CFL in a ‘growth frame of mind’: Ambrosie

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This article was published 10/01/2018 (2824 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There has been buzz on social media recently about the possibility of the CFL lowering ticket prices for younger fans — specifically children and teenagers — in an attempt to attract a generation of people that is grossly under-represented among the CFL faithful.

The league’s braintrust is gathering in Banff this week for the off-season presidents and general manager meetings and while he wouldn’t specifically address a ‘tickets for kids’ type of plan, commissioner Randy Ambrosie said there will be talks about different ticketing strategies.

“We’re going to be in a growth frame of mind and that means growth in our fan base, growth in our revenues and growth of the game. We’re going to have a very intense and robust discussion about all of the areas where we have opportunities to grow,” Ambrosie said in a phone interview Tuesday.

“All kinds of ideas will be on the table for ticket sales, including pricing strategies,” he said. “Pricing strategies that will hopefully help make our game incredibly popular and attract new fans to it.”

This week’s meetings, which started Tuesday night and conclude Thursday with a meeting between the commissioner and presidents, will each have their own agenda, but Ambrosie said they will all begin the same.

“What I’m going to open each session with is that the only bad idea is the one we don’t discuss. The only thing that I am going to ask them for is let’s be open-minded, let’s look for new ways to grow the game and all ideas should be put on the table,” said Ambrosie.

“Not all ideas will be actionable but I think we got some real possibilities here for 2018 to be the greatest season in the history of the league and that’s the mindset that we’re taking into the meetings this week.”

Lowering ticket prices for younger fans is something the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have done for years. New deals have sprouted each year, including packages aimed at children, families and young adults.

For instance, youths under 15 years of age can get season tickets in sections 116 to 121 (P5 level) for a rate of $19 per game, with costs as low as $15 per game in section 223 (P7).

Then there is the Friends and Family deal, which is sponsored by Pepsi Canada, that provides a family of four tickets to the game, a parking pass, and four hot dogs and four non-alcoholic drinks for as low as $97. Finally, beginning in 2017, the Bombers have been offering a Guys and Girls Night Out promotion sponsored by Skip the Dishes, where for as low as $37 per person, you receive a ticket to the game, a $10 voucher for Skip the Dishes and a drink voucher that can be used towards beer, wine or pop.

“The most important thing is our fans are No. 1 and so we focus on our fan experience and we share that with everybody that wants to see it or hear about it,” Bombers president and CEO Wade Miller said Tuesday. “We look forward to each year just getting better and better.”

Miller said there are a number of new ideas in the works for the upcoming season, though he wouldn’t comment on specifics until they were set in stone. But this week he plans to share some of his team’s innovative ideas. Sharing best practices, whether it be for game-day experience or otherwise, is just one of the advantages to having everyone in one room at the same time.

“We all work together,” said Miller. “It’s a collaborative effort and we all learn from each other when it comes to ticketing and fan engagement and game-day experience.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @jeffkhamilton