2016 All Things Lions Marketing & Promotions

[Qman]

I would like to point out that TSN is showing showing sweet F*** all right now at 4pm on saturday.

We could have had 20,000+ plus and 800,000+ on TV right now vs the argonauts

The Whitecaps have a home game tonight (Saturday) so Thursday was probably the only available date for B.C. Place this week. In fact, the Whitecaps have four home games in 11 days, including two straight Saturdays, and a road game on the following Saturday, July 23, which I believe will also be televised on TSN1.That's part of the reason that the Lions will go five weeks between home games.

lions pick their dates first. whitecaps have no impact on the lions, they have to pick their dates around the lions. lions have priority on everything from seat colours to who got the first home game.

looking at the CFL schedule, this game was on a thurs because Toronto has to play their next home game next wednesday due to Molson Indy Weekend in Toronto.

we have 3 road games and a bye between home games because skulsky wants it that way. so they can have 5 fall games.

Ironically, the eskimos want the opposite schedule from the lions. Esks have 6 in summer and 3 in fall. I assume this happened after they didn't get their way in moving the schedule moved back.

[CardiacKid]

Don't know the full story in regards to this but apparently the Lion's organization has decided to no longer support the BCLions Den podcast. This means they will no longer allow(?) or provide Lions' players (and I am assuming employees) to participate in the podcast. If I am following the tweets regarding this correctly, the Lions disapproved of a comment or comments that were put forward by the BCLions Den that were critical of the Lions marketing (or lack thereof).

As mentioned, I am not fully certain of the complete details. But IMO this strikes me as completely counter-productive by the club. To be that belligerent towards someone who is obviously a fan of the club and provides an outlet for discussion about and by extension, publicity for, the team....makes me shake my head.

It almost seems from my standpoint a nerve has been struck with the team and they are fully cognizant their marketing efforts are not adequate. And rather than attempt to establish a dialogue with fans and supporters that is positive, they attempt to quash discussion.

Smacks of arrogance and incredible short-sightedness. I hope this isn't truly symptomatic of the flaws in the organization but I suspect it is. A new infusion of ideas and talent is needed ASAP.

[B.C.FAN]

Don't know the full story in regards to this but apparently the Lion's organization has decided to no longer support the BCLions Den podcast. This means they will no longer allow(?) or provide Lions' players (and I am assuming employees) to participate in the podcast. If I am following the tweets regarding this correctly, the Lions disapproved of a comment or comments that were put forward by the BCLions Den that were critical of the Lions marketing (or lack thereof).

As mentioned, I am not fully certain of the complete details. But IMO this strikes me as completely counter-productive by the club. To be that belligerent towards someone who is obviously a fan of the club and provides an outlet for discussion about and by extension, publicity for, the team....makes me shake my head.

It almost seems from my standpoint a nerve has been struck with the team and they are fully cognizant their marketing efforts are not adequate. And rather than attempt to establish a dialogue with fans and supporters that is positive, they attempt to quash discussion.

Smacks of arrogance and incredible short-sightedness. I hope this isn't truly symptomatic of the flaws in the organization but I suspect it is. A new infusion of ideas and talent is needed ASAP.

I don't know what transpired in this situation but I would welcome more interaction from the club on this forum. As fans, we are often critical of the players, coaches and management of the team but we are also passionate supporters who want the club to succeed on and off the field. I would love for someone from the team to shed light on marketing and promotional strategies and, in particular, discuss how to improve game-day presentation to entice fans into the stadium.

As an aside, I know TSN 1040 has scheduled its annual Presidents Week interviews this month with Skulsky and the heads of the other sports franchises in town. I hope some of the topics that have come up in this thread are brought up on air.

[DanoT]

Don't know the full story in regards to this but apparently the Lion's organization has decided to no longer support the BCLions Den podcast. This means they will no longer allow(?) or provide Lions' players (and I am assuming employees) to participate in the podcast. If I am following the tweets regarding this correctly, the Lions disapproved of a comment or comments that were put forward by the BCLions Den that were critical of the Lions marketing (or lack thereof).

As mentioned, I am not fully certain of the complete details. But IMO this strikes me as completely counter-productive by the club. To be that belligerent towards someone who is obviously a fan of the club and provides an outlet for discussion about and by extension, publicity for, the team....makes me shake my head.

It almost seems from my standpoint a nerve has been struck with the team and they are fully cognizant their marketing efforts are not adequate. And rather than attempt to establish a dialogue with fans and supporters that is positive, they attempt to quash discussion.

Smacks of arrogance and incredible short-sightedness. I hope this isn't truly symptomatic of the flaws in the organization but I suspect it is. A new infusion of ideas and talent is needed ASAP.

This is a great post and as we all know the marketing of the Lions is not very innovative or successful and as mentioned they seem less than interested in input or criticism be it positive or negative from their most enthusiastic fans.

The Lions marketing savvy is reflected in the attendance numbers. OTOH while Braley will not be able to get top dollar for a team that is showing little in the way of a profitable gate it gives the potential new owners a team that can be purchased at a bit of a discount with the potential for increasing fan attendance and profitability.

[DanoT]

I just tried emailing the Lions to tell them what fools they are for not allowing BC Lions players or staff on the BC Lions Den Podcast, but clicking on the contact button on the Lions website leads to a dead end page. So I phoned them and left a voice mail telling the Lions that they are fools and they are proving just how inept their marketing is and that they are getting the fan turn out at games that they deserve.

How about some other Lionbackers doing something similar?

[jcalhoun]

the eastern teams are a terrible draw here.

In in the glory days of mid-80s when the lions drew 50,000 .... they would still draw 28k of OTT and 30k for HAM.

The Eastern teams are a terrible draw, but I think that's mostly because the Eastern Division has been mostly terrible since, well....1980. It's typically dominated by one strong team, and the others are bottom feeders. That appears to be changing, with Ottawa, Toronto and Hamilton looking reasonably competitive this year (and last).

But don't forget the high point in regular season attendance in the last 25 years was a Thursday night game in August against the Argos. Who you're playing and how you're playing matters. Sorta. Doug Flutie vs. Rocket Ismail kinda sells itself.

Cheers,

James

[Hambone]

I would like to point out that TSN is showing showing sweet F*** all right now at 4pm on saturday.

We could have had 20,000+ plus and 800,000+ on TV right now vs the argonauts

The Whitecaps have a home game tonight (Saturday) so Thursday was probably the only available date for B.C. Place this week. In fact, the Whitecaps have four home games in 11 days, including two straight Saturdays, and a road game on the following Saturday, July 23, which I believe will also be televised on TSN1.That's part of the reason that the Lions will go five weeks between home games.

The Thursday game came about because TSN is pushing the Thursday night football thing up until Labour Day. The expectation is that ALL teams will have at least one Thursday home game. Montreal winds up with 3. Edmonton and Winnipeg 2 each. The other 6 teams all get their turn at it too. It was never a matter of whether or not BC would host a Thursday game. Only thing to be determined before the schedule was put out was which Thursday and which opponent. As long as TSN figures TNF is worth continuing you can expect the Lions to have a Thursday home game on their slate.

[sj-roc]

Don't know the full story in regards to this but apparently the Lion's organization has decided to no longer support the BCLions Den podcast. This means they will no longer allow(?) or provide Lions' players (and I am assuming employees) to participate in the podcast. If I am following the tweets regarding this correctly, the Lions disapproved of a comment or comments that were put forward by the BCLions Den that were critical of the Lions marketing (or lack thereof).

As mentioned, I am not fully certain of the complete details. But IMO this strikes me as completely counter-productive by the club. To be that belligerent towards someone who is obviously a fan of the club and provides an outlet for discussion about and by extension, publicity for, the team....makes me shake my head.

It almost seems from my standpoint a nerve has been struck with the team and they are fully cognizant their marketing efforts are not adequate. And rather than attempt to establish a dialogue with fans and supporters that is positive, they attempt to quash discussion.

Smacks of arrogance and incredible short-sightedness. I hope this isn't truly symptomatic of the flaws in the organization but I suspect it is. A new infusion of ideas and talent is needed ASAP.

If what you're saying is true — simply stunning to pull this move at a time when more than ever they need to grow fan support.

The team's beer sponsor is Budweiser; maybe in keeping with this development they should change it to Busch.

[sj-roc]

I just tried emailing the Lions to tell them what fools they are for not allowing BC Lions players or staff on the BC Lions Den Podcast, but clicking on the contact button on the Lions website leads to a dead end page. So I phoned them and left a voice mail telling the Lions that they are fools and they are proving just how inept their marketing is and that they are getting the fan turn out at games that they deserve.

How about some other Lionbackers doing something similar?

A well-meaning gesture I suppose but WADR if the growing number of empty seats isn't lighting a fire under them will this do any better?

Doubtful they will reverse this anytime soon as it will amount to admitting they were wrong.

[Hambone]

looking at the CFL schedule, this game was on a thurs because Toronto has to play their next home game next wednesday due to Molson Indy Weekend in Toronto.

we have 3 road games and a bye between home games because skulsky wants it that way. so they can have 5 fall games.

Ironically, the eskimos want the opposite schedule from the lions. Esks have 6 in summer and 3 in fall. I assume this happened after they didn't get their way in moving the schedule moved back.

I wasn't up to speed on this week's schedule and didn't realize there was a game tonight. It makes total sense. Everybody knows there are only 2 days on the calendar year where there isn't a pro sports game out of one of North America's major sports leagues. Those 2 days are the day before and the day after the MLB All-Star game although MLB does get a good audience from their Home Run Derby the night before the All-Star game. The CFL would be missing a great opportunity by not scheduling a game tonight given there is zero competition for sports viewership.

As for the rest if Skulsky wants it that way that's a good thing because it's well documented that the fans want it that way and the numbers prove it. Can't speak for the Eskimos. I don't really know if the rumblings of moving the schedule up were coming from there, Saskatchewan or all of the prairie teams. Regardless I can understand their preference for home games on the front end given their stadium and climate.

[Qman]

I would like to point out that TSN is showing showing sweet F*** all right now at 4pm on saturday.

We could have had 20,000+ plus and 800,000+ on TV right now vs the argonauts

The Whitecaps have a home game tonight (Saturday) so Thursday was probably the only available date for B.C. Place this week. In fact, the Whitecaps have four home games in 11 days, including two straight Saturdays, and a road game on the following Saturday, July 23, which I believe will also be televised on TSN1.That's part of the reason that the Lions will go five weeks between home games.

The Thursday game came about because TSN is pushing the Thursday night football thing up until Labour Day. The expectation is that ALL teams will have at least one Thursday home game. Montreal winds up with 3. Edmonton and Winnipeg 2 each. The other 6 teams all get their turn at it too. It was never a matter of whether or not BC would host a Thursday game. Only thing to be determined before the schedule was put out was which Thursday and which opponent. As long as TSN figures TNF is worth continuing you can expect the Lions to have a Thursday home game on their slate.

FYI: Winnipeg and Montreal are the two teams that want summer thursday games due to cottage country, etc

I think the real version of why the league and TSN are pushing summer thursday games is they get on national televsion in the US on ESPN.

[David]

If you're going to schedule a Thursday game in Vancouver in the first week of July when only the diehards are thinking about football, then make sure the Lions' opponent has a "S" on the side of their helmets, not an "A."


DH

[sj-roc]

I don't really know if the rumblings of moving the schedule up were coming from there, Saskatchewan or all of the prairie teams. Regardless I can understand their preference for home games on the front end given their stadium and climate.

Funny thing is we sometimes get grief from those corners of the country for supposedly being wimpy fans who want to watch the game indoors. Seems hypocritical.

[TheLionKing]

I just tried emailing the Lions to tell them what fools they are for not allowing BC Lions players or staff on the BC Lions Den Podcast, but clicking on the contact button on the Lions website leads to a dead end page. So I phoned them and left a voice mail telling the Lions that they are fools and they are proving just how inept their marketing is and that they are getting the fan turn out at games that they deserve.

How about some other Lionbackers doing something similar?

Email Skulsky dskulsky@bclions.com

Have to give credit to Skulsky where it's due. He's usually pretty good at replying.

[Hambone]

I don't really know if the rumblings of moving the schedule up were coming from there, Saskatchewan or all of the prairie teams. Regardless I can understand their preference for home games on the front end given their stadium and climate.

Funny thing is we sometimes get grief from those corners of the country for supposedly being wimpy fans who want to watch the game indoors. Seems hypocritical.

Excluding Grey Cups I've been to several regular season games at CW, McMahon and Mosaic and seen the good and bad. It's usually pretty nice in July and August when it's sunny. I've also been to a couple at Commonwealth where it's rained hard including one BC game that had to be halted in the 2nd quarter due to rain, thunder and lightning. I was doing some work in Manitoba in 2008 and took in the Labour Day Classic, a Lions game in late September and the WSF. The LDC was a wee bit chilly compared to seasonal temps. At that September game it was downright raw; reminded me of being at Empire on a cold damp night in late October/early November.

Biggest advantage for prairie folks is they all have good cold weather gear because it's essential to surviving thru the winter, never mind football season. Us not so much. As much as they don't like to admit it their attendance out there does take a hit late in the season and for playoff games.