leading up to the game. There are 11,000 tickets left with 12 weeks to go so they will have to sell at least 9000 of reach a comparable situation. Good luck with that. I fully expect to see thousands given away to charities and volunteers. THousands given to corporate sponsors at huge discounts and some reduced tickets to the public to get this game soldout. Back when tickets went on sale to the public I stated that the Bombers were charging too much and many here dismissed my comments. Well even I didn't think tickets would end up selling as poorly as they have and here we are - only 25,000 seats sold and a reduced capacity. Friesen, while he deserves to be taken to task for the many of things he has written in this past articles, is right to shift the focus to the poor ticket sales. In fact, I'm surprised this hasn't become a bigger story already. Maybe it will have more legs as we get closer to the game as it most certainly should. Quite simply, Wade Miller and the board blew it when it came to the pricing structure of this game - the most expensive average ticket price in Grey Cup history with the strictest conditions to receive the discount (a 3-year commitment!) It was absolutely asinine of the organization to assume the demand for tickets would be such that they could charge the same amount for a ticket in the first row of the lower bowl at the 30 yard line as a ticket in the last row of the upper deck at the goal line. Just as it is ridiculous to charge $299 for corner upper deck seats and $299 for endzone seats when the temp stands that are higher up and thus offer a better view can be purchased for $175. I'm inclined to believe that Miller and co. looked at the pricing structure of Mosaic Stadium a couple years ago and said, "hey, let's charge something similar to them" not taking into account that Rider fans are willing to pay a higher price point for seats, in addition to the team in the midst of a period of relative success. Here is Mosaic's seating chart. https://www.google.ca/search?q=2013+grey+Cup++seating+chart&espv=2&biw=1422&bih=1036&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCoQsARqFQoTCPOQlfuau8cCFUoziAodbWAK2w&dpr=0.9#imgrc=lo9mVcMg91bFrM%3A What he should have done was limit the number of Grey Cup tickets priced at $399. Limit it to an area between the goal lines in the lower bowl and the first 5 - 7 rows between the 30 yard lines in the upper deck. Most of those upper deck seats that are selling poorly at $399 should have seen another price point applied. $299 from the 10 yard line to the 10 yard line, or goal line to goal line. The upper deck corner endzone seats should have sold for $225 or $250 instead of the ridiculous price of $299. Endzone seats should have sold for $199 instead of $250. Temps, I think were fine, but should have had the option for a $25 discount instead of 0 discount. Had it been priced correctly, the game would have been a near sellout at the beginning of the season and the Bombers would have seen larger gate revenue even with the lower average ticket price...primarily due to not having to reduce capacity by 4000 and probably not having to discount or give away thousands of tickets to corporations, volunteers and charities. I think Noeller is correct in stating that the Bombers won't be hosting for a long time after this. It's doubtful there will be a Grey Cup in Winnipeg for 12-14 years after this unless a miracle happens with ticket sales. This just seems to be another in a long line of poor decisions made by this organization. Plain greed, and over-optimistic projections will result in potential millions in revenues lost. Maybe Miller isn't the great businessman some people think he is?

And we wonder why the middle class is being squeezed in this country and in the US.

conservative party appears to be in full meltdown mode right now.

Ken King has stated that it's this plan or nothing. There is no Plan B...... City council will call his bluff. The funding model will change, the stadium/arena concept will change. Who knows - even the site may change.

It will be interesting how the proposal and renders for this project will change over the coming years. Remember how many different renders there were for the new winnipeg stadium. First, at Assiniboine Downs, then the old stadium site, then Point Douglas and finally the U of M Campus along with the proposal from Ledohowski in St. B. Wouldn't be surprised if this project gets whittled down to an arena and the orginal plans for the $200 million fieldhouse, maybe with a Flames practice rink attached. Stamps probably get stuck with a refurb.

When the Jets were here, the city was a black hole for much of the 80s and 90s. In the early 2000s, the city and province began growing again primarily due to the provincial nominee program. Jets did not create some sort of economic boom when they came back though some like to spin that narrative.

MTS Centre is not at all a comparable funding model to the Calgary proposal. 90 Million funding - True North 44 million - 3 levels of government Calgary proposal calls for the majority to be funded by the gov't and they haven't even factored in the remediation costs. World of difference between $44 million and $690 million.

You have to factor in the opportunity cost of providing all the taxpayer funds for a project like this. Why subsidize a stadium/arena complex for the benefit of crappy, minimum wage part-time jobs when you could just as easily subsidize some other corporate interest that would provide full-time decent paying jobs...or deal with pressing infrastructure needs with that money instead. Those construction jobs are nothing more than temporary and are always the go-to response from proprietors of such projects and the the die-hard sports fans who parrot this nonsense. A sports team is but a small part of a city's identity. If it is all you have, that is pretty sad. When the Jets left, live went on as usual and the city did not suffer some personal identity crisis nor did it dry up. Stadium and arena funding in smaller cities are pretty much a necessity to allow for financial viability but within reason. No one wants to see a city that is encumbered by such a financial obligation as to cut essential municipal services as has been done in Cincinatti and Glendale. Good ol' Ken King. Trying to pull the wool over the eyes of Calgarians and the city council. I loved how king and those renders emphasized that this is a EVENT CENTRE and a FIELDHOUSE as if this project is being primarily built for the public first and foremost. haha. In reality the arena will be a professional sports facility for the Flames, the Hitman (yeah, they are amateur but you still pay to see them), and the Roughnecks. Then you add another 100-120 events per year, factor in off days for maintenance, concert set-up and takedown, creating and melting ice and there might be 50 or so days available for public use..of course almost all those would be available at a steep rental price. There might be a few days that the Flames organization makes the building available to the public for no charge like a fan appreciation day but those will be few and far between. Making money is the primary reason for the arena while public use will be given little thought. I also love how King piggybacks the idea of a domed stadium onto the plans of fieldhouse. Since the City had discussed funding a $200 million indoor facility it basically reduces by 50% the estimated amount it would cost for a 30,000 seat domed stadium. The problem for the city though, besides the outrageous costs, is that a shared facility with pro sports teams greatly reduces the amount of time the public has access to the facility. Between the Stamps games and practices, pro soccer team games and practice and a few concerts, the facility will probably lose 80-100 days of public use whereas a spending that $200 million on a standalone facility for the public guarantees them 365 days a year of open public access. Fortunately, Calgarians and the city council will see right through King's attempts as selling this as a primary public event centre. They will also be expecting a substantially larger contribution from private interests than the proposed funding model suggests. They might have to wait that long to get Nenshi voted out of power and get someone "more favourable to the cause" voted in...... http://calgaryherald.com/sports/hockey/nhl/calgary-flames/flames-reveal-details-of-900m-downtown-arena-stadium-planSo what is a 240 mill Community Revitalization Levy? Sounds like a tax. Pretty much. It will be a loan from the government. These CRFs are far from a guarantee too. So basically, the Flames are asking the government to subsidize half this project...and probably pay for the entire clean-up of the site. Won't happen. This is probably the first of a series of proposals we will be seeing in the coming years. I think it will be 8-10 years before anything is actually built. Fasten your seatbelts - it's going to be a long and bumpy ride.

Shame to lose one of the league's top players. I don't think the loss will prevent the Lions from winning this week as BC Place has been a guaranteed loss for the Als for several seasons. Must have something to do with moving 3 timezones.

Can't stand the Ticats or their fans, especially certain forum members. CHeered for the Riders in the 2013 Grey Cup and I cheered for the Stamps in 2014. I quite enjoyed the whining on their forum and on CFL.ca forum over the perceived "bad call" on the Brandon Banks punt return touchdown. They are the best team in the east, I wil grant them that - thought they would go 12-6 for the season and meet the Eskies in the Grey Cup. If they do advance to the Grey Cup this poster is not too worried about a Ticat victory. Fact is, tabbies don't handle the cold too well. They have never won a playoff game in Winnipeg in their entire history.