VIEWS FROM THE PENTHOUSE:

MARKETING IN THE CFL

Let me introduce you to ten young gentlemen in their late teens to early twenties that we met at the tailgate party at Scott Park (parking lot across from Ivor Wynne Stadium) on Thanksgiving Day prior to the Hamilton Tigercat/Toronto Argo game.  Brad, Pat, Jamie, Mike, Jeff, Andy, Shawn, Jamie, Adrion and Dave all chipped in $70.00 each to purchase game tickets and to rent a van to drive themselves from Harriston, Ontario (approximately one and a half hours north of Hamilton) to join the fun and excitement of another Tigercat/Argo classic.  “We ordered tickets through the stadium, rented a van, left at 6:30 am and got here by 8:00 am.  It is now 11:30 am and we are already having a ball. This is great fun and the game hasn’t even started yet!”  These gentlemen could be seen kicking back a few drinks, enjoying some food, tossing around a football and just downright enjoying themselves throughout the tailgate party before the game.  Sounds like a nice story.  Sounds like the league and the Tigercats are on the right track and have found a way to attract fans of the next generation.  Everything is great – right?

WRONG!!!!!  These young gentlemen were attending their first ever CFL game and when asked why they chose this game they all smiled and said, “To get out of Thanksgiving dinner with family and girlfriends.”  They state they follow the CFL game “a bit through newspapers and sporting news” but do really not watch football Canadian style.  They do, however; rent a van a few times a year and head to either Detroit (four to five hours away) or Buffalo (2 –3 hours away) to take in N.F.L. games.  And why would they drive such a long distance and cross the border for American football and ignore activities in their own backyard?  “Really we have no idea,” was the response.  “We started going to Buffalo or Detroit because the tailgates looked like fun.  We had no idea this type of thing was happening here.”

 This is a major problem.  Resident in a town only an hour and a bit a way from a C.F.L. city and event have no idea what is going on.  Who is to blame?  The Hamilton Tigercats or the C.F.L. itself.  Well I say both should be held responsible.  It is no secret that the Tigercats have marketed their product poorly in the past and there has been numerous discussions about it.  But the league itself is missing out.  Sure they have run some great commercials on T.S.N. and have cut some great television deals but these attempts have yet to reach the younger generation, a demographic the C.F.L dearly needs.  In Harriston you cannot find any C.F.L. merchandise anywhere but all sporting stores are covered in N.F.L. gear say the Harriston boys.  They are flogged with N.F.L. games, merchandise and news and need to search for C.F.L. statistics and information.  And I am sure if the league is missing this small town and group there are many others like it across Canada that are being missed as well.  I wonder how many younger fans in B.C. jump on a bus or rent a van and head for Seattle.  Or how many more in Winnipeg or Saskatchewan make a trip to Minnesota.  We know there are hundreds of trips to Buffalo a year made by Southern Ontarians and I am sure several more made to New York by resident surrounding Montreal and Ottawa.  The league needs to market to the younger generation and ensure their merchandise and name covers all of Canada and not just the nine cities that have a team.  And the solution is simple.  Many people attend N.F.L. games for the party.  They make the trip, tailgate, get drunk, watch the game (if they make it into the stadium) and stumble home.  However, this is being done in stadiums around Canada.  Many places have the tailgate party atmosphere and offer even more exciting football than our American counterparts.  Perhaps instead of “Our Balls Our Bigger” the new C.F.L. slogan could be “All the fun of tailgating and good football without crossing the border” or better yet “Great tailgating fun, exciting football and you even get to miss your family dinner.”  Anyway you cut it, the C.F.L needs to learn some tricks from our American counterpart and sell the C.F.L not just as a game but also as an event.  Inform people that you can do everything you do at N.F.L. games at a C.F.L. stadium without crossing the border.  The league has turned the corner and attendance is improving but a little more effort and work and we will soon see sell outs in every stadium.  But that is just the view from the penthouse and trust me the view is good from here.

By Tydoggz

Note:  This story does have a good ending.  We met up with our Harriston friends after the game who said they had a great time and will return for more games in the near future.  “Now that we know what is going on we will definitely be back”, said one, “I mean it makes more sense only to drive an hour and half and do the same thing we do when we drive twice as long to go to the States.  Plus you do not have to cross the border and it gives you more drinking time.”  Exactly my friend, exactly.

EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE

Fansofcanadianfootball.com and friends have joined in with the long going Grey Cup tradition of crashing the Grey Cup parade.  In Calgary we started with about ten crashers and ended the parade with over C.F.L. fans from every city and team displaying their love and support for the C.F.L.  Well it just happens that this year in Edmonton they are having a parade and we are in it.  This year we have put an entry in partnership with the Tigers Lair and the Box J Boys.ca to express our love of this great game.  Anyone wishing to join the parade with us is more than welcome.  We are hoping to break our record of Calgary and have numerous fans from across the C.F.L.  Dress up, where your colors, bring signs or your flags and join in the fun.  If interested e-mail us at cflfans@hotmail.com or come by the Tigers Lair on Friday at the Inn on The Seventh for details.