Blue Bomber Attendance

[17to85]

I just have no respect for fans in Winnipeg who don't go to the games because it's too far. What I wouldn't give to be able to attend games. 

[Brandon]

6 hours ago, Goalie said:

I think temperatures in the 30s and a large number of young growing families with cabins plays a bigger role. I have an almost 4 yr old girl, i want to bring her but shes 3 still so yeah.. I dont go. I do go to my lake with her and her mom and watch on Sat. TV. 

Temperatures yes... But I would think the cabin crowd is much older. With house prices and some crazy cabin prices it's to pricey for many a young family to own a cabin.

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, 17to85 said:

I just have no respect for fans in Winnipeg who don't go to the games because it's too far. What I wouldn't give to be able to attend games. 

Maybe for younger people yes, for the older crowd I don't blame them since the commute and parking situation still sucks. 

It definitely was easier to get in and out at the old place. Noticeable difference.

[MOBomberFan]

5 hours ago, nate007 said:

Where are you biking from? Could you load up the bikes and drive part of the way? As long as you drive close enough to access the Bishop Grandin Greenway, you can then get to IGF via the Fort Gary bridge and then going through University Heights and the old golf course without ever being in traffic. 

Also, for future consideration, I believe the 2nd phase of the busway will have a dedicated active transportation route along it as well that should take you right to the stadium.

I appreciate the suggestions. I have a lot of good options including busing, park and ride, parking passes, and so on.

I live a couple blocks west of Polo Park on the South side of Portage. Obviously, the old stadium location was a pretty sweet deal for me as I could walk or bike and be there in no time at all. I had front row seats in the balcony directly overlooking Section S. They were among the best seats in the house and were pretty darn cheap, too. Never missed a game for anything short of weddings or funerals. Then 2013 came with our new stadium already a year late, leaking water from cracks in the balcony down onto the East stands... and on the grand opening preseason game we were getting beat so bad by halftime that people were already trying to leave... but couldn't because traffic was backed up for mile after tragic mile by people still trying to get to the game. It was actually pretty funny. Garth Buchko, Joe Mack, Tim Burke, Max Hall, the whole crew was there and we all know how that season went down.

I still biked or bused to every game mostly without incident. I even ran across ChaosMonkey once or twice. Safely followed the Assiniboine bike path, cross to Wellington, enjoy the nicely swept-twice-a-week roads up to Osborne Village, then take Pembina all the way South to the campus. The painted lines on the road indicating a bike path and plastic bollards every 20 feet made me feel real safe, let me tell you. Going under the tracks was always a treat, especially if it had rained recently. Real nice of people to yield to cyclists at marked bike paths when they're in a rush to get to Staples or A and f'ng W's. The Final Boss was always crossing Bishop over the Pembina bridge and getting past the turnoff without being clipped by someone in a hurry because of all the stadium traffic. Big stretches of this route has been under heavy construction for a couple years and will continue to be under construction for a couple more. Same for Waverly. Kenaston is about to get pretty busy, too. Every major route North and South from my place is fubar'd. Living as far as I do now, in order to drive to the Greenway I'm either detouring to Moray up to Wilkes (risking ******* trains, hence all the construction everywhere!) or going through the construction and stadium traffic... to avoid traffic while biking ahaha.

3 hours ago, 17to85 said:

I just have no respect for fans in Winnipeg who don't go to the games because it's too far. What I wouldn't give to be able to attend games. 

I hope you're just generalizing and not talking about me. Since cancelling my ST's after the 2013 shitshow I've found life is better watching 2/3 of the home games in the company of family and friends where the screens are big, the beers are cheap and varied, and the couch has a butt groove with your name on it. After a recent career change I work just off campus and drive to and from every day. It's certainly not 'too far'. I always wanted to be a 40 year season ticket holder and I'm still young enough to maybe make that happen... but until our roads are better than Baghdad's I'd rather enjoy my game day experience without the hassle or frustration and save the coin for college.

8 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Maybe for younger people yes, for the older crowd I don't blame them since the commute and parking situation still sucks. 

It definitely was easier to get in and out at the old place. Noticeable difference.

According to my neck and my back I'm on the young end of the old crowd. I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed the new place is noticeably worse traffic-wise despite all the tweaks and enhancements. It's just a fact, but you'd actually have to live here and attend games regularly to know this. Unprecedented construction compounds this. The Alberta peanut gallery is entitled to their uninformed opinion, but it's just that.

[MOBomberFan]

It really is a bye week.

[nate007]

20 minutes ago, MOBomberFan said:

I appreciate the suggestions. I have a lot of good options including busing, park and ride, parking passes, and so on.

I live a couple blocks west of Polo Park on the South side of Portage. Obviously, the old stadium location was a pretty sweet deal for me as I could walk or bike and be there in no time at all. I had front row seats in the balcony directly overlooking Section S. They were among the best seats in the house and were pretty darn cheap, too. Never missed a game for anything short of weddings or funerals. Then 2013 came with our new stadium already a year late, leaking water from cracks in the balcony down onto the East stands... and on the grand opening preseason game we were getting beat so bad by halftime that people were already trying to leave... but couldn't because traffic was backed up for mile after tragic mile by people still trying to get to the game. It was actually pretty funny. Garth Buchko, Joe Mack, Tim Burke, Max Hall, the whole crew was there and we all know how that season went down.

I still biked or bused to every game mostly without incident. I even ran across ChaosMonkey once or twice. Safely followed the Assiniboine bike path, cross to Wellington, enjoy the nicely swept-twice-a-week roads up to Osborne Village, then take Pembina all the way South to the campus. The painted lines on the road indicating a bike path and plastic bollards every 20 feet made me feel real safe, let me tell you. Going under the tracks was always a treat, especially if it had rained recently. Real nice of people to yield to cyclists at marked bike paths when they're in a rush to get to Staples or A and f'ng W's. The Final Boss was always crossing Bishop over the Pembina bridge and getting past the turnoff without being clipped by someone in a hurry because of all the stadium traffic. Big stretches of this route has been under heavy construction for a couple years and will continue to be under construction for a couple more. Same for Waverly. Kenaston is about to get pretty busy, too. Every major route North and South from my place is fubar'd. Living as far as I do now, in order to drive to the Greenway I'm either detouring to Moray up to Wilkes (risking ******* trains, hence all the construction everywhere!) or going through the construction and stadium traffic... to avoid traffic while biking ahaha.

I hear you, and I don't blame you for not wanting to bike that route. I'm fortunate that I only live about 25 minutes away from the stadium on foot, but for able-bodied folks, the location really shouldn't be an excuse. There is a ton of parking within a 20-minute walk of the stadium without having to drive on to the campus and deal with congestion (which isn't even that bad) or parking fees.

[Nickthesizz]

59 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Maybe for younger people yes, for the older crowd I don't blame them since the commute and parking situation still sucks. 

It definitely was easier to get in and out at the old place. Noticeable difference.

If you're still having troubles I strongly suggest you reevaluate you method of transportation because I can drive all the way down pembina to university crescent with very little difficulty. sounds like you just live in St. James and are salty you can't just walk to games anymore.

[Jpan85]

Literally I don’t have to wait on drive in and leaving may have to be in line for five max ten minutes to get out of lot. Once out of lot it’s normal traffic.

[JuranBoldenRules]

Just now, Gotmilt said:

If you're still having troubles I strongly suggest you reevaluate you method of transportation because I can drive all the way down pembina to university crescent with very little difficulty. sounds like you just live in St. James and are salty you can't just walk to games anymore.

I don't believe the point is even arguable.  If you park on campus it takes forever to get off.  The other option is parking kilometers away.  If you take the bus it takes a long time to both get onto a bus and then get off the campus.  I've never been to a game where the time from leaving my seat to getting my vehicle onto the Perimeter took less than a hour that's from 2015 on.  Prior to that we still lived in the city and used the park and ride, not much of a difference there, get home between 11:30-midnight.

I think most casual fans would view the games as an event to go to 1 or 2 times a year given the time commitment now.  They've also lost a ton of season ticket holders between 2013 and now, some for on-field reasons who haven't come back, some for off-field (what we're talking about here and negative experiences with the past leadership).  I doubt the days of packing 29,000-30,000 in routinely when the team was competitive, picking up the casual fans, will ever happen at IGF.  IMO the teams the last 3 seasons have been the best we've had this side of 2001 in this millennium and there's certainly lots of hype, but 27,000 is seen as a good crowd. 

I never lived anywhere near the old stadium but going by either car or bus we'd be at our watering hole in our younger days at the complete opposite end of the city within an hour after 0:00 no problem.

They are also competing with HD TV both at home and local bars.

[Goalie]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

Temperatures yes... But I would think the cabin crowd is much older. With house prices and some crazy cabin prices it's to pricey for many a young family to own a cabin.

My parents own our cabin. Its got several bedrooms. Most people at my lake on Lake Manitoba are younger. 

[Chaosmonkey]

1 hour ago, MOBomberFan said:

Safely followed the Assiniboine bike path, cross to Wellington, enjoy the nicely swept-twice-a-week roads up to Osborne Village, then take Pembina all the way South to the campus. The painted lines on the road indicating a bike path and plastic bollards every 20 feet made me feel real safe, let me tell you. Going under the tracks was always a treat, especially if it had rained recently. Real nice of people to yield to cyclists at marked bike paths when they're in a rush to get to Staples or A and f'ng W's. The Final Boss was always crossing Bishop over the Pembina bridge and getting past the turnoff without being clipped by someone in a hurry because of all the stadium traffic.

There are some better routes now that make it a pretty good ride and avoids pretty much all the construction, and you only go down Pembina from Chevier to Plaza. 

 

The two spots I couldn't quite get right on this map are going right by the Transit Yards instead of down Brandon, and the area crossing Jubliee. 

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/South+Point+Park,+Winnipeg,+MB/Investor's+Group+Field,+Chancellor+Matheson+Road,+Winnipeg,+MB/@49.8216666,-97.1501669,14.25z/data=!4m34!4m33!1m25!1m1!1s0x52ea714da82faf93:0x54f10f65fb904941!2m2!1d-97.130377!2d49.8847997!3m4!1m2!1d-97.1425406!2d49.8651357!3s0x52ea741e0ce3d831:0xf95a41a2286fd7cf!3m4!1m2!1d-97.1484812!2d49.8541416!3s0x52ea74247b1e9cfd:0xe141f86798b69ac6!3m4!1m2!1d-97.1476832!2d49.822527!3s0x52ea75c3c78270c9:0x8f42ff1a4a3aa7f7!3m4!1m2!1d-97.1402682!2d49.8117905!3s0x52ea75e5821e87d7:0xf1a770a2a567d821!1m5!1m1!1s0x52ea7377de57b1bb:0x90cef9b21669335b!2m2!1d-97.14305!2d49.80786!3e1

 

Edit: Credit goes to Andres for showing me most of this route when he posted this video: 

 

Edited August 3, 2018 by Chaosmonkey

[Goalie]

Im gonna add.. I think weekday games... Thursdays in particular are tough for people who need to be at work Friday 8am. I dont get the Thursday night games at all. 

[Goalie]

4 hours ago, 17to85 said:

I just have no respect for fans in Winnipeg who don't go to the games because it's too far. What I wouldn't give to be able to attend games. 

I live literally on the exact opposite end of the city and it legit takes 20 25 minutes to get there. I dont get the its 2 far crowd at all. 

[Brandon]

2 hours ago, Gotmilt said:

If you're still having troubles I strongly suggest you reevaluate you method of transportation because I can drive all the way down pembina to university crescent with very little difficulty. sounds like you just live in St. James and are salty you can't just walk to games anymore.

Nope I live on the complete other side of the city.   40 minute drive to University for me (compared to 20 minutes to Polo) ,   last game I went to the walk and drive from parking was not very convenient.     We usually would take the park and ride which was easier but very uncomfortable for my dad sitting in a kids school bus.    He's old, he's sick and for him it's much more enjoyable to watch the game on my 75" screen.   

For me I don't care because I'm physically able to walk long distances and sit in cramped buses.   

In my opinion the CFL and NFL fan is getting really old... a lot of old timers are into CFL.

The location is the absolute shits I don't think anyone really can dispute that.  Had they made it more central I think they would have an easier time drawing more of the casual fans.    

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

My parents own our cabin. Its got several bedrooms. Most people at my lake on Lake Manitoba are younger. 

Around the Grand Beach area it's an older crowd.  Lots of bigger cabins (or year round houses) have been sitting on the market for a long time because it's a hard sell.   

[rebusrankin]

Which location was more central in your opinion?

[Bubba Zanetti]

I absolutely hate where the stadium is now but i still kept my seasons. Around the old stadium there were wayyyyy more options to park for free with a much shorter walk. Now you pay $10 to park and youve still got a 20-30 minute walk in front of you. Brutal in cold weather games. Not gonna lie, a lot of game days its a tough choice for me. 30 minute drive X2 / $10 to park / $7 hotdogs / $12 beers / 30 minute walk X2 / battling post game traffic, vs selling them on kijiji and watching from a comfy couch.

[Booch]

40 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Nope I live on the complete other side of the city.   40 minute drive to University for me (compared to 20 minutes to Polo) ,   last game I went to the walk and drive from parking was not very convenient.     We usually would take the park and ride which was easier but very uncomfortable for my dad sitting in a kids school bus.    He's old, he's sick and for him it's much more enjoyable to watch the game on my 75" screen.   

For me I don't care because I'm physically able to walk long distances and sit in cramped buses.   

In my opinion the CFL and NFL fan is getting really old... a lot of old timers are into CFL.

The location is the absolute shits I don't think anyone really can dispute that.  Had they made it more central I think they would have an easier time drawing more of the casual fans.    

i would bet there are more fans living south of the Polo location than around it or north of it to be honest...it's just one areas convenience has now become a convenience to the fans for 50 yrs who had an inconvenient Polo location...whining for the sake of whining

[rebusrankin]

If you look at Winnipeg and how its growing, its the south end (St Vital, Waverly West) that is growing the most.

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, rebusrankin said:

Which location was more central in your opinion?

St Boniface and Point Douglas ideas were much more centralized.    

[rebusrankin]

3 minutes ago, Brandon said:

St Boniface and Point Douglas ideas were much more centralized.    

They are but there is only one way into the Canada Packers site in St. Boniface and traffic would have been a nightmare. Not many ways into the Point Douglas site either and to be honest, I think some people would have been turned off by Point Douglas.

[Bomber_fanaddict]

Living out of town and having a cabin are cop out excuses. I live out of town and have a cabin yet all 4 of us attend every home game. We take the park and ride as well. If you want to attend the games you make it happen. 

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

St Boniface and Point Douglas ideas were much more centralized.    

You'd take your life into your hands if the stadium was in Point Douglas. 

[SpeedFlex27]

When I lived in Wpg & has ST's I had to leave 90 mins before every home game which made it very challenging getting home after work, changing & having a quick bite to eat. . I lived in Riverview  & had to drive thru congested traffic starting at Kenaston & Grant Avenue & inching all the way to Canad Inns. I never gave it a second thought. It was just the way it was. I wanted to go to the games so I endured it without complaint although it was stressful.  Never missed a game in 26 seasons.  Back in the 70's & 80's weekday evening home games started at 8 pm & most people were happy to have the time to get to the games after work. Today, games start at 6:30 or 7pm  & it would be a challenge to get to games after work with such early starts. 

Edited August 3, 2018 by SpeedFlex27

[Brandon]

25 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

You'd take your life into your hands if the stadium was in Point Douglas. 

Oh I don't disagree but it would be more centralized.   Personally the St Boniface idea with a few new roads would of been ideal.