CFL Central Columns

CFL Sched: Fact and Fiction

November 19th, 2011

It is somewhat humorous that the CFL is bemoaning less than sellout attendance for the West and East semi final games.
While the East final is a sellout, and the West final is close… there are simple explanations for the empty seats.
Montreal don’t play in the Olympic Stadium all year for one reason – they know the Als have a loyal 25,000 fanbase… so by playing in the miniature McGill rather than the cavern big O, they can virtually guarantee sellouts during the year.
Toronto would dearly love to duplicate the Alouettes concept, and vacate the huge Roger’s Centre for the regular season in favor of a cozy little 20,000 seat facility.

Now… the West – and the subject for today’s meteorological lecture.
The CFL doesn’t get it… short story.
The Western Semi was played in -8C with a -15C windchill… is any further explanation necessary?
The Eastern Final is forecast at between -15C and -20C with a -25C windchill… so don’t be surprised to see a bunch of fans disguised as empty seats in Winnipeg.
It’s late November… are there REALLY any surprises in the weather?!
And how was June for temperature… perhaps a little bit more conducive to an outdoor spectator sport?

Fiction: The CFL can’t start in June because of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.
Fact: Except for the select very few who are either hockey fanatics, or have their team in the final – a nice warm June night would be enjoyed by far more in the stadium watching their team start the CFL season.
Fact: The CFL goes up against the NHL in the fall as well, and sometimes even have a game going on while the NHL home team is playing… see: Lions and Canucks playing right across the street from each other at the very same time.
Fact: The CFL move to Sunday afternoons after Labour Day, which then also puts them head-to-head against the NFL.

Fiction: The CFL can’t compete with people going to the lake and the cabin in June.
Fact: The Victoria Day weekend is in May, which would be during preseason – and affects a select few… even less when preseason games tend to be weekday games.
Fact: There are no long weekends in June… which is when most people head to cottage country.
Fact: The CFL lose far more people to the beach on the July Canada Day start than they ever would at any point in June… notice nothing is ever said about July and August summer holidays?

Fiction: The CFL doesn’t want to be interfering with school exams.
Fact: University and college students are long done exams, and no school kids are studying on Friday night or Saturday afternoon.
Fact: Students in any school are more likely to have a heavier home workload in the fall when they go back to school.
Fact: Just like the “outdoors crowd”, this affects a small minority of people.

Fiction: The cold weather is “football weather”!
Fact: Players get hurt easier and more frequently in colder weather.
Fact: Fans prefer to enjoy a game at +10C rather than enduring -15C.
Fact: Ask the West Final players and fans if they would rather be in Commonwealth this weekend or the dome in BC… I dare you.

Fiction: The CFL traditional “midway point” is the Labour Day games, and Thanksgiving the 3/4 mark.
Fact: This is perhaps the most ridiculous of all the arguments. The later the season is, the more important the games become – especially this year… and more exciting.
Fact: Let’s use the 2011 season, and compare data between the actual and our proposed schedule:
Preseason 1: Wed, June 15… Wed, May 18
Regular Season 1: Thu, June 30… Thu, June 2
August long: Week 5 – Thu, July 28… Week 9 – Thu, July 28 (mid-season)
Labour Day: Week 10 – Fri, September 2… Week 14 – Fri, September 2
Thanksgiving: Week 15 – Fri, October 7… Week 19 – Fri, October 7 (season final)
Semi Finals: Sun, November 13 (-8C EDM)… Sun, October 16 (+12C EDM) Environment Canada
Finals: Sun, November 20 (-15C WPG forecast)… Sun, October 23 (+10C WPG) Environment Canada
Grey Cup: Sun, November 27 (not outdoors)… Sun, October 30 (not outdoors, but would have been +9 in Regina who hosts 2013) Environment Canada

FACT IS: Players would rather go through 2-a-day workouts during training camp in May instead of the June heat.
Fans would rather go to games at +20C in June instead of -20C in November.
The CFL needs to play to their climate… don’t waste May in favor of November.
You want the fans in the stands? Then give them something to work with!

dave@cflcentral.net

Entry Filed under: CFL Football