2017 CFL Season

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Horus

Grey Cup tickets go on sale to the general public at 10am today!
Reports are that only about 3000 tickets remain.

As of yesterday, the price was $290 for end zone tickets. Friends bought 4 yesterday through a special season ticket holder code. I already have my season seats purchased for the Grey Cup. I will be at the first pre-season game tonight.

[esquire]

If you're interested enough to check this thread then you probably already know, but ICYMI legendary coach Don Matthews​ died at the age of 77.

You can make a pretty solid case for him as GOAT... There wouldn't be more than four or five others up at his lofty level in terms of CFL coaches.

RIP "The Don"!!

[TimB09]

Originally Posted by esquire

If you're interested enough to check this thread then you probably already know, but ICYMI legendary coach Don Matthews​ died at the age of 77.

You can make a pretty solid case for him as GOAT... There wouldn't be more than four or five others up at his lofty level in terms of CFL coaches.

RIP "The Don"!!

He was a legend for sure.

Wally Buono and him are top 2 for sure. Who else would have up there for coaches?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by TimB09

He was a legend for sure.

Wally Buono and him are top 2 for sure. Who else would have up there for coaches?

Not all the best coaches had especially long CFL careers... guys like Hugh Campbell and Bud Grant had amazing records, but ended up going to the NFL. John Hufnagel was great but he didn't stay on as long as some of the other top coaches too. You'd have to consider Frank Clair and Ron Lancaster, and being a homer I'll throw Cal Murphy out there too.

But yeah, the short list is probably Matthews and Buono!

[TimB09]

Originally Posted by esquire

Not all the best coaches had especially long CFL careers... guys like Hugh Campbell and Bud Grant had amazing records, but ended up going to the NFL. John Hufnagel was great but he didn't stay on as long as some of the other top coaches too. You'd have to consider Frank Clair and Ron Lancaster, and being a homer I'll throw Cal Murphy out there too.

But yeah, the short list is probably Matthews and Buono!

All great CFL names!

If Huff had stayed on a little longer with the Stamps as a HC he'd be in the top 3 for wins all-time for sure. Hell of a coach!

[lrt's friend]

Guaranteed loss for the RedBlacks tonight. They are taking mostly prospects to Montreal.

[khabibulin]

Originally Posted by Horus

Grey Cup tickets go on sale to the general public at 10am today!
Reports are that only about 3000 tickets remain.

I did not count all the little green circles (seats available for sale) on the seating map, but it looks like they are down to about 500 seats left. For sure under 1000. Nice to finally see a grey cup on the verge of selling out early, and not have to drop the price of the tickets in August!

[esquire]

Originally Posted by khabibulin

I did not count all the little green circles (seats available for sale) on the seating map, but it looks like they are down to about 500 seats left. For sure under 1000. Nice to finally see a grey cup on the verge of selling out early, and not have to drop the price of the tickets in August!

Most of them have sold out fairly quickly for the last decade plus... last year was the most conspicuous exception in a while.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by khabibulin

I did not count all the little green circles (seats available for sale) on the seating map, but it looks like they are down to about 500 seats left. For sure under 1000. Nice to finally see a grey cup on the verge of selling out early, and not have to drop the price of the tickets in August!

All they have to do is tell the public here in Ottawa that if they want tickets, they better purchase them very soon. That should create another surge in sales.

[TimB09]

Originally Posted by khabibulin

I did not count all the little green circles (seats available for sale) on the seating map, but it looks like they are down to about 500 seats left. For sure under 1000. Nice to finally see a grey cup on the verge of selling out early, and not have to drop the price of the tickets in August!

Should have added more seats! What is the capacity? 40,000?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by TimB09

Should have added more seats! What is the capacity? 40,000?

Less than that. With the new buildings along Bank St. there is a lot less room for temporary seating than there was before.

Ottawa appears to have found a pretty good balance between supply and demand with TD Place's capacity such as it is, but I have to admit I wish they made the new south side stands just a bit bigger.

[khabibulin]

Originally Posted by TimB09

Should have added more seats! What is the capacity? 40,000?

Capacity for the Grey Cup in Ottawa is 35,000.

[tomthumb2]

Originally Posted by khabibulin

Capacity for the Grey Cup in Ottawa is 35,000.

That's ALL?? Man, talk about setting the bar low. I guess they can only squeeze in so many in temp seats?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

That's ALL?? Man, talk about setting the bar low. I guess they can only squeeze in so many in temp seats?

Outdoor stadiums in urban settings like Montreal and Ottawa are really boxed in... there just isn't much room to add temp seating anymore. Last couple of times Ottawa hosted the GC (1988 and 2004) before all the development, capacity was somewhere around 55,000.

[khabibulin]

Originally Posted by esquire

Most of them have sold out fairly quickly for the last decade plus... last year was the most conspicuous exception in a while.

Nope. Last 3 Grey Cups have been a scramble at the end to sell out.

Published Saturday, November 29, 2014 6:19PM EST
“Great seats still available” has become the unofficial slogan of the 102nd Grey Cup in Vancouver, where organizers are struggling to drum up fan interest ahead of the CFL championship on Sunday. The 2014 Grey Cup between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Calgary Stampeders at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. More than 50,000 attended, but only after tickets were reduced in price or given away

First posted: Friday, August 21, 2015 01:10 PM CDT
Ticket sales for the upcoming CFL Grey Cup game in Winnipeg are failing to meet expectations. And if ticket sales, currently at a snail's pace, don't pick up significantly over the next 12 weeks, the crowd could be the smallest for a Grey Cup in four decades. The Winnipeg Sun learned the host Blue Bombers have quietly reduced capacity for the Nov. 29 classic to just 36,634, down from the original plan to have 40,000 seats. It's the smallest Grey Cup capacity since the 1970s.



By CURTIS RUSHNOV. 25, 2016
The host Toronto Argonauts and the league seemed to misread the market by setting ticket prices between $189 and $899. By October, when half the seats remained unsold, they slashed the prices of the lowest-cost seats to $89. A sellout is now expected at the open-air stadium, which was expanded to about 35,000 seats for the game, thanks to a spike in sales on Monday after the East and West finals sent the Ottawa Redblacks into the Cup against the Calgary Stampeders. The Grey Cup Festival Committee announced Wednesday that fewer than 2,000 tickets remained.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by khabibulin

Nope. Last 3 Grey Cups have been a scramble at the end to sell out.

I said most of them, not all of them, sold out fairly quickly... last year in Toronto was the only year where they seemed to have real trouble moving tickets right from the start.

[esquire]

Bombers finish the pre-season 0-0-2... WTF

[TimB09]

Originally Posted by esquire

Bombers finish the pre-season 0-0-2... WTF

Did you go to the game esquire? Being an Esks fan we didn't get to watch the game so was wondering how the game was.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by TimB09

Did you go to the game esquire? Being an Esks fan we didn't get to watch the game so was wondering how the game was.

No, I had another commitment so I had to give my tickets away... what a drag! I'll be at the next game, though.

I read the recap on cfl.ca and it sounds like a pretty lame performance by the Bombers, the starters got pushed around a bit by your backups and tryouts. However, I am intrigued by the 78 yard field goal that the Bomber kicker who isn't Justin Medlock apparently nailed according to the stat sheet... what's that about?

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by esquire

Outdoor stadiums in urban settings like Montreal and Ottawa are really boxed in... there just isn't much room to add temp seating anymore. Last couple of times Ottawa hosted the GC (1988 and 2004) before all the development, capacity was somewhere around 55,000.

The west end zone has a new tower there so not as many temporary seats can be added but the real culprit in Ottawa is the size of the new permanent grand stand. I doubt he holds much more than 10,000 people.

Despite being an urban site, Ottawa can eventually boost permanent capacity substantially if the old north grand stand is demolished, moved back to the edge of the lot line, and a mirror of the south grand stand built. If one does this enough room is created to build a sunken bowl of about 20,000 between each grandstand.

You could get permanent seating of about 40,000 between the goal lines if it's designed to maximize the lot. For Grey Cups you could add another 15,000 to the east end zone and get that place to 55,000 without adding anything to the west end zone.

As this is Canada people will assume that Ottawa will never ever need a bigger stadium and they'll hem this place in on all sides.