CFL - 2024 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[HardCoreBlue]

  On 2024-10-28 at 1:39 AM, JCon said:

Ambrosie went in front of govt with no plan. That is a fireable offence and should have been it for him. Absolute embarrassment. 

Can't treat the Commissioner position like a an honorary role, which he did. No plan and the CFL is far worse off now. 

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To me he came across as someone who let others know how prestigious this role is rather than someone who genuinely wanted to serve the league and others who actually do the work.

[Booch]

so Saturday was Fan Appreciation day in Regina for that game....makes that crowd even more pathetic

[Goalie]

5 4 no vote to extend was the rumor. Gotta wonder who the 5 were.  I feel wade and the blue were one of the 5 honestly. Wade knows the league hasn’t gotten better under Ambrosie. We have as an organization and team but nobody really else has. Sask has gotten worse off field. Toronto still Toronto. Molson stadium still not ideal.  Less fan support in prettt much every market minus Winnipeg (larger cfl stadium)Ottawa and Hamilton (they have tiny stadiums tho) 

Edited October 28, 2024 by Goalie

[bigg jay]

  On 2024-10-28 at 3:47 PM, Goalie said:

5 4 no vote to extend was the rumor. Gotta wonder who the 5 were.  I feel wade and the blue were one of the 5 honestly. Wade knows the league hasn’t gotten better under Ambrosie. We have as an organization and team but nobody really else has. Sask has gotten worse off field. Toronto still Toronto. Molson stadium still not ideal.  Less fan support in prettt much every market minus Winnipeg (larger cfl stadium)Ottawa and Hamilton (they have tiny stadiums tho) 

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You sure about that?  The CFL had it's best year since the pandemic so in terms of attendance from last year to this year, here's what each team did.  You can tell which teams have been successful on the field and which have not over the last few seasons.  

BC - up 15.8%

Edmonton - down 17.3%

Calgary - down 0.7%

Saskatchewan - up 0.1%

Winnipeg - up 2.5%

Toronto - up 5.7%

Ottawa - up 0.1%

Hamilton - down 3.8%

Montreal - up 20%

https://3downnation.com/2024/10/28/cfl-regular-season-attendance-grows-1-percent-from-2023-to-2024/

[JuranBoldenRules]

The piss poor efforts of the CFL to grow the game at grassroots is felt across the country.  Luckily the Bombers pick up the slack in Manitoba.  We have more initiatives sponsored by NFL than CFL.  Most kids aside from a few diehards gravitate to NFL.

Officiating at all levels is awful.  CFL is pulling up refs who don't know basic rules and struggle at amateur level.  Ambrosie has to wear this mess but especially the CFL level with the Command Centre debacles on an almost weekly basis.

[JCon]

  On 2024-10-28 at 4:09 PM, bigg jay said:

You sure about that?  The CFL had it's best year since the pandemic so in terms of attendance from last year to this year, here's what each team did.  You can tell which teams have been successful on the field and which have not over the last few seasons.  

BC - up 15.8%

Edmonton - down 17.3%

Calgary - down 0.7%

Saskatchewan - up 0.1%

Winnipeg - up 2.5%

Toronto - up 5.7%

Ottawa - up 0.1%

Hamilton - down 3.8%

Montreal - up 20%

https://3downnation.com/2024/10/28/cfl-regular-season-attendance-grows-1-percent-from-2023-to-2024/

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I would like to see the stats comparing the beginning of Ambrosie's term to the present. 

[wbbfan]

  On 2024-10-28 at 4:09 PM, bigg jay said:

You sure about that?  The CFL had it's best year since the pandemic so in terms of attendance from last year to this year, here's what each team did.  You can tell which teams have been successful on the field and which have not over the last few seasons.  

BC - up 15.8%

Edmonton - down 17.3%

Calgary - down 0.7%

Saskatchewan - up 0.1%

Winnipeg - up 2.5%

Toronto - up 5.7%

Ottawa - up 0.1%

Hamilton - down 3.8%

Montreal - up 20%

https://3downnation.com/2024/10/28/cfl-regular-season-attendance-grows-1-percent-from-2023-to-2024/

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I agree with your point. Tv ratings were pretty good too out side of ctv. 
 I however also don’t trust those numbers. Any one who thinks ssk was up in attendance has lost it. But some times actual attendance is hidden with give aways and tickets being sold but those people not coming. 
 
I think fan engagement wise the cfl is in ok shape, but a league like this does need to constantly be grinding away to improve it any way they can. That’s our life blood. 

[bigg jay]

  On 2024-10-28 at 4:28 PM, JCon said:

I would like to see the stats comparing the beginning of Ambrosie's term to the present. 

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I'll see if I can find individual team breakdowns but on the whole, 2024 league attendance was 0.6% lower than 2019 (his 2nd full season as commissioner) so it's fairly close to the same. 

  On 2024-10-28 at 4:36 PM, wbbfan said:

I agree with your point. Tv ratings were pretty good too out side of ctv. 
 I however also don’t trust those numbers. Any one who thinks ssk was up in attendance has lost it. But some times actual attendance is hidden with give aways and tickets being sold but those people not coming. 
 
I think fan engagement wise the cfl is in ok shape, but a league like this does need to constantly be grinding away to improve it any way they can. That’s our life blood. 

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For sure, I mean Edmonton had a bigger drop in gate revenue than they did in attendance so it looks like they gave away more tickets than before just to get butts in the seats.  Every team does this though, so all those numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt.

[Booch]

wonder how this person felt lying to Yosh??...hahaha

  On 2024-10-28 at 4:09 PM, bigg jay said:

You sure about that?  The CFL had it's best year since the pandemic so in terms of attendance from last year to this year, here's what each team did.  You can tell which teams have been successful on the field and which have not over the last few seasons.  

BC - up 15.8%

Edmonton - down 17.3%

Calgary - down 0.7%

Saskatchewan - up 0.1%

Winnipeg - up 2.5%

Toronto - up 5.7%

Ottawa - up 0.1%

Hamilton - down 3.8%

Montreal - up 20%

https://3downnation.com/2024/10/28/cfl-regular-season-attendance-grows-1-percent-from-2023-to-2024/

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[GCn20]

  On 2024-10-28 at 3:42 PM, Booch said:

so Saturday was Fan Appreciation day in Regina for that game....makes that crowd even more pathetic

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Nice...losing a game to the CFL bottom feeders on fan appreciation day. Never change Riders!

[Booch]

  On 2024-10-28 at 5:39 PM, GCn20 said:

Nice...losing a game to the CFL bottom feeders on fan appreciation day. Never change Riders!

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was a tremendous day of Rider sadness and shame all wrapped in one....kind of resembles their 100+ yrs of existence

[Brandon]

Serious question.... what else is their to do in Regina during a cool Fall night?   I know the city has grown ,  but I'm unaware of the "other" attractions that they would have?  

[Fatty Liver]

  On 2024-10-28 at 7:31 PM, Brandon said:

Serious question.... what else is their to do in Regina during a cool Fall night?   I know the city has grown ,  but I'm unaware of the "other" attractions that they would have?  

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Play find the pumpkin in the haystack with your sister.

[JuranBoldenRules]

  On 2024-10-28 at 5:27 PM, Booch said:

wonder how this person felt lying to Yosh??...hahaha

 

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So basically Covid restrictions to normal to no substantive change in past two years.

At least it's not going down I guess.

  On 2024-10-28 at 4:37 PM, bigg jay said:

I'll see if I can find individual team breakdowns but on the whole, 2024 league attendance was 0.6% lower than 2019 (his 2nd full season as commissioner) so it's fairly close to the same. 

For sure, I mean Edmonton had a bigger drop in gate revenue than they did in attendance so it looks like they gave away more tickets than before just to get butts in the seats.  Every team does this though, so all those numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt.

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Yeah and BC had some big draws, most around paying $1 million plus for a musical act included as part of a ticket to a football game.  Not sure their average otherwise would provide revenue to even pay the bills/payroll.

[bigg jay]

  On 2024-10-28 at 7:31 PM, Brandon said:

Serious question.... what else is their to do in Regina during a cool Fall night?   I know the city has grown ,  but I'm unaware of the "other" attractions that they would have?  

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Top activities include:

or 

[Bubba Zanetti]

  On 2024-10-28 at 7:36 PM, Fatty Liver said:

Play find the pumpkin in the haystack with your sister.

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"Wait now, thats no pumpkin! You done fooled me twice Jethro!"

Edited October 28, 2024 by Bubba Zanetti

[Jpan85]

Edmonton really screws the attendance figures. If they had a competitive team, they probably average a minimum of 5000 more people, which would be 45,000 extra.

[wbbfan]

  On 2024-10-28 at 7:31 PM, Brandon said:

Serious question.... what else is their to do in Regina during a cool Fall night?   I know the city has grown ,  but I'm unaware of the "other" attractions that they would have?  

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Sit around and watch the cars rust. 

[SpeedFlex27]

  On 2024-10-28 at 3:27 PM, HardCoreBlue said:

To me he came across as someone who let others know how prestigious this role is rather than someone who genuinely wanted to serve the league and others who actually do the work.

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Cut to the chase. He was useless as Commssioner. But he has a collection of scarves now from around the world. 

[JohnnyAbonny]

  On 2024-10-29 at 1:22 AM, SpeedFlex27 said:

Cut to the chase. He was useless as Commssioner. But he has a collection of scarves now from around the world. 

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Someone else said it earlier, the only good thing from his tenure was having the playoffs moved to Saturday, and even then some others mileage may vary. 

Edited October 29, 2024 by JohnnyAbonny

[SpeedFlex27]

  On 2024-10-29 at 1:44 AM, JohnnyAbonny said:

Someone else said it earlier, the only good thing from his tenure was having the playoffs moved to Saturday, and even then some others mileage may vary. 

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He sold a few Diversity Is Strength tee shirts. 

[Rod Black]

  On 2024-10-28 at 5:39 PM, GCn20 said:

Nice...losing a game to the CFL bottom feeders on fan appreciation day. Never change Riders!

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Fan Appreciation night is nothing more than having a sale on decaying weiners, stale buns, rancid peanuts, skunky beer and shitty merch that no one would want. Don’t wanna hang onto that stuff til next year. 

[SpeedFlex27]

Worried about the Stampeders, gang. Fans were expecting that there would be major changes at the top at GM & HC. Team Prez Jay MacNeil walked out of his office today & said that Dickenson will be back as both HC & GM because he "deserves a chance to turn it around". On social media, fans by the dozens started screaming & posting they're not renewing their season tickets. Considering that there was only about 3,000 season ticket holders to begin with then this is serious ****.  Once you lose these fans, it'll be awful hard to get them back. This team could fold. Murray Edwards who owns the Stamps refuses to spend any money on the team. He won't split the GM & HC duties so Dickenson stays.

I was thinking today that it's the Calgary Stampeder Alumni who actually run the team. Hufnagel is a consultant who still wields a lot of power. Dickenson is his former OC & qb. Jay MacNeil was Dickenson's Center & Nik Lewis was Dickenson's receiver. Meanwhile STC Mark Killam has been in that position for nearly 25 years so Dickenson was a player on the team when Killam was his coach & then a coordinator under Dickenson.

THIS... is exactly why when there is a coaching change, a clean slate is needed to start over so this kind of situation should never be allowed to happen. 

Edited October 29, 2024 by SpeedFlex27

[Deiter Fan]

A commissioner can do/say whatever he wants but nothing brings in fans more than having a competitive team. And we can see the reality of that in attendance figures this year. The Bombers were a different animal in that even tho they were sh*tting the bed early on they had the benefit of the faith and goodwill generated over the last few years of success.

Win games and they will come.

[SpeedFlex27]

  On 2024-10-29 at 5:32 AM, Deiter Fan said:

A commissioner can do/say whatever he wants but nothing brings in fans more than having a competitive team. And we can see the reality of that in attendance figures this year. The Bombers were a different animal in that even tho they were sh*tting the bed early on they had the benefit of the faith and goodwill generated over the last few years of success.

Win games and they will come.

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Teams like the Stamps & Elks used up that goodwill years ago. The minute teams take their fanbases for granted, the trouble begins. With the Stamps, the fans feel betrayed as the ownership doesn't care. I believe that trust is gone in both Edmonton & Calgary. Getting that trust back will take a long time.