COVID-19 : How it could impact Lions/CFL

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Huge Talent
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My crazy plan:

12 game season starting labour day.
Season starts at 1 or 2 centralized locations. Maybe vancouver for west div and Toronto for east. These cities have a massive accommodation surplus right now and surely a deal can be worked out with a hotel chain or two.

No fans at these centralized games, as they are neutral.

Work with TSN to set up pay per view. Blackout by region. For example, we have free access to all games except lions.

Charge around $15 to watch your team. Or a season package for, say, $149.

Allow season ticket holders to apply already paid $ to the pay per view.

Let's not forget, the CFL has very good TV ratings.

Sports, even the CFL, could be very popular, given our lack of choices currently.

If the gov relaxes the distancing, and things are able to open up with crowds etc, have a plan to finish the season as normal, giving all teams as many home games as possible. If not, play the grey cup in Vancouver - it would be too far into winter for anywhere else really.
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Hambone
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I don't disagree with that David. One of the ironies of the Lions weak attendance of the past couple of years is that they do have a social distancing option with the upper level. The Eskimos also are close to being able to spread things out while still accommodating numbers of last year for several of their games. They averaged 52.76% capacity last year with 5 games over 50% capacity and 4 under. The rest of the CFL doesn't have such luxury unless the Als and Argos moved back into the Big Owe and Skydome.

I do wonder if the NFL is considering starting the season with empty seats before hopefully swinging to full capacity as a backup plan to the current one where they are opening to full houses.
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BC 1988
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David wrote:
Mon May 11, 2020 10:15 am
Rick LeLacheur was interviewed by Matt Baker on Friday and seemed somewhat optimistic about an 8 game season with a couple of games (at least) played at BC Place, maintaining a physical distance (likely everyone would wear masks) and using both seating levels. There has been some discussion with the government and health officials about this. I wouldn't rule it out despite what Horgan said the other day. And anything from Ambrosie right now is entirely doom and gloom to secure as much funding as possible.

That was my prediction a while ago. A shortened season after Labour Day. The league will not get $150M from the feds (that was a pie-in-the-sky number) but will get enough to help cover a shortened season with minimal to no fan presence (I think they have modelled out both). This is a better option than the "out of sight, out of mind, return in 2021" option where only diehards like us would be hungry for its return. That will be devastating.

September is a long way away. There are a number of hurdles, not the least of which is the CFLPA getting on board, but I would not dismiss the idea of some football being played despite what you've heard recently.


DH :cool:
Thanks for that. I found the interview archived on BC Lions Facebook Live. Interesting about the modeling being done with health care officials for social distancing in BC Place. As Hambone says, compared to other CFL cities, that venue certainly has enough room to spread fan seating out (Commonwealth Stadium and Olympic Stadium being the only similar capacities). I agree masks would likely be required (which would present a challenge to using food/drink concessions ).

The NHL (apart from the attempt to complete 2019-20 with no fans), is dealing with the same reality right now in planning for 2020-21.
Last edited by BC 1988 on Mon May 11, 2020 1:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BC 1988
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Hambone wrote:
Mon May 11, 2020 11:35 am
I do wonder if the NFL is considering starting the season with empty seats before hopefully swinging to full capacity as a backup plan to the current one where they are opening to full houses.
No doubt they are. In it's Nothing Stops The NFL arrogance they are keeping all this under wraps, but there is evidence they are actively making contingency plans.
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Hambone
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BC 1988 wrote:
Mon May 11, 2020 12:51 pm
I agree masks would likely be required (which would present a challenge to using food/drink concessions ).
I wonder if they could feasibly operate food/drink concessions under social distancing guidelines? They may have to be sacrificed to maintain social distancing measures. Maybe they could keep them open if they were to have 20K scattered through 2 levels of BCP and had every available concession open. That might thin out the lineups at each one to a point where they could manage the 6 foot social distance measure without constricting the room for movement on the concourse. They might also have to summarily remove those concessions that have been set up along the outer walls across from the regular BC Place concessions to open up that space for fans to move around.
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BC 1988
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https://www.cfl.ca/2020/05/20/cfl-issue ... ding-2020/
Ambrosie still not ruling out play in Sept (but chance of having fans in attendance is basically nil.) Most important is SSK gets security of knowing they wont be on the hook for hosting this years GC--they get 2022, while HAM keeps 2021. Touchdown Atlantic cancelled (no surprise there).
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B.C.FAN
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BC 1988 wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 12:40 pm
https://www.cfl.ca/2020/05/20/cfl-issue ... ding-2020/
Ambrosie still not ruling out play in Sept (but chance of having fans in attendance is basically nil.) Most important is SSK gets security of knowing they wont be on the hook for hosting this years GC--they get 2022, while HAM keeps 2021. Touchdown Atlantic cancelled (no surprise there).
I love the "win and host" model for the 2020 Grey Cup. If there is a 2020 season, the host city would be the Grey Cup team with the best record.
And if we return to play this year, the host of the 2020 Grey Cup Game will be determined by a “win and host’ model. The team that qualifies for the Grey Cup and has a superior regular season record to its’ opponent will host the Grey Cup Game. This gives all nine CFL teams a shot at hosting the Grey Cup in this unprecedented year. We are also considering moving the Grey Cup into December, as we explore every option that will allow us to play as many games as possible in 2020.
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BC 1988
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The Lions were quick to follow the CFL announcement with scenarios for ST (and in my case Flex-Pack) holders
https://www.bclions.com/2020-season-update-flex/
Huge Talent
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Basically you get a certificate that shows you supported the team through covid in 2020. Additional tickets would be discounted as a further perk, but they might be basically worthless anyways.

A little disappointed with the lack of anything tangible, considering they are proposing to keep our $ tied up for an additional year.

Add in the risk of the league folding, and some covid related financial issues of my own, and I think I'll be requesting a refund unfortunately.
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B.C.FAN
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I’ve said before that I’d prefer that the Lions keep my money and play in an empty stadium rather than cancel the season altogether. I want to watch football this year in whatever form I can get it. I don’t need perks and I definitely won’t ask for a refund.
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SammyGreene
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Well at least there is something for fans to cling onto for hopes of a 2020 season after what has been a really rough few weeks to say the least.
Had no idea the league was in such dire straits financially until Ambrosie’s plea for government aid and the subsequent consequences if it doesn’t happen.

Each team having to come up with $600,000 to keep the Alouettes afloat didn’t help. Always thought the league had some kind of contingency fund for emergency situations from the TV deal or national advertising. I guess not.

It has long been considered a neat trait how Regina is where the heart and soul of the league can be found. But clearly it can lead to financial disaster that your 3 largest markets in a 9-team league are also your weakest.

Hopefully the league survives this pandemic crisis and can find a way to become relevant again in those crucial cities.
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Hambone
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B.C.FAN wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 2:53 pm
I’ve said before that I’d prefer that the Lions keep my money and play in an empty stadium rather than cancel the season altogether. I want to watch football this year in whatever form I can get it. I don’t need perks and I definitely won’t ask for a refund.
I'm on that plan too. I'm confident the league will survive and get the sense fans or no fans some semblance of a season will take place. I actually have more confidence of a partial season happening than I did a few weeks back. In that regard I figure since I've continued to make the installments (2 left I believe) I might as well let it all ride and my 2021 tickets will already be bought and paid for.
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Huge Talent
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I'm surprised that pay per view in empty stadiums hadn't been an option on the table.

Maybe it's not worth the cost of setting up on a temporary basis.

The canucks did ppv back in the 2000s, was around $10 iirc.

I suppose it's more profitable to include the game for free and increase viewership and thus ad revenue. So this should theoretically be no different.

The league will do what they do, but whether you get a refund or not isn't going to be the difference Imo.

Commissioner made a great point about the league getting their house in order financially. I'm a lions and cfl fan and supporter, but if my $1500 is keeping things afloat, there are systemic issues beyond anything I can help with. Just mho
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Hambone
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Huge Talent wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 2:39 pm
Basically you get a certificate that shows you supported the team through covid in 2020. Additional tickets would be discounted as a further perk, but they might be basically worthless anyways.

A little disappointed with the lack of anything tangible, considering they are proposing to keep our $ tied up for an additional year.

Add in the risk of the league folding, and some covid related financial issues of my own, and I think I'll be requesting a refund unfortunately.
It's good to see something come so quickly on the heels of the league's announcement today. As such I don't expect this to be the last offering from the club. They could not afford to have the sound of crickets emanating from Surrey for a week or two while they figured this out.

They recognize that the flex pack and 3 game pack types are the most fragile part of their base. They likely contain a much higher percentage of that coveted and badly needed young family demographic who they hope to turn into full ST holders for the long haul. They will be the quickest to be lost, perhaps permanently, to this CV mess versus long time ST holders. I think we'll see some more perk offerings for full ST holders in the coming weeks once they have a better handle on what is likely to transpire.
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BC 1988
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Huge Talent wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 4:24 pm
I'm surprised that pay per view in empty stadiums hadn't been an option on the table.

Maybe it's not worth the cost of setting up on a temporary basis.

The canucks did ppv back in the 2000s, was around $10 iirc.

I suppose it's more profitable to include the game for free and increase viewership and thus ad revenue. So this should theoretically be no different.

The league will do what they do, but whether you get a refund or not isn't going to be the difference Imo.

Commissioner made a great point about the league getting their house in order financially. I'm a lions and cfl fan and supporter, but if my $1500 is keeping things afloat, there are systemic issues beyond anything I can help with. Just mho
There's a thread over on RiderFans about PPV (last post was May 13th. I was bored with no Lionbackers over the weekend). Good thread, it covered the topic well. The OP didn't receive much support (IMO he was being a bit abrasive though).
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