97 replies to this topic

[aastra]

Of all the special sporting events that have been held in Victoria in recent years/decades I would honestly rate a CFL game right near the bottom, BUT... the CFL is a peculiar product and if you hyped the event in the right way and actually made it "a special event" I think it could be a bigger deal than a regular season CFL game has any right to be. But methinks you would need to have at least enough temporary seating to get the venue to 20,000. Otherwise it wouldn't have that "special event" appeal.

 

You know, the event itself should be at least a couple of days, with live music and whatever else. Victoria Watcher can work out the details.

[Ismo07]

Of all the special sporting events that have been held in Victoria in recent years/decades I would honestly rate a CFL game right near the bottom, BUT... the CFL is a peculiar product and if you hyped the event in the right way and actually made it "a special event" I think it could be a bigger deal than a regular season CFL game has any right to be. But methinks you would need to have at least enough temporary seating to get the venue to 20,000. Otherwise it wouldn't have that "special event" appeal.

 

You know, the event itself should be at least a couple of days, with live music and whatever else. Victoria Watcher can work out the details.

 

Sounds like there is a festival of some sort...

[Hotel Mike]

The timing is just about perfect...right at the start of the Labour Day long weekend. I would be very surprised if it didn't sell out.

[aastra]

 

I would be very surprised if it didn't sell out.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it sells 20,000 seats, but I also wouldn't be surprised if attendance was disappointing. This is what I was meaning when I said the CFL has a peculiar character. As an actual sporting competition it still has a ton of legitimacy, unlike the NFL which has all but abandoned the premise of resembling an actual sport and now exists almost exclusively for political/entertainment/gambling/social programming purposes. But as a draw with a more general appeal, the CFL can be hit or miss (see previous comment about NFL). Would the Victoria market be more likely to embrace it as a hyped special event or as a plain vanilla* football game that just happens to be staged in Victoria? Do kids nowadays even know what the CFL is? I guess we'll find out.

 

*vanilla is actually a very tasty flavour and not actually plain, but you know what I mean

[aastra]

 

This is what I was meaning when I said the CFL has a peculiar character.

 

Spoiler alert: Victoria itself also has a peculiar character.

[lanforod]

aastra is a peculiar character. Fact.

[aastra]

That's a peculiar comment, even for VV.

[aastra]

VV forumers are a peculiar people.

[aastra]

 

aastra is a peculiar character. Fact.

 

That's out of bounds and you know it. The mods should be throwing a flag, but of course they're looking the other way...

[lanforod]

Maybe worth a whistle, but you know full well my goal was good.

[Ismo07]

I wouldn't be surprised if it sells 20,000 seats, but I also wouldn't be surprised if attendance was disappointing. This is what I was meaning when I said the CFL has a peculiar character. As an actual sporting competition it still has a ton of legitimacy, unlike the NFL which has all but abandoned the premise of resembling an actual sport and now exists almost exclusively for political/entertainment/gambling/social programming purposes. But as a draw with a more general appeal, the CFL can be hit or miss (see previous comment about NFL). Would the Victoria market be more likely to embrace it as a hyped special event or as a plain vanilla* football game that just happens to be staged in Victoria? Do kids nowadays even know what the CFL is? I guess we'll find out.

 

*vanilla is actually a very tasty flavour and not actually plain, but you know what I mean

 

He is the Wiki link to Touchdown Atlantic, shows all the events they have done with attendance...  Some around 10,000 and some around 20,000.

 

Touchdown Atlantic - Wikipedia

[spanky123]

I wouldn't be surprised if it sells 20,000 seats, but I also wouldn't be surprised if attendance was disappointing. 

 

Since there are only going to be 12,000 seats I would be surprised if they sold 20,000 tickets!

[spanky123]

The timing is just about perfect...right at the start of the Labour Day long weekend. I would be very surprised if it didn't sell out.

 

I think that it will sell well. 

[Mike K.]

It's a busy weekend for tourism, now add an additional ~2,000 people from the mainland who wouldn't ordinarily be here, so how are we going to manage the hotel situation?

 

500 STRs downtown and another 500 throughout the core of the region could have come in really handy for event like this. I agree with the sentiment further up.

[Victoria Watcher]

It's a busy weekend for tourism, now add an additional ~2,000 people from the mainland who wouldn't ordinarily be here, so how are we going to manage the hotel situation?

 

500 STRs downtown and another 500 throughout the core of the region could have come in really handy for event like this. I agree with the sentiment further up.

 

We can manage.  More than half will stay with friends and family, some will stay up Island etc.  Will hotels be busy?  Yes.  Can we figure it out?  Also yes.

[LJ]

I will rent out a couple of bedrooms, no I won't.

[Ismo07]

It's a busy weekend for tourism, now add an additional ~2,000 people from the mainland who wouldn't ordinarily be here, so how are we going to manage the hotel situation?

 

500 STRs downtown and another 500 throughout the core of the region could have come in really handy for event like this. I agree with the sentiment further up.

 

Langford has a few hotels... 

[spanky123]

I will rent out a couple of bedrooms, no I won't.

 

I would think that the City might be inclined to overlook the few places that open up that weekend!

 

Average hotel price looks to be about $350 a night at this point although a few bargains are still available. Will be interesting to see what happens once tickets go on sale in March.

[Mike K.]

What's the latest on seating capacity at RAP? I know it can be expanded to 10,000 but I think they're going to want/need bigger numbers than that, with Lana Popham saying 10,000 to 12,000.

[Victoria Watcher]

They really should already be selling tickets now, even if they cannot yet assign seats. Or ticket deposits at least.