Filling the stands

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This article was published 24/03/2017 (3155 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — When Wade Miller took over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers months into the 2013 CFL season, he admits he was handed a lot, even if he was provided with very little.

Asked to describe what he walked into that day in August, Miller, sitting in a resaurant in downtown Regina, took a moment to collect his thoughts before coming up with the “best way to describe it.”

The picture painted by the Blue Bombers president and CEO was grim.

The story: the Ottawa Redblacks, on the eve of returning to the CFL for the 2014 season, were beginning to put together a roster, starting with an expansion draft. In order to create somewhat of a competitive balance, Ottawa was allowed to choose three players from each CFL club, selecting from a group of guys who were left unprotected by their respective teams.

Having already picked two players from the Bombers — import receiver Wallace Miles and non-import linebacker James Green — the Redblacks were asked to take a third and final pick.

Scanning the list, Ottawa sought to explore another, unprecedented option.

“They asked the CFL to pass on taking a player,” said Miller. “They have no team, they have no guys to go to training camp and they asked to pass. That’s what we walked into.”

In the three seasons since that day, Miller, along with general manager Kyle Walters and head coach Mike O’Shea — both of whom were hired by Miller on a full-time basis prior to the 2014 season — have been committed to trying to fix what has ailed the Bombers.

The issues, some of which still linger today, included not only the product on the field, but also the relationship with fans.

When they began their journey, attendance numbers were on the decline despite a brand-new stadium and victories on the field were few and far between.

In the two years before the first full season of the Miller-Walters-O’Shea regime, the Bombers posted a 9-27 record. Any good feelings created by an appearance in the 2011 Grey Cup, were gone. The return to losing football wasn’t exactly endearing to a fan base that hadn’t seen a champion in more than two decades. When the Bombers combined to win just 12 games in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, that familiar doubt quickly reared its ugly head.

It would eventually turn to anger, as Bombers fans began to aim their displeasure toward a front office they believed was in need of another major shuffle.

Miller, who admitted the losses, too, drove him nuts, said he never doubted the course his team was on and it was important he continue to see it through.

“The one thing with Kyle and Mike and I, whether we win or lose, we’re going to have the same conversation of what we can do better. It doesn’t matter if we’re winning or losing and we don’t stop trying to improve all the time.”

It’s only human nature to have doubts when something isn’t working. And for the Bombers, something was seriously wrong through those first years of trying to rejuvenate the team and fan base.

There was some progress made, including improvements on transportation to and from Investors Group Field, but any good will from that was overshadowed the stadium’s constant need of repairs — and additional tax-payer money — shortly after its opening.

Despite the walls, literally, starting to crack around them, Miller trusted good times were ahead. Also, he had seen what happens when quick decisions are made. Having played his entire 11-year CFL career in Winnipeg, he knew what problems would have come had he torn the whole thing down and started from scratch.

“Organizations that win, whether in football or any other sport, for the most part, build a sustainable organization and have a stability to it,” said Miller. “And that’s one thing the Winnipeg Football Club had really struggled with, being able to provide that stability in the management. I knew it was important we continue down that path.”

It wasn’t until the most recent season, in 2016, that the Bombers finished with their first winning record in five years — and the first under Miller and his staff. Winnipeg ended the campaign 11-7 to earn its first playoff berth since 2011.

They’d eventually bow out in in the first game, losing a nail-biter, 32-31, to the B.C. Lions in the West Division semi-final. The game was a crushing blow to what had been a promising season for the Blue and Gold, but the goal to build stability in the locker room was finally complete.

Now that the Bombers are able to achieve the kind of success on the field that evaded them for many years, the focus must shift to fixing the other, more challenging problem: winning back a fan base.

While TV numbers continue to improve, the Bombers have seen a decline in attendance in four consecutive years.

Last season, Winnipeg averaged 25,935 fans at home games, filling only 77 per cent of the 33,234 seats at Investors Group Field. That’s a three per cent drop from the 26,745 Winnipeg averaged in 2015 and an eight per cent decline from the 28,314 in 2014.

The reasons behind the Bombers’ decline in attendance can be attributed to a number of factors: from the game-day experience — some have argued the music is too loud, the fans too drunk — to a schedule that competes with those who prefer to retreat to the lake on the weekend rather than attend a CFL game.

Many have seen these as simply a Bombers problem, holding the belief Winnipeg is alone — and solely to blame — for all its box office issues.

In reality, it’s a problem across the CFL, with other markets around the league also feeling the pinch of decreasing numbers.

Only three teams — the Toronto Argonauts, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Ottawa — have seen an increase from the 2015 to the 2016 season, though Toronto still has the worst attendance numbers in the league with an average of 16,380 (up from 12,430). Saskatchewan, which has the best attendance with 31,327 fans showing up for every home game in 2016, had a minor increase from 31,182 the year before.

The battle to attract more fans to the stadium and away from their TVs is an issue that goes beyond the CFL. Almost every professional sports league, including the NHL, NFL and MLB, has seen a decline in ticket sales over the past few years. Media professionals believe this crisis is due to failed attempts to get the younger crowd — the age 18 to 39 demographic — to attend games.

Christina Litz, vice-president of marketing and content for the CFL, and her team are responsible for trying to strike the right balance between giving the existing fan base what it wants, while also trying new methods to attract fans still unsure of the positives the Canadian game has to offer.

Litz said the league is constantly coming up with ways to rebrand itself to a younger generation of fans, including coming up with ideas such as CFL Week, a five-day event this week in Regina that brings the players, media and fans together under one roof.

“The thing that we’re seeing in sports generally right now is that this next generation of fans are interacting with sports in ways that are different than ever before,” Litz said this week.

“I don’t think the fundamentals have changed. But the big thing that we have to understand is how the fan is changing in how they want to interact. If you don’t think about who is on the other side and whom you need to be speaking to and the way that they want to interact, you’re going to lose them. So the game has become a little bit more complicated, a little bit more diverse.”

Litz said each team in the CFL handles the game-day experience, and each venue is unique in how it connects with the community. The league isn’t disconnected from the process, however, with Litz and her team conducting monthly meetings with each club in order to share best practices. Litz even went as far as to say the Bombers have set the bar in that regard — though it was unclear how or exactly why she felt that way besides mentioning the party-like atmosphere.

Miller said many of the decisions made over the last few seasons have been a direct result of what the fans have asked for. Season-ticket holders can fill out online surveys after each game and one at the end of the season to have their voices heard. Even in the off-season, team representatives are calling fans in order to figure out the best ways to improve the experience at IGF. Miller said fans wanted more places to park, so the Bombers will open the 2017 season with an additional lot (near the University of Manitoba soccer fields) dedicated to seasonal passes.

“We’ll always make adjustments and we’ll always refine it,” he said. “We listen to our fans and hear what they’re saying. We put all that together and just try to always adapt and try to improve the game-day experience. We’re proud of the bar we’ve set.”

That said, there’s still plenty of work to be done. Miller agreed the biggest challenge is trying to reach the younger audience, but dismissed the idea it had anything to do with a Grey Cup drought coming up on 27 years.

He can’t control the past, he said, so he prefers to focus on the future.

“In any sport, there are issues with driving attendance to stadiums. You have to adapt and millennials are a big part of that.”

So what is the best way to reach those younger, potential fans?

“What we’re seeing is the next generation, they want to engage with their favourite players,” said Litz. “So while sports are getting more popular than ever, in a way, there’s also a billion more ways to engage with sports.

“We believe very strongly that our job at the league is to bring people to window. Our teams have worked with them really hard to help them understand what is so core to the CFL which are those relationships with the communities in which they live.”

A big part of that connection between the team and the fans is through the media. Of all the progress the Blue Bombers have made in recent years, this is one of the areas in which they have made few strides forward.

One criticism has been the level of openness between the head coach and reporters. O’Shea has been designated the face of the franchise over Walters, which, in a way, makes sense since he speaks to the media daily. But it has also limited the amount of information provided to the paying fan base.

O’Shea, who played 16 years in the CFL, has said multiple times in the past, and again this week, that all he cares about is winning.

For a long time, that’s all the fans cared about, too. But in the CFL, where the potential for an increased level of openness between the teams and their fans is really it’s only advantage over higher-profiled leagues, to ignore that could be damaging, even if Miller disagrees.

“There’s a reason why people talk about that locker room, because it took a lot of time to have it built that way,” he said. “(O’Shea’s) job is to win football games… and people will love him more when football games are won and less when they aren’t. I don’t think standing behind a platform, giving all the platitudes really matters. It’s about having the right kind of organization, being a winner and walking the talk in what you do.”

Sometimes, it’s about finding a way to do more with less.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton