Lionbackers.com

SammyGreene wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:23 am

I see they have unleashed their 2018 season ticket campaign. Big incentive is get a bonus ticket for an extra game if you purchase by Nov. 3. Have a feeling it's not going to create a mad rush.

Of course the same old pricing structure including keeping those sections between the 20-30 yard lines as high-end coaches sideline seats even though hundreds of them sit empty every game.

Oh well new owners could come in and blow this entire plan up. Let's hope so.

https://www.bclions.com/2018seasonmemberships/

That's hardly an incentive to buy. They usually give out coupons for extra tickets. Finding someone who wants to use them has been a problem. Offering free playoff tickets would be more of an incentive. That would give fans and players a goal for the year.

I will be taking my foster-nephew to the Whitecaps game this afternoon; it will be my first time attending a MLS game at BC Place (I went to the Sounders-FC Barca game years ago in Seattle).

Not really a MLS fan so I am mostly interested in comparing the game day atmosphere, crowd numbers, etc. with our usual Lion’s experience. I believe it’s the final home game of the playoff-bound Whitecaps so will it be packed to the rafters? Or will it be essentially a mirror of a Leo’s game day?

I gotta admit I live in total obliviousness of the Whitecaps....

CardiacKid wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 15, 2017 10:53 am

I will be taking my foster-nephew to the Whitecaps game this afternoon; it will be my first time attending a MLS game at BC Place (I went to the Sounders-FC Barca game years ago in Seattle).

Not really a MLS fan so I am mostly interested in comparing the game day atmosphere, crowd numbers, etc. with our usual Lion’s experience. I believe it’s the final home game of the playoff-bound Whitecaps so will it be packed to the rafters? Or will it be essentially a mirror of a Leo’s game day?

I gotta admit I live in total obliviousness of the Whitecaps....

Should be a good atmosphere. Last home game of season and they control their own destiny to lock down top West seed for the playoffs. Could really have the spotlight on them with Lions out of playoffs and Canucks floundering. It's exaggerated but definitely a younger crowd. Caps have worked hard for their fan base and don't take it for granted with the still limited seating configuration. I have always thought why not open the entire lower bowl but obviously they fear tarnishing the atmosphere and demand in any way. And this is year 8 for them.
And bring your jacket. This club actually embraces opening the roof even in the fall.

SammyGreene wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:23 am

I see they have unleashed their 2018 season ticket campaign. Big incentive is get a bonus ticket for an extra game if you purchase by Nov. 3. Have a feeling it's not going to create a mad rush.

Of course the same old pricing structure including keeping those sections between the 20-30 yard lines as high-end coaches sideline seats even though hundreds of them sit empty every game.

Oh well new owners could come in and blow this entire plan up. Let's hope so.

https://www.bclions.com/2018seasonmemberships/

Depending on where things are in a prospective sale they may have no choice but to go status quo. If they were to radically change things new ownership would be forced to live with it whether they liked it or not. It could be easier for new ownership to undo this structure than to undo something radically different but not to their liking.

Pricing structures can be delicate and radical change can be counter productive. Coming off their first divisional title in their history the PG Cougars up here decided to make radical changes lowering prices in some sections while making the truly good seats prime seats with a subsequent increase. They also removed a seniors' discount. Previously all seats in the house were priced the same. They tried to chew off too much at once and the results have been disastrous. Friday night they did their 50/50 mega jackpot seeding it with $20K. Attendance was around 3300. Last year that same game would've drawn over 5000. Last night they announced 2874. I was at that game and no way there were more than 1600 in the building.

I was on the Whitecaps website that had all the information regarding the game day, such as code of conduct, what do expect, etc. The section about the roof stated something like this:

Since soccer is traditionally an outdoor game, the roof will be open year round. So in the cool spring and fall weather, dress warm and bring a jacket. In the summer, bring sunscreen and sunglasses. In extreme conditions such as heavy rain or freezing temperature, a decision will be made 4 hrs before game time, and an announcement will be made.

I think this is exactly the philosophy I wish the Lions would have.

Why the heck not? It's football.

Halftime at my first Whitecaps game and the atmosphere is pretty good.
But.....
If I were to summarize, it is entirely driven by the fans and just how many are here. If the Lions could fill 85% of the lowerbowl, then they could easily claim the mantle of “best sporting atmosphere in Vancouver”.
And sorry MLS fans, the skill level on display is not that great. I will get a BeINSports subscription and watch La Liga or the Bundesliga. Sorry but time better spent....

SammyGreene wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:23 am

I see they have unleashed their 2018 season ticket campaign. Big incentive is get a bonus ticket for an extra game if you purchase by Nov. 3. Have a feeling it's not going to create a mad rush.

Of course the same old pricing structure including keeping those sections between the 20-30 yard lines as high-end coaches sideline seats even though hundreds of them sit empty every game.

Oh well new owners could come in and blow this entire plan up. Let's hope so.

https://www.bclions.com/2018seasonmemberships/

It would be a decent offer if the last two games had any importance. Is this deal only for new sth's? I wonder if there will be any renewal perks. You'd think after this train wreck of a season they'd do something to reinforce loyalty.. Other than burden with additional tickets to garbage time of 2017.

I don't mind the slight increase to the mid field seats, happy to pay it, but im disappointed in what seems like a lost opportunity to get more fans out by slashing the corner and end zone prices. Should be like $29 and $19 respectively or thereabouts imo. And I agree those 20 yd line seats should be cheaper than the 50... Vacant sections mid field looks terrible.

CardiacKid wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 15, 2017 5:54 pm

Halftime at my first Whitecaps game and the atmosphere is pretty good.
But.....
If I were to summarize, it is entirely driven by the fans and just how many are here. If the Lions could fill 85% of the lowerbowl, then they could easily claim the mantle of “best sporting atmosphere in Vancouver”.
And sorry MLS fans, the skill level on display is not that great. I will get a BeINSports subscription and watch La Liga or the Bundesliga. Sorry but time better spent....

Just cancelled my white caps season tickets. To be fair, we now have a 9 month old, which going to games with turned out to be more stress and headache than anticipated, not to mention a lot of the game being missed! But I digress... soccer simply isn't nearly as exciting as football and hockey (guilty, Canucks fan here). Yes the atmosphere is pretty good - credit the caps for capturing an energetic demographic. That said, I do find many of them annoying euro wannabes.

Further, mls is indeed at least 2 notches below the elite stuff, so games can be a bit snoozy back and forth, lack of possession. Yesterday I ended up going solo, and almost left in the first half. I never get bored, even by myself, at a lions game.. Unless its a blowout or something.

Hard to understand why the lions are being out drawn by the caps, as it's no contest in terms of product. One thing for sure, the roof open on a chilly autumn evening is great! Lions need to learn what the caps are doing right.

Huge Talent wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:06 pm

CardiacKid wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 15, 2017 5:54 pm

Halftime at my first Whitecaps game and the atmosphere is pretty good.
But.....
If I were to summarize, it is entirely driven by the fans and just how many are here. If the Lions could fill 85% of the lowerbowl, then they could easily claim the mantle of “best sporting atmosphere in Vancouver”.
And sorry MLS fans, the skill level on display is not that great. I will get a BeINSports subscription and watch La Liga or the Bundesliga. Sorry but time better spent....

Just cancelled my white caps season tickets. To be fair, we now have a 9 month old, which going to games with turned out to be more stress and headache than anticipated, not to mention a lot of the game being missed! But I digress... soccer simply isn't nearly as exciting as football and hockey (guilty, Canucks fan here). Yes the atmosphere is pretty good - credit the caps for capturing an energetic demographic. That said, I do find many of them annoying euro wannabes.

Further, mls is indeed at least 2 notches below the elite stuff, so games can be a bit snoozy back and forth, lack of possession. Yesterday I ended up going solo, and almost left in the first half. I never get bored, even by myself, at a lions game.. Unless its a blowout or something.

Hard to understand why the lions are being out drawn by the caps, as it's no contest in terms of product. One thing for sure, the roof open on a chilly autumn evening is great! Lions need to learn what the caps are doing right.

lions marketing is being run on a skeleton staff because of braley. Most of the key staff bob mentored left for canucks or more $ elsewhere a while ago.

Whitecaps sink alot $ into marketing, but they also lose $5million a season (Noted that when the new adidas money starts to trickle down to club level they may start to make money when that contract kicks in)
I go to both and find most of the cap games a little slow,. One thing they have going for them is no commercial stoppages as well at 2 hours and your done. Lions games are good when their are lots of TDs .. but when there are only a couple of TDs, its slow like the caps.

Lions have to keep up the good progress they showed this season like the $5 kid tickets --- keep this going for 10 years and we will rebuild the season ticket base. 10-month payment plan is also a really good addition.

Next year they need to massively discount the season ticket package with a huge discount for consecutive renewers. There is no "penalty" right now if you drop your tickets, thats what is eroding the season ticket base (not to mention losing and lack of disposable income in the city) I'm talking 45% off face for consecutive renewers compared to 29% of for first year buyers. Not alot of a people will drop their season tickets if they lose that huge discount.

As well, when ownership changes, new ownership must make it a priority that season ticket money is being reinvested in the club. A feeling of ownership that you are helping the team win as a seat holder. I always got the feeling the braley was taking my season ticket money and donating to some new facility in hamilton.

Qman wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 18, 2017 1:03 pm

lions marketing is being run on a skeleton staff because of braley. Most of the key staff bob mentored left for canucks or more $ elsewhere a while ago.

Despite that a comparative look at the admin staff of a lot of other CFL clubs shows the Lions are staffed up in a very similar fashion when it comes to marketing, tickets sales etc. Lions website shows 12 people in Tickets and Fan Services. It's tough to compare to the Riders because so many listed under admin are involved in management of their retail stores. Ottawa is another tough one to figure out. They even have positions called Hackers. Also the REDBLACK staff is involved in supporting the other OSE entities the 67's and Fury. If the likes of Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal can be used as examples then the Lions seem to be staffed up just as much as the rest.

Lions current staff:
Ticketing Sales & Fan Services: 12
Corporate Partnerships: 6 + Chayka
Marketing: 5
Community Relations: 4
Game Operations & Events: 3
Digital: 3

Total: 33
Esks list 33, Bombers 26 in these areas.

being "staffed up" doesn't necessarily mean they are doing a good job, or being paid well, or given adequate budget to work with and the right vision and guidance to be successful. not that it would be possible to successfully sell this horrendously priced ticket scheme or the drudgery that watching this team has devolved into over the last few years. could be a lot of turnover and new hires too. weren't a bunch of these positions still posted as vacant until after the season started or just before?

the solomon elimimian radio ad still makes me cringe every time i hear it. can't believe they're still running them. so unbelievably awkward, and just putridly bad and bizarre and wrongheaded. "is he a hipster with a man bun, about to get his achilles blown out? the next game will tell!!" i mean, WTF. really. it sounds like a parody of their own bad marketing and abject failure to properly market the star players.

re: ottawa's hackers, their full title is "growth hackers", and they are part of the ticket sales & marketing dept, with growth referring to growing the fanbase, i would assume. i am guessing it's a hip(ster) way of saying digital/IT/social media staff who are part of the redblacks approach of successfully skewing toward a younger demo. hacking can also mean using unconventional, creative or playful approaches to solving non-IT problems. seems like redblacks are lightyears ahead in terms of thinking outside the box. they have identified the need to grow and the need to hack the problem, not just go through the same old motions of sales & marketing. the term hacker has a certain edge to it that goes beyond even the now common but vague corporatespeak around "innovation" used in similar contexts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic

mountaincat wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 19, 2017 4:55 am

the solomon elimimian radio ad still makes me cringe every time i hear it. can't believe they're still running them. so unbelievably awkward, and just putridly bad and bizarre and wrongheaded. "is he a hipster with a man bun, about to get his achilles blown out? the next game will tell!!" i mean, WTF. really. it sounds like a parody of their own bad marketing and abject failure to properly market the star players.

I believe the ad copy reads:

"....or a ruptured Achilles waiting to re-happen (sic)?"

Just cringeworthy. I just get the urge to reach out to Solly on social media every time I hear it and say, "sorry man, you don't deserve this."

Jim Mullin (whose opinions on football related matters I greatly respect) likes this campaign, but I know Farhan hates it.


DH

David wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 19, 2017 9:48 am

mountaincat wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 19, 2017 4:55 am

the solomon elimimian radio ad still makes me cringe every time i hear it. can't believe they're still running them. so unbelievably awkward, and just putridly bad and bizarre and wrongheaded. "is he a hipster with a man bun, about to get his achilles blown out? the next game will tell!!" i mean, WTF. really. it sounds like a parody of their own bad marketing and abject failure to properly market the star players.

I believe the ad copy reads:

"....or a ruptured Achilles waiting to re-happen (sic)?"

Just cringeworthy. I just get the urge to reach out to Solly on social media every time I hear it and say, "sorry man, you don't deserve this."

Jim Mullin (whose opinions on football related matters I greatly respect) likes this campaign, but I know Farhan hates it.


DH

I'd like to think when advertising companies are contracted or asked to bid on these sorts of campaigns they present their ideas to the club for feedback and approval before anything hits the marketplace. I'd also like to think that as part of that process the players whose image will be plastered across TV, radio, print and billboards will also be brought into the mix to provide feedback before the club gives a final OK. For sure if I was involved in marketing for a team and part of the process of putting together an ad campaign for the upcoming season I'd want feedback from the subjects being used before signing off on the final product. But maybe I'm a bit naïve in these matters.

Their marketing efforts are embarrassing.

The website STILL lists the 2016 corporate sponsors on the Draft A Lion page. I'm sure the 2017 sponsors are quite impressed.

Bosco wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 19, 2017 6:23 pm

Their marketing efforts are embarrassing.

The website STILL lists the 2016 corporate sponsors on the Draft A Lion page. I'm sure the 2017 sponsors are quite impressed.

And they still got Jason Arakgi on the ads at the game.