Fickle fans fluster Blue brass

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/10/2009 (5844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are 5-8, winners of two straight, and charging for a playoff berth. But a dreadful start and a contentious relationship between the team’s coach and its fans have made for some disturbing attendance numbers of late.

Whether the Bombers late-season comeback is for real is a question that won’t be answered for some time. The issue of who cares, however, is also debatable and the team’s Oct. 18 home game against the B.C. Lions should offer some insight.

The Bombers broke out of the gate at a 3-8 pace and head coach Mike Kelly took a number of ill-advised swipes at the club’s adoring fans. The result: Back-to-back crowds in the 22,000 range and furrowed brows in the marketing and accounting departments.

“If you look back at our history, teams that have a record like ours, well, we have a strong and loyal fanbase of around 21,000 to 23,000 that we’re very lucky and thankful to have. The next 4,000 to 7,000 will attend depending on record, opponent and special events,” said Bombers CEO and president Lyle Bauer, in a Monday morning chat with the Free Press.

To date the Bombers have averaged 26,166 fans through six home games and are 3-3 at Canad Inns Stadium. The team averaged 28,146 fans per game through its first four home games but has slid to just 22,205 over its last two home dates. Despite the drop in attendance over the last two weeks, the Bombers have done their job on the field with two home wins.

Bauer said the club uses an average ticket price of $25 in its computations, “so if we’re down by 3,000 fans we lose $75,000.”

The community-sponsored, not-for-profit organization made close to $750,000 last season, according to Bauer, but he doesn’t expect the number to be that healthy this season.

“I don’t know that yet. It depends on the next little while,” said Bauer, when asked if the organization would make money this year. “We have to do a better job to get that extra 4,000 to 7,000 in our building. And our football people are working hard at it.”

The CFL is a gate-driven league and in Winnipeg, where weather can often be a factor late in the season, having a bad team can translate into a similar bottom line.

“Are you concerned (about attendance)? Certainly. Do you want more? Absolutely,” said Bauer, when asked about the last two crowds and the potential for three more sub-standard home dates down the stretch. “We all know in the sports business what people want. Record and winning. They’re all big games for us now. The other night (a 27-17 win over the Edmonton Eskimos that vaulted the Bombers back into the playoff race) was huge. But we’ve told our players, let’s take it one play, one quarter, one game at a time.”

Bauer said the football club has diversified and added revenue streams such as concerts and fundraising programs that have gone well and will bolster the balance sheets.

The Bombers travel to Hamilton this week and face the Ticats (6-7) on Thanksgiving Monday with second place in the East Division in the offing. A Winnipeg victory would pull them even with the Tiger-Cats and even the season series at a game apiece with one match left.

“This game, and all of our games, will be key for us on the field and off the field,” said Bauer.

Kelly got into a number of fencing matches with fans earlier in the season and the club experienced a quick and obvious backlash. Things got so bad between Kelly and some of the team’s customers that he stopped taking phone calls on his radio show because he deemed too many to be personal attacks.

Bauer was asked if Kelly’s early follies with the media and fanbase were coming back to haunt the team.

“That’s hard to quantify,” said Bauer, who fired coach Doug Berry following last season and replaced him with Kelly. “Comments were certainly made that shouldn’t have been made. But they were made out of frustration and not due to a lack of passion or respect for the fans. Mike knows full well how important our fans are.”

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

So far at the stadium

ATTENDANCE for the last two Blue Bombers games at Canad Inns Stadium has fallen off and the team has three remaining home dates. Attendance is key to the Bombers’ bottom line. Here are some key numbers:

Maximum capacity: 29,533

Average attendance this season: 26,166

Average attendance through first four home dates: 28,146

Average attendance over the last two games: 22,205

Average attendance at this stage last season: 27,116

Average attendance over final three games last season: 27,219

Average attendance for last regular season: 27,150

Average ticket price sold: $25

Cost of drop in attendance per 1,000 seats: $25,000

— figures supplied by Blue Bombers media guide and www.bluebombers.com