Investors Group Field | Winnipeg

[micheal]

Originally Posted by esquire

The end zone seats in Regina are the cheap seats. In Winnipeg, there are, as buzzg pointed out, objectively better seats available for less money, so end zones tend to be the last ones to sell. Usually the priciest seats and cheap seats tend to sell the fastest... it's the mid range ones that linger.

Good point.

[esquire]

^ I'm just surprised that the Bombers haven't acted on the fact that the end zone seats are the ones that people want to sit in the least. When I sat in the end zone last week (bought tickets there on a lark), I was surrounded by groups like teams, kids from northern reserves, etc. Hardly any regular individual fans.

Maybe there is method to the madness, but it isn't clear to me.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by buzzg

I'm in section 214, row 2 (second from the end on the upper deck).

I think one of the best deals in the whole stadium is the upper deck corner sections below the break. The corner sections are key as they are only six seats across so not a lot of people walking in front of you all game long. Mine are row 2 which on an aisle which is about as perfect as you can get as row 1 in the upper deck all have some level of obstructed view thanks to the safety rail.

As for the end zone, not sure I ever followed their full logic in pricing but they had been trying to inch up pricing on all the other sections while leaving the end zones untouched. One of the other pieces is the end zones are the main seats that are not under the roof when it rains.

[esquire]

^ Completely agree, I think the bottom rows of the upper deck are the best seats in the entire place. You can basically get primo A1 seats for $27 a game on a season plan... they might be on the goal line but the views are still awesome.

I have to admit I've always wanted to try what I call the poor man's club seats, the semi-private strip of like 6 seats directly above the upper deck vomitories.

[buzzg]

That's where I am Cory, it's great.

The pricing strategy is so bizarre to me, it's honestly as if they made the decisions before actually checking the seats out. Not sure if they thought being in the lower bowl was a privilege, because it's definitely not.

There's several reasons why they should be cheaper than most of the upper bowl, at least the lower part:
- the view is markedly worse
- no protection from rain
- lower concourse is a gong show
- they should want to pack the lower bowl first!!!

They should want the lower bowl to be packed first and foremost as that's mostly what's seen on TV, especially the end zones. Not only is it just good in general for the stadium to look fuller on TV, but if it looks full (and isn't) more people are likely to go because its being seen as cool and fun (we know how Winnipeggers are). If it looks half empty, regardless of the upper deck, it makes people less inclined to go to the next game (aside from season ticket holders).

Also I think they need to adjust the corner prices to move the premium one section over because 101, 114, 126, 137 are always empty.. who would pay more to sit one section over when they're both on the corner?

[UPP]

I guess I'm kinda old, but I remember back in the day, in Regina, when all tickets were the same price. You bought your tickets early to get the best seats possible for $11.50. The only exception was the Junior QB club which were $5 in the endzone bleachers.

How times have changed.

[buzzg]

That was also probably long before there were crowds of 30,000 people.

[CoryB]

That said the new Bomber of Life plan basically have the existing pricing tiers locked in so unless they cut the pricing in the end zone sections, or build a new stadium, little is going to change.

[rrskylar]

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sp...453925953.html

excerpt:


With an announced crowd of 25,034 for the final regular season home game of 2017, the Bombers finish the regular season with a total attendance of 249,129.

That works out to an average of 27,681 fans per game per game this season, a big improvement over the 25,935 fans per game the Bombers averaged in 2016.

And that’s big news for anyone with a stake in Investors Group Field, which is to say every single Manitoban.

Attendance at IGF had been in freefall ever since the building opened in 2013. The Bombers averaged 30,637 fans per game that first season at IGF, but attendance had declined every season since, dropping to 28,314 in 2014; 26,745 in 2015; and finally bottoming out last year with what was the lowest average attendance for the club since 2009, when they were still playing at dilapidated Canad Inns Stadium.

It was an alarming trend and it spelled big trouble if it had continued, both for a team carrying a $185 million mortgage on their new football palace and the taxpayers of this province who hold that note.

And that’s why amidst all the gloom on Saturday afternoon concerning a Bombers team that seems to have found itself in a tailspin at the worst possible time of the season, there is reason to hope the club has finally gotten things back on the track off the field, if not necessarily on it.

Now, we won’t know what the improved attendance this


And there is reason to believe at least some of this year’s attendance bump had as much to do with deeply discounted tickets as it did with the club’s second winning season in a row on the field.

Surfing the internet this week, I had a Bombers advertisement pop up on me that offered four tickets to Saturday’s game, along with four hot dogs, four bags of chips, four soft drinks and a parking pass for the incredible price of just $97.

When you consider the parking pass alone in that deal is worth 20 bucks, the club was almost giving away tickets this weekend to try and get some butts in the seats on a frigid weekend.

But on the other hand, I’ve been hearing stories circulating all season long about deeply discounted tickets to Bombers games and if I’ve been hearing them, you have to figure at least some of those stories have also gotten back to the club’s loyal season ticket base.

Imagine how happy you were on Saturday to park your car in your full price spot, sit in your full price seat and chow down on your full price concessions only to have four yahoos plunk down next to you with a story about how they’re enjoying all the same things as you, except it’s practically free for them because they aren’t nearly as loyal to this team as you are.

[esquire]

So attendance is rising again

[Riverman]

Sure did look empty on TV yesterday.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Sure did look empty on TV yesterday.

I agree. I think there were a lot of no shows. Personally I find Saturday afternoon a terribly inconvenient time for a football game, I'm sure a lot of others do too.

But anyway, getting back to the article, the Bombers clearly lost a lot of fans during their 5 years of losing. But they're winning again and the fans are starting to come back.

[trueviking]

Very suspect numbers. Average of 27,000 means there was 3-4,000 no shows for most games.

No more than 18,000 there yesterday. Most games looked to be 24,000 or so.

[pegcityboy]

Long time season ticket holder, I would love to know how many people stand or roam around the councourse . Some games I would bet 2,000 - 3,000 ! Around us there was several no shows , I think TV is close on guess anywhere from 18,000- 20,000 there. Revenues are way up at IGF with club seats and loge seats and boxes , as long as 25,000 paid yesterday , I'm ok with that !

[The Unknown Poster]

Originally Posted by pegcityboy

Long time season ticket holder, I would love to know how many people stand or roam around the councourse . Some games I would bet 2,000 - 3,000 ! Around us there was several no shows , I think TV is close on guess anywhere from 18,000- 20,000 there. Revenues are way up at IGF with club seats and loge seats and boxes , as long as 25,000 paid yesterday , I'm ok with that !

Agreed. Cant judge by butts in seats because X amount are ALWAYS milling around, especially on a chilly day.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Sure did look empty on TV yesterday.

Sad, even with tickets next to free they have a hard time filling the place. Too bad the BB's alienated their fan base for so many years in so many ways, chickens now coming home to roost!

[esquire]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Sad, even with tickets next to free they have a hard time filling the place. Too bad the BB's alienated their fan base for so many years in so many ways, chickens now coming home to roost!

Well, the team is doing better these days and is moving in the right direction... not sure what more you would really expect from them?

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by esquire

Well, the team is doing better these days and is moving in the right direction... not sure what more you would really expect from them?

Sure the team is doing better and somewhat moving in the right direction but I think the BB's lost a lot of their fan base in a lot ways and lot of them will never come back.

BB fans are a lot different than lets say 20-30 years ago, no one wants to go to a sporting event and sit in the cold, just too many entertainment options these days!

[buzzg]

Yeah attendance and general favour for the team is definitely up this year, but Saturday there's no way there was even 20,000 people there. I was shocked. Overall, organization is doing much better and that's what matters.

I think a big factor this weekend was that (even though now it has changed) the Bombers were almost a lock to get a home playoff game, and guaranteed to at least be in the playoffs, so people may not have viewed the game as being that important... plus it was against BC. I also know that the timing of it being 3pm on Halloween weekend made several people I know skip it because they had lots to get ready for..

[esquire]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

Sure the team is doing better and somewhat moving in the right direction but I think the BB's lost a lot of their fan base in a lot ways and lot of them will never come back.

I dunno... I remember attendance dropped off pretty sharply when the team sucked in the late 90s before Khari Jones, Milt Stegall, Juran Bolden, etc. turned the team around. People thought the team was done for back then... going to a game in those years was kind of grim, sometimes the most entertaining thing to happen was watching a drunken brawl in the stands.

But yet when the team started winning, the crowds returned in the 2000s and stayed there until the most recent protracted streak of losing.

It always looks dire when the team is losing and fans stay away, but they somehow have a tendency to come back once the team gets hot again. Maybe the 60 year old guys will opt to stay home and watch on TV and won't come back if it's colder than 20c, but there are plenty of young people who like to go and have a good time.

I agree with buzzg's assessment... I was a bit surprised by the number of no-shows, but the general sentiment that it was kind of a nothing game (even though home playoffs are still on the line) combined with chilly weather and a very busy time for most families means that a lot of people passed on the game. Personally I think Saturday afternoons are a brutal time for football games in general.