Quote:
Originally Posted by elly63
I'd tend to agree with that but why are we hung up on that 20k figure, it'll never get better? A large number of people said Ottawa football would be impossible to resurrect and yet it happened. At one point the Saskatchewan Roughriders were trading season tickets for grain and since they have built the best stadium in Canada, better than Montreal better than Toronto. Sometimes things get better.
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I don't think it's a matter of this being a down time with an inevitable upswing coming. Overall, the CFL is
relatively healthy. The winds have changed overall.
Leagues everywhere are reconsidering the raw capacity of stadiums, or at least holding the line when building new. Several factors are making it tougher for anyone to fill seats. That's why most new stadiums focus on the extended "experience" rather than just offering a nice place to watch the game.
A large part of that is making it feel like the hip place to be. Everyone likes being a part of an exclusive club, and building a stadium that is sized to ride the edge of scarcity does that. I'd bet that part of Ottawa's quickly resurgent CFL cachet comes from the fact that the stadium is small and typically full. Manufactured scarcity is a successful marketing strategy in any number of industries.
On the other hand, sitting alone in a row in a cavernous Commonwealth or BC Place does the exact opposite. That is
not hip, especially for young people, and the overall atmosphere takes a hit. Maybe that mattered less in 1990 or whatever, because the broadcast coverage couldn't touch the live experience. But, now we have 70-inch TVs with pore-level resolution, Spidercams hovering overhead, and CGI-assisted 360 degree views. The world has changed, and it's not enough to put a good product on the field at a reasonable price. Calgary might be the best current example of that.
I really hope that Halifax lands on a "nice" 20,000 seat stadium rather than a basic 25,000 or 30,000. Make it the hot ticket in town, rather than something that comes for free with your pizza order. Add on later, if need and finances agree.